Quiet.

My house is very quiet. Every once in a while I hear something settle in the house. I hear myself breathing, I hear the dog moving from the carpet to her bed, and back again. It has been raining for five days now, so I hear the rain coating the windows and pinging off of the body of the air conditioner. I hear the algae eater in the fishtank digging around in the gravel to find his lunch. That's how quiet it is.

This grad school thing can be a very solitary, quiet existence. Yesterday, I worked almost continuously from 10 AM until 12 AM at home, in the quiet, dim light of a drizzly gray day. It was pretty lonesome. I got a lot done, but I wasn't feeling very accomplished. There was a lot of work to do, and not much else. When you're trying to live on 1/4 of your previous salary, the shopping trips and lunch dates can't happen as frequently. No place to go, so I work. And work. More of that today. More rain, more gray, more work.

At least my favorite man and I are going out for dinner on the cheap tonight, and then perhaps a movie. I need to get out of here.