Nostalgia

I've been experiencing a lot of nostalgia lately. Maybe it is because I am back in school again (though I only took a year off!), maybe its just because it is fall.

It is not a feeling of desire for any particular time period of my life, just that distinct feeling that you associate with particular times of your life. Last week, I picked up a game I hadn't touched in years (StarCraft), and literally couldn't put it down for a few days straight. I had forgotten how much fun I had with that game, and how much of my first 2 years of collge centered around it (and surprisingly enough how many good friendships I developed in the dorm with fellow gamers).

I have been looking at a lot of pictures from my life back in Georgia lately. I wish I had more. What is funny about it is that most of my teen years I always was distracted with some minor difficulty, now I wish I had really enjoyed some of the experiences I had.

I wonder if in 10 years from now, I'll look back on my experience at Talbot with the same feeling. Perhaps I'll miss studying Hebrew paradigms, or debating over subtle nuances of Greek genitives. I guess I wonder if I think I missed out on enjoying life back then, am I really enjoying the abundance of blessings I have today (like being in school again, being involved in a church, having several solid friendships, and above all : having a godly wife!)?

Oh I forgot to mention -- part of this is because I have gotten into the "Christmas spirit" a bit early this year, probably because the weather finally has started to cool down a bit. Only relitively though.. gosh I miss the snow, the large amounts of rain, the really cold days, building fires in the fireplace, etc. Back in Georgia I could never have imagined why somebody would want to enjoy cold weather, or stand out in the rain with utter glee, or being put into a good mood by gloomy weather. It took coming to California to discover how wonderful these things are.