Saturday Afternoon

Beautiful afternoon here in Norfolk with sunny skies and temperatures in the 80s. Perfect beach/outdoorsy weather, but alas I'im home nursing a cold. I was feeling a tired and generally icky on Wednesday and things deteriorated from there. Yesterday and this morning were miserable, so I'm hoping the worst is behind me now and that I'll feel able to do at least something outside tomorrow, even if it is just sitting on the patio over at Starbucks with coffee and a book.

What makes the cold so disagreeable is that this is my first completely free weekend in ages. Nothing to do for work (a rare thing) nor the thesis research which leaves ample time to make a road trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina or otherwise keep busy here in Norfolk doing things like washing my Jeep which is still mud covered from the fieldwork of last weekend. Ah well. Could be worse. The cold could have struck a few weeks ago when I was scrambling to wrap up the semester. There's always a silver lining to every cloud. Finding it is simply a matter of perspective.

I've given some more though as to what hobby I want to acquire this summer. A few new pursuits are needed for balancing out my life as so much of my time now are tied up with work and the masters degree. I've been getting more into photography again, for which I've long had a strong interest, and is something that's easily incorporated into ones daily routine. One new goal I'm seriously considering is acquiring my private pilot's license. My old college roommate got his license a few years ago and since then I've considered it from time to time. In fact, he was the first person to ever get me into a plane and since then I've been hooked on flying whether it be a commerical airliner or a small single engine Cessna. Of course this pursuit is expensive in terms of both money and time; money isn't really a concern, but having the available time...well....may be best to wait until I finish the masters degree next year.