Almost Stormy

The sky is a dark blue-grey and the wind is whipping the branches of the trees outside my window. I've always liked this weather, but tonight it especially suits my mood. I love my job, except for the small print: it is my responsibility to make judgments on other people's hard work, and sometimes when I hand those judgments out, people say, "What?" in voices so sodden with disappointment-anger-worry-sadness that I get a lump in my throat. Also, for the first time, a student cried in my office this afternoon.

So much for the customary levity of the end of the semester. I've rarely felt so heavy.