the rose of kiev

Now comes the obligatory sigh - FINALS ARE OVER. In a matter of moments a book that was so invaluable I could not have lived without became worth only what I can get at the bookstore for buybacks. I'm allowed to go outside and enjoy the warm Spring evening now and extricate my face from the pages of Greek history and the Italian Renaissance and other such old things. As of five minutes ago, my Spring Break began and it feels GOOD. Watch Ohio turn nasty on me just as soon as I can spend copious time outside - it's the way the weather here works. Oh well - if it does, it's a sign that there is other stuff I need to catch up on, even though all of it would be more enjoyable from my front porch, insane neighbor kids and all. For the first time I've been in school, the end of the quarter was rather bittersweet. Yesterday was my final for my theater class - the one we'd all been dreading, because it would be the last day we would all really be together. My life has change...

The weather on Friday made me realize I always wanted a porch. Not a house necessarily, but definetely a porch. It was the first real day of Spring, regardless of calendar timelines, and the neighbor kids were tearing across the front lawns, screaming and throwing footballs and doing stupid things involving skateboards and stairs as their mother lit a cigarette and watched. The sun was beginning to sink, but all the houses on the East side (my side) of the street are up on this hill that gives the front of our houses an extra wash of sun that's a special treat. I had a textbook open on my lap but I couldn't focus on it. I just loved the feeling of the sun on my face and watching the band boys across the street trickle out together to smoke and chill. There are at least 6 houses on my side of the street that are nearly identical in build - same hill, same height, same porches. If you sit and look on either side, the houses are so close that the porches all seem to run together i...