for you non-word mavens out there, that means "weakening" or "weakened." (or 'deprived of strength,' according to dictionary-dot-com.) and it's all because of the weather here in Berkeley and the Bay Area today.

it was drizzling late last night, and the expectation was for some rain and cold this morning. i got up late this morning, and in my haste did no more than glance outside and noted what seemed like the usual misty fogginess so i assumed a wet, chilly day. after a hurried shower i donned a pair of black jeans, a thick cotton shirt, and my usual black cord jacket. stepped outside and was stunned to find that it was hot and humid! ah well, too late to change, as the bus was due in a couple minutes.

sat on my usual perching log next to the bus stop, pulled out Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash which i'm re-reading, almost a decade after i first encountered it (published 1992). many pages and a couple of chapters later, i was still waiting. the one other guy waiting for the bus had already walked off in exasperation, muttering something about the bus breaking down. after another chapter, i decided to leave as well. black jacket had long before found its way into my backpack, and i started sweating lightly as i moseyed down the hill, nose still in book.

i did look up once, and saw the bay like i've never seen it before. there was a complete stillness in the air (yes, earthquake weather), humidity so high i could've tossed the book up in the air and it would've floated down to earth like a flying squirrel and, in the distance, the surface of the San Francisco Bay the color of matte platinum and flat as a dime run over by a freight train half a mile long. reasonably clear around the Golden Gate, i could see through it but not much more as the bay's surface blended with horizon and then with sky to create the illusion of a solid.

around me, crickets buzzed in the looming silence broken only by my bootfalls on baking asphalt, as i walked the winding roads and paths down to campus...

{ net.casting }
^