The leaves have all abandoned the trees, and suddenly the area around Simmons seems so much bigger-I guess its all that extra sky that we see. The people inside the building on the corner of brookline ave and pilgrim road can finally see outside of their windows, because the out-of-control ivy that had covered it when the semester started has withered away, and left empty crawling branches. While stressing and studying for the last week of the semester, which seems to have 4 weeks of work compressed into one a man on a lawn mower drives by my window. I did not think much of it, until I walked outside and realised that he was moxing the leaves, as there was no more grass, cutting them all up into tiny pieces that no longer resembled leaves. Street cleaners back home struggle raking up all the leaves for hours day after day, and here they just ride over them once, how clever. Just a week and a half left of this semester- I cannot believe that time flew by so fast. I feel the holidays approaching and the absence of my family here really hits me. It was the lighting of the tree today in Boston Common, Christmas songs are playing in stores, and just today during art class, my classmates and I all shared stories of how we found out Father Christmas did not exist, we all laughed about how upset and disappointed we were, but how we got over it, because no santa did not mean no presents, and no Christmas.. oh I love the Winter Holidays.