Winter is here already.

Its 32 degrees today here in blustery MN. The leaves are tearing around like banshees. Driving into the office today I saw a fountain that had frozen mid bubble. Everything is turning grey and bleak and cold already. It isn't that bad, maybe because I know we are headed for sweltering 100 plus degree weather and a crazy adventure. And I have the luxury of cozying up to my man by the fire...sort of what winter was invented for. Yesterday, we left the office and went for dinner at Macaroni Grill, had some wine, had some lasagna and went home to build a fire. We laid there on the couch, Eric with a guidebook to Ghana and me reading about the New Establishment in Vanity Fair and cold cold cold October wind blowing just out the window. Its a great feeling to know that is awful out, but that you don't have to be a part of it. You feel safe and maybe warmer, just because you are thinking about how cold it is out there. Plus, we toasted marshmallows. It might as well have been heaven.

I just have this feeling that all of these things I'm thinking about are interconnected, like this is meant to be, and there is a clear way to sort through it all. This is an identity I am excited about growing into; someone who is a thinker, but who can also effect change. And to have a partner who wants the same is quite thrilling. Eric is busy making contacts with people on the malaria topic. I'm frantically reading (finally finished The End of Poverty yesterday) on a huge variety of topics; how to interview, malaria, poverty, globalization, world health, economics...its all connected and ferreting out the links seems to be my job in all of this. I think I'm up to it and the timing seems perfect. Here is an article that explains a bit of what we're looking into.