the air has been thick with anticipation of the rain that is finally falling. it sounds like a gentle applause as it hits the canopy of wide maple leaves, before dripping to the ground outside my window. spring rain is so different from the winter rain that falls harshly and coldly, straight through bare branches and to a frozen ground. with these steady warm raindrops and not a breath of wind at all, i feel like my apartment has been transported to a jungle rainforest. it almost makes studying exotic.

and the studying is something i'm almost done with for a while. how the year has flown. facing down college (4yrs) and medical school (4 yrs) and residency (4yrs) scared me to death when i started, but every now and then i look up and realize that i'm well on my way to being out of school. in fact, in one year, i'll be in practices, in hospitials, in ERs, delivering babies and reading EKGs. i'm really getting somewhere. two days away from the end of my first year, it's starting to occur to me that i can really do this. what a miracle it is to try something impossible and find that you were made to do it.

i feel relieved today, having finished all but my very last final, which is on friday. in my mind, though, it's all over. i'm already anticipating empty weekends at the beach, drinks with umbrellas, maybe 4 days on an island somewhere. i'm looking forward to being able to have fun without work building up as penance for later. i'm ready to run through a few sprinklers and chase down an ice cream truck. bring on the summer, baby, cause here i am with my flip-flops on. i'm counting down hours till that exam is over. and then...we play a little bit. i have a few summer jobs lined up, i'll tell you about them sometime soon, but for now, my clothes are finishing up in the dryer down the hall. my quarters are being put to good use. i hope my clothes are dry by now, but by this weekend, i could be out running through the rain like a banshee anyway.