bennington.

i wake up so many times i can't even count, and each time i sink deeper and deeper into the plastic mattress provided for me by the good college.

in the morning, i have pulled the covers up around my face, and my feet are desperate for warmth.  i look at my phone, at the weather, at instagram, at facebook, at the lack of email i was hoping for.  i look at the clock again.  i close my eyes.

at some point, i simply throw the covers off and sit up, and then marvel at the dent left by my body on the mattress.  concave gloriousness, and my back is moaning in protest.  i grab the wall and stretch myself, hearing the pops of air circulate in my muscles.  i am sore.

i make my bed.  this is important.

i pull down the standard levolor shade and watch it spring back up, and then i see what the morning looks like.  today it is cloudy and cool, and the tiny birds that are housed in the strange apparatus across from me are full of excitement.  i wish i had my dad's eyes, or a pair of binoculars.  

off in the distance ican see cars on a small highway.  there is no sound to accompany this sight.

a few moments later i will get up and begin the proceedings to take a shower, hoping my door doesn't wake up those around me.  we can hear each other's alarms, phone conversations, footsteps across the old wooden floors.  we creak together.  it is an odd thing, brushing your teeth and standing in your towel while talking to your co-workers.  however, it is also comforting.

the white walls do nothing but soothe me here.  although i do catch myself thinking about pinning up some pictures.  i am inclined to draw or paint; neither particular skills of mine, but somehow this place makes me think that i am capable of such endeavors.

my brain sleeps hard; there is much needed to process at the end of every single day.

the wildflowers outside proliferate.  there are no gardeners calling the shots.  the trees break limbs themselves and the forest floor heals them up real good.  the women here don't wear make-up, mostly.  there is a simplicty to clothing, to hair, to footwear.  

teva sandals thrive here.  

the birds are louder than the machinery.  the skies open up whenever they damn well want to.  the paths to breakfast are covered with dew and soak my sneakers, and i happily sit in the wetness while i eat my oatmeal and say good morning to my colleagues.