The weather throughout the U.S. over the past month has certainly been fascinating to follow. Snow storms, arctic blasts, tornados, and recording breaking highs and lows. In Morgantown, the weather has been unseasonably warm and sunny for February and especially for this past week. The staff here would often comment, "just wait for February's deep freeze - then you'll know cold." Selfishly, I do not like the cold, and I am certainly glad that we did not experience any deep freeze here in Morgantown or even any remote coldness. Many guys have been comparing the weather to that of Seattle since it has greyness and misty rain have been the every-other-day norm. We did have torrential rain last evening, but that quickly dissipated for a truly warm Spring day.
It has been so warm here that the groundhogs have come out of hibernation earlier than expected. Two groundhogs will actually come over to you and climb up if you were to offer them a treat such as a piece of an apple. One of the groundhogs is a baby, which is so adorable. It has really, really long two lower teeth which seem to touch his nose. I hope the teeth will grind down, since it really looks like it could potentially be dangerous for this little rascal. Since feeding any wild life is against the rules, I enjoy seeing these groundhogs approach some guys who take the risk of being written up. I understand why you would not feed them, but the baby is so adorable that it really makes you second guess this rule.
Since the weather has been accommodating, I have been playing a few games of pickleball. Many guys are learning and are interested. We play some really fun and great games. One guy commented that it has been the most fun thing that he's done since being in prison. He continued to express his enjoyment and comment that it has been the highlight of his prison experience. We do have a few rules to clarify with lines, serving, and being in the kitchen. One guy has a rule book, so we will have consistent games. The great news is that everyone plays really well together, and we are having a good time. Let me also mention that this is not like some Club-Fed sporting time. It is challenging being in prison and away from loved ones. I am grateful that we have these opportunities to have little escapes from the reality of our environment.
Week In Review:
I just finished a book about investing and trading on Wall Street. The book provides excellent foundations for investing and trying to understand the market. When YouTube is not available, books for investing are the next best thing.
Food remains really good, especially breakfast and dinner meals. We've had Latin food 5 times this week: tacos, burritos, more burritos, rice and beans, taco salad, and burritos. Just when I thought I might be bored of it, the food is really good so I do not mind at all. The meat changes between chicken chunks, shredded chicken, and traditional beef taco meat.
The highlight of my week was my parents' visit on Sunday. My mom and dad came down from Cleveland and visited for about 2.5 hours. My mom has been here 3 times, and my dad twice. I'm truly blessed to have such wonderful with them. My mom was on the brink of being sick, and my dad is quite elder, so a 3 hour commute each way is not exactly a simple task, even for a younger driver. All the visits have been a blessing (and I'm glad to have great weather too). I am equally blessed to have ongoing email correspondences with my in-laws, parents, sister, and friends, so many times a week. I have received so many great pictures over these past 3 months, which help me feel a sense of what I've been missing out on.
On a positive note, the First Step Act credits have started to hit my account! My sister has been checking my profile online a few times a week. She reported that I have earned 20 days off my sentence. I will speak more to this phenomenon, but for now, the credits are working and are quite welcomed! I wish you all a wonderful week and remember to keep an eye out for those little miracles!