Infected with Lack-of-Shimer-itis.

Greetings from Maryland! It's summer (sort of), and I'm enjoying myself immensely (some of the time). 

My first few weeks back home were amazing. I got to catch up with my best friends, family, and animals, all of whom missed me greatly, but not necessarily in that order. My ears began their long-awaited recovery from the city noise of Chicago, and, much to my surprise, my hearing seems to have improved. How did that happen? I know not. I found myself breathing easier (No smog! YAY!) sneezing more (Hello, allergens!) and getting reacquainted with the lovely country (country-ish... Maryland is turning into a giant suburb) scents and fragrances that make people who weren't born and/or raised here (I cannot claim both, sadly) want to hold their noses and run for cover. (Yes, I'm talking about manure and mushroom farms. Yes, I enjoy said smells.)

And then reality kicked back in, and I found myself feeling restless. 

I keep getting irritated with everyone because I can't seem to hold a halfway decent conversation with them, my mom is not nearly as easy to convince to take me to the library as the CTA is, the lack of towering deadlines has turned me into a lazy glob lacking in the areas of motivations and productivity, and I've started spouting out philosophy to my dog. 

I keep being reminded of of my fellow Shimerians (or Shimerites, depending on your preference) and our adventures together, and struggle to explain their awesomeness to my Maryland buddies who spent their past year at the Community College (which is technically Cecil College as the University of Maryland bought it or something weird like that) deciding which schools they wanted to transfer to. 

I browse the nonfiction section of the library as often as the fiction, read anything I can get my hands on, do research into anything I'm curious about (currently working on herbal medicine) and mostly sit around feeling lonely.

I guess I just have to face the truth.

I've been infected with Lack-of-Shimer-itis.

Darnit, I miss school! I'm not used to this!

...

Is August here yet? 

Comments

[Cassie]

Something you said reminded me of a painting of Diogenes the Cynic, who lived in Ancient Athens in a tub and lived up to his name. The painting is, in face, in Maryland--in the Walters in Baltimore.

Anyway, here you go:

http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/detail.php?ID=15882