I'm leaving for college in 3 days. I wonder why my parents are allowing me to do such a foolish thing. It's madness. This is why it's so hard to go back to school. Because when you're young you're too stupid to know that it's crazy but when you're older you're too smart to be drawn back in easily. I'm only half serious here but it's hard to feel excited about school right now. I was excited about two weeks ago and now I'm either too busy checking minutiae off my list or worrying about all the things that could go wrong. It doesn't help that I have no library books to distract me. It's the most surreal thing about this experience right now, not the fact that I'm leaving until Thanksgiving or that I'll soon be living with people I don't even know.  It's going to my room to grab a book and realizing that I have no library books. 

Speaking of books, it's incredibly hard to pack them. I have a fairly large private library for my age and it's difficult to anticipate what I'll want to read in my off time. Will I want to read something fun like Good Omens, a classic like the Divine Comedy, or a comfort book like the Princess Bride? I'm beginning to see the attractions of e readers not only because of space but the weight. I hate packing in general because it forces me to realize how much stuff I have. I didn't even know I had 8 pairs of shoes. When Gandhi died he owned 2 bowls, one spoon, one fork, two pairs of sandals, a prayer book, a diary, a watch, a letter opener, and strangely, a spittoon and porcelain monkeys. Thank God for the porcelain monkeys they make him seem more human. But as much as I like to talk about simplifying and reducing my possessions I seem to have an awful lot of them. 

Even with all the stuff I'm leaving behind I don't think I'm going to miss most of it (except my queen size bed.) I'm going to miss celebrating Halloween with my friends and harvesting potatoes and playing with the dogs. I've never lived in another town before so it's going to be hard leaving behind everything familiar and all the things that make the seasons. But I've always wanted an adventure. When I was twelve I wore tennis shoes for a whole 100 degree summer and kept a backpack at the ready so that when I hit the road on my quest I would be able to run quickly and have everything I needed. Adventures always have a degree of risk to them but I'm pretty sure I won't be running into any monsters (Greek class might count though.) 

My next post will most likely be from my dorm room so until then!