Sun humming

Wednesday, February 8 or 9 (the date on my watch is inconveniently unreliable and often changes mid-morning or later in the day) -

For the first time in 2005, I feel the warmth of the sun on my face. I am surprised by the sensation! While famously enamored of winter and the cold, my skin receives these several and pleasantly whirring molecules of hydrogen, and my brain returns the favor with an autonomic smile. I am smiling at the sun as I turn toward the woman who stands nearby. She is wearing headphones. In a respectful gesture, I had been avoiding her eyes since the moment her hum-along vibrations had registered in my ear. Now, I find that I am receptive to camaraderie. Who will share this moment, this awakening of the fifth sense deadened by so many weeks of arctic temperament? Sadly, she does not indulge in my ebullience. The train arrives and I shudder in its shade. Standing in line behind the woman, I listen to her song, and then we shuffle inside the glossy, white car, where, alone, I will squint and shield my eyes from glorious sunlight.