Cocooning

Fall moments

The last couple of months have been synonymous with the season. It began with the end of something great, the warmth of summer, friends, and home; you know fall has arrived when the cold and dreariness begins.

Although it starts with an absence of summer goodness, it most surly holds change, and amidst the rain, and cold, there is the beauty of the falling leaves, crisp sunshine, apples and pumpkins.

Moving here was at first lonely, full of change and absence of comfort, but has drifted to filling with good people, new experiences, apples and pumpkins.

My highlights

Fall leaves- OK west coast, they have us beat. The diversity and richness of COLOR is astounding. I didn't get to go to the blue ridge mountains which is renowned for it's beauty, but even just on my walk to duke and back I am constantly aghast by the foliage.

SOUTHERN COMFORT- no not that southern comfort, the most southern difference I have found is the food. I do complain about the amount that is fried, ( mostly 'cause i don't want to eat too much of it)- but they really have a knack for frying and making great comfort food. So i gathered my new found friends/ food lovers together and had a potluck. We had a great time sharing recipes, music and each other's company.

my mom visited and we made a desk, out of an old door- yeah we're that cool.

DUKE basketball- so this is a big deal here. I guess this is common knowledge to most of the world, but I didn't have the slightest, so I figured I should partake of it and learn. Except to get a ticket is ridiculously expensive and sold out, and the student tickets are handed out in a lottery that the students sleep in tents for months to be entered into. So no schmoozing, money, or body parts would get me a spot.

But who you knows makes the world go round. A favor for a friend, the friend doing a favor for a professor led to us getting tickets!!!

The stadium and the fans are what Duke basketball is famous for. Here's some more info in case the curiosity about the history and fame is unbearable.

Originally the largest indoor arena in the South, Cameron is today one of the smallest in the nation. Nevertheless, its stature grows from year-to-year. Sellout crowds, top 25 rankings and championships of every variety have become the norm. The "creative harassment" of student spectators has given Duke the honor of being known as "one of the toughest road games in the USA," according to USA Today and any visiting team that has ever played in Cameron. In its June 7, 1999, issue, Sports Illustrated rated Cameron Indoor Stadium fourth on a list of the top 20 sporting venues in the world in the 20th Century, ranking ahead of such notables as Wrigley Field, Fenway Park and Pebble Beach Golf Club.

Duke's men's basketball teams have had a decided home-court advantage for many years, thanks to the diehard students and fans affectionately known as "Cameron Crazies" for their aggressiveness, tough catcalls, bleacher jumping and other actions used to create loud noises (for example, in the 02-22-09 showdown vs. Wake Forest, the arena reached 116 dB, similar in volume to jet engines at takeoff, louder than a jackhammer, and nearing the 120 dB threshold for pain^[5]) and rattle opposing offenses. Typically, the seats near the court as well as standing room is reserved for students who wait hours in order to access those areas come game time.

For access to major games, including those against the University of North Carolina, students tent for months in an area outside of Cameron known as "Krzyzewskiville." The hardwood floor was dedicated and renamed Coach K Court in February 2001, in recognition of head coach Mike Krzyzewski's 500th win at Duke.^[6]

Although it was no South American soccer match, it definitely had charisma a whole lot of of blue and a highlight of my fall!

So as I settle into winter, I am looking forward to less change and more comfort; knowing even in the stillness of winter, I am always in it, the whole messy lovely living process of me.