Solitude and Snow

It was probably Thursday December 20th. I’d finished my last exam that morning and had just picked up my final class printout from the mainframe computer center about 2pm. It was a gray and unusually cold day, there was no one else around, and all I had left to do was to walk to my dorm room across campus, catch a ride back home, and start Christmas break. I was looking forward to two weeks of relaxation.

As I walked down the wide sidewalk with my printout folded on top of my notebook, it began to snow.

That moment, with its pleasant sense of solitude and optimism, etched itself into my memory.