Hello, or, if you prefer, Bon Soir!

It looked this way not too long ago near where I will go tomorrow.

Greetings from The Great White North! It's not nearly as white as it was two months ago, but we may  get a bit of snow tonight. I'm intentionlly sleeping lightly so that I can check out the window periodically to examine the sky for snow.If any snow materializes, I will go outside and revel in it even though doing such may cause anyone who sees me to question my sanity. If they knew me better, for that  matter, they would almost certainly conclude that I have no sanity whether or not I went outside to enjoy the snow.

I arrived here, following an uneventful flight, late this afternoon. The woman who, along with her husband, owns this garage apartment, along with the garage itself and the house attached to it, very nicely laundered and put the new sheets and comforter, which I ordered and had sent to her house, on the new bed I had delivered. It's a queen-sized bed, which is bigger than any bed that has ever been mine. i ordered the queen-sixed frame, box speing, and mattress because I'm leaving the bed and sofa in the previously unfurnished apartment in exchange for one month's rent. The property owners thought the queen-sized bed would be more versatile for future occupants. The woman also laundered and hung up two of the new towel sets I ordered and had sent to her house, and stocked the refrigerator and the small pantry with basic groceries. She's a pediatrician who works full-time. I'm not sure where she found the time to make things so nice for me, but I deeply appreciate it.

Tonight I had dinner with my landlord family, which tonight consisted of the professor from the medical school, his pediatrician wife, and their sixteen-year-old son. Their older son and daughter are away at universities.  After dinner I walked around the corner and halfway down the block to visit briefly with the medical school professor and his wife with whom I stayed when I came here a couple of months ago. The wife had a baby girl ten days ago. I remembered at the last minute that she should have delivered by now. A group of my friends from medical school met me in the city for brunch late this morning before my departure, and afterwards I detoured to a department store in in Union Square to pick up a baby gift. New babies are fascinating. I could have amused myself for hours just watching the baby make faces as she slept.

I have a relatively easy day tomorrow, so I can afford to sleep sporadically. My first official day of work isn't until next Sunday, but I would like to begin on Friday, so I need to have my ID made and I need a brief and very basic orientation so I'll at least know where to report. Following that, I plan to make the six-hour trek to a ski resort. I'll stay there for three nights. I snowboarded there on my earlier trip and had a lovely time except that it was a twelve-hour round trip, and we made the entire trip in one day. It will be much nicer to spend three nights and to get in two-and-one-half days of skiing before heading back Thursday afternoon. If I get sleepy on the drive there tomorrow I can pull off in a safe location and snooze for a bit until I'm sufficiently rested.

The apartment is cozy and my comforter is warm. Although I've only spent about seven hours here, I can tell already that living alone is something I enjoy. Cable is already hooked up to the TV I ordered. The land phone line is connected. My brother thought it was wasteful to have a land line, but I like the idea of being able to dial 911 [it's the same phone system as in the U.S.] and have the 911 operator know from where the call is coming. The land line will cost me only about $100 for the six to eight weeks I'll be here. One-hundred dollars is a small price to pay for peace of mind. The apartment is alarmed along with the house's alarm system, though it has a separate key pad just inside my entrance.

There is no snow yet, but it's getting colder even with the clouds moving in. I   remain hopeful that the downy flakes will appear before morning.