- Whose woods these are …
- Kidding.
- I mean, I’m not kidding.
- Probably nothing better than starting a hot summer day with a little Frost.
- But no, I’m not cut-and-pasting that in here.
- I wonder how far I could get from memory …
- I remember taking a lit class in college.
- Lit 1? Lit 2?
- We had to memorize a poem, then stand in front of the class and recite.
- That’s the one I chose.
- Because I’d already had to memorize it once, back in high school.
- Obviously.
- I don’t remember what I wore that day, though I can guess.
- Baggy jeans, probably a Polo t-shirt of green or blue, covered by a giant plaid button-up that wore more like a jacket than a shirt.
- Brown Docs on my feet.
- I remember studying the poem the night before.
- And then I didn’t have to go the first day, so it got punted to the next class.
- Sitting here, I can remember the steps in the Classroom building, because my Lit class wasn’t in Morrill with the rest of the English classes.
- This was before I committed to writing.
- Before taking hours of creative writing and poetry classes and switching my major to Journalism.
- Clouds obscured the sky that day, shrouding everything in muted gray.
- Which made it darker in the classroom in the Classroom.
- I sat there staring at the poem on my desk, copied by my own hand into a notebook, repeating the words in my mind, probably paying no attention to anyone else’s rote recitation.
- Then it was my turn.
- I walked to the front, turned, and … did the whole thing in one take.
- Monotone.
- I stared at the back wall of the room, making no eye contact.
- Tried not to clench my hands into fists.
- To go slow enough so as to not skip words or lines.
- And then it was done.
- They actually clapped.
- Caught me off guard.
- I still love that poem.
- The atmosphere mixed with the profundity.
- Good stuff.
- I’m never ever going to be that good at words.
- Not bad, but never great.
- I think it’s important to keep that perspective.
- Helps remind you to stay within yourself, but also to strive.
- At some point, you’ll reach that spot mentally.
- Where you become okay with being as good as you are, with what you do, and that you don’t have to be Robert Frost or Ernest Hemingway.
- I did try to type it from memory.
- Botched the last two lines of the second stanza, but I got the rest.
- I’ll take it.
- I could go for watching the woods fill up with snow about now.
- Other than sitting by the ocean seeing waves crash, there’s nothing more calming than watching snow at night.
- If I won the lottery, I might spend my time volleying between those two things.
- You can get there with wind in autumn trees, too.
- Or through the tall grass.
- You sure af don’t get it from city traffic, though maybe if you were a born and raised city kid, I can envision you sitting on a concrete step, eyes closed, letting the traffic ambiance entrance you.
- There’s peace to be had in sounds is what I’m saying for the kids in the back row.
- “Get ‘em up in the back room …”
- (Name that song!)
- You know what is not a peaceful sound?
- The goddamn microwave.
- Our microwave sits above the oven, high enough you have to reach for it.
- I’m not sure how Steph manages sometimes.
- I heated up Mom’s coffee in it this morning.
- Popped the door open, sat the mug inside, closed it up.
- Then … I set it for 27 seconds.
- I almost never do even numbers with the microwave.
- Never multiples of five.
- Usually threes and sevens.
- I’m sure we could compare this to those of you who smash the :30 second button two or three times, then take out whatever it is when you’re good and goddamned ready.
- The microwave isn’t the boss of us.
- You can’t let the little battles you control out of your hands.
- It is important to keep winnable victories.
- Tons of books shout the importance of habits to our outcomes.
- Talking to Mom over coffee this morning, tai chi came up.
- Been thinking about starting that.
- Have to overcome the social anxiety.
- The noob anxiety.
- But.
- The goblin dog wakes us early every day.
- Used to outrage me, put me in a terrible mental place before the day even starts.
- Still find it annoying, but I’m trying to … get up and stay up when she wakes me up, even on occasion.
- Because that’s free time, right?
- And I dislike being mad at the dog.
- I have transitioned from being a night owl to getting in bed at pretty much the same time every evening.
- Reading to calm my brain for a bit.
- The routine established, maintained.
- While talking, I wondered if the secret to health …
- Nevermind.
- It’s not a wonder.
- Consistency is key in everything.
- Positive habits rather than negative.
- I sat there and imagined getting up early every day.
- Doing tai chi.
- Drinking my coffee.
- Then doing what has to be done.
- Could only help to have that habit.
- Could only improve my longevity.
- Or barring that, improve the quality of my Time.
- My. Time.
- Mine.
- Like these lists.
- The cat, lying next to me in a sunbeam, holds my foot with her paw.
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Robert Frost, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.”
*Jerm, thanks for the hat.
skepticlysm 