January

1: sled gang (time outside in the snow with my brother)
2: trippy magical realism + art inspiration
3: "5 Second Rule" with the Dimension cast
4: "Witness to the Rain" (a chapter from Braiding Sweetgrass)
5: dinner + a movie with friends upon returning from break
6: incorporating Braiding Sweetgrass into my canon of favorite books
7: Genesis 2 & examinations of Creation through the lens of the environment
8: passing a class intermission with classmates
9: suspended animation (the delicate, precarious balance of snow in trees)
10: people on my trivia team jumping to defend Rosalind Franklin's contribution to the discovery of DNA's structure (I'm so glad I'm not the only one)
11: "Phantom of Aleppoville"
12: Gimlet's "The Habitat" podcast
13: one-year anniversary of the second draft of Helven
14: cozy windowed sitting nook in Mahaney
15: chatting with a trip pal like no time has passed
16: cool new exclusives on COTW 231
17: "Blue to Blue" by CloudNone
18: a night at the townhouse watching[?] Bandersnatch, playing the Voting Game, and just talking and joking around 'til 2:45 am
19: braving the cold (and the threat of impending blizzard) to spend the afternoon walking around and exploring Burlington
20: watching the gales of snow and people trudging through it from my bedroom window
21: reading about tree worship and connecting it to my acquaintanceship with a tree
22: brief intervals of sliding down the steep snow-packed walkway
23: discovering the whole new world of the fitness center
24: starting on my video essay
25: being in the mood to torture myself with a jog on the treadmill
26: reminders for compassion and mindfulness from Thich Nhat Hanh
27: finally escaping an escape room (even if I barely contributed)
28: laughing it up from all the misunderstandings and miscommunications at our silent dinner
29: Hyraxe and Tevlo, or, the dream team
30: forging a path through the knee*-deep forest snow
31: vegan gluten-free cookies on our last day of class