Snowing today – 10 inches expected in Stow so Maureen cannot come in. The parent/teacher conferences were canceled as well. I am pretty much insulated from all of this. I can see thin snow falling diagonally from right to left at a 45° angle. My window is largely obscured by the huge get-well card from Miranda’s 6^th grade classmates. Surrounding them on three sides are 12 get-well cards from friends and relatives. At the top is the hand-turkey that Miranda made for me when I was first admitted. It brightens the room up a bit, but I find myself craving visual stimulation. For the first ten days I had signed up for the extended set of TV channels at $5 a day, but I found myself watching it less and less, till I only watched it meal times for distraction. The rest of the time it quickly grew annoying with the endless repetition of news stories, in the vain hope, apparently, that repetition could bring about penetration. The local channel, WBZ is also free, as are two Spanish stations and two public TV stations, although one of them seems to be restricted to showing Andre Rieu concerts.

My room is on the 5^th floor. Outside I see two brick/glass buildings and miscellaneous ductwork. If I walk to the window I see the bridge that links Dana Farber to Brigham & Women’s, with hospital staff walking across. You can tell doctors by their white coats and porters by their blue ones. Under the bridge I see the street and what appears to be a parking garage. I see the occasional taxi drive slowly by, and pedestrians trudging through the slush, head down and wrapped up.