After his access was restricted on the ILW newsgroup, we'd discussed the nature of a response to BS's post, but hadn't determined when it should occur. Doug had a very critical meeting on February 27th, 2004 (associated with the culmination of his long-term 7 year project) and would not be online for the majority of the day. I took this opportunity to fashion the reply, anxious to hear from him later that night in order to review it for accuracy.
February and March is still very wintery in my territory of the USA and on this particular night Doug had to remind himself that temperatures were unlike Tallahassee. He'd grown up in upstate New York and spent many a winter there in the Adirondacks in Jefferson county near the Canadian border. Having moved to Florida to pursue his advanced degrees (an MS and a PhD), it had been some years since he'd spent an entire winter in the north. When he commented that at the celebratory dinner he'd shared with the team that helped on his project that evening that they'd not been able to sit on the terrace of his favourite sushi bar due to a chilly 55 degrees, I'd responded that it would feel positively balmy compared to the minus ten degrees outside my office. But his chats brought warmth to my days even though I knew it was not more than two weeks before he would head out west on his project. I savoured each opportunity we could talk, either on the computer, or on voice chat, knowing that his work schedule for the following 3 months might preclude as much contact as we'd had in the past two.
For this reason, I was a little anxious that night when he declared that he was looking forward to the upcoming break. It was bittersweet for me. The time he would be gone would be a little difficult, for me, of course. I'd grown so accustomed to his presence and the ten or more hours each day we'd spend on Yahoo messenger. Nevertheless, once he'd return to the East in 90 days, it would be a new season and a chance for a fresh start.
February and March is still very wintery in my territory of the USA and on this particular night Doug had to remind himself that temperatures were unlike Tallahassee. He'd grown up in upstate New York and spent many a winter there in the Adirondacks in Jefferson county near the Canadian border. Having moved to Florida to pursue his advanced degrees (an MS and a PhD), it had been some years since he'd spent an entire winter in the north. When he commented that at the celebratory dinner he'd shared with the team that helped on his project that evening that they'd not been able to sit on the terrace of his favourite sushi bar due to a chilly 55 degrees, I'd responded that it would feel positively balmy compared to the minus ten degrees outside my office. But his chats brought warmth to my days even though I knew it was not more than two weeks before he would head out west on his project. I savoured each opportunity we could talk, either on the computer, or on voice chat, knowing that his work schedule for the following 3 months might preclude as much contact as we'd had in the past two.
For this reason, I was a little anxious that night when he declared that he was looking forward to the upcoming break. It was bittersweet for me. The time he would be gone would be a little difficult, for me, of course. I'd grown so accustomed to his presence and the ten or more hours each day we'd spend on Yahoo messenger. Nevertheless, once he'd return to the East in 90 days, it would be a new season and a chance for a fresh start.
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