Professor Smirnoff - A Glass, A Window, and Some Snow

My first year Property professor had a bit of a drinking problem. One of my classmates, Lara, worked at the restaurant across the street from our law school, and would report to me each day how many vodka martinis our professor had downed at lunch before ambling back to teach class. The lectures tended to stray from the subject at hand in direct proportion to the alcohol consumed. At its peak, the professor's buzz would manifest itself in his leering interest in a few of the better looking female students, who he would ply with irrelevant and suggestive questions, much to the uncomfortable displeasure of all present.

One particular lecture stands out as the most bizarre. Our property professor had tied a good one on at lunch and was now working his way through the nuances of the rule against perpetuities. It was the beginning of winter and the sky turned strangely dark outside. As the professor was boxing himself into a logical corner, he happened to glance out the window just as a few snow flurries drifted past. Then a few more. And soon, we all followed his gaze out the window to watch the first gentle snowfall of the winter. The darkened sky added a surreal touch to what is always a lovely sight; one felt as though we were trapped inside a souvenir snow globe. The room was silent and as the minutes rolled past the professor continued to stare out the window, motionless and deep in meditation. This continued till the end of class, at which time we all quietly filed out of the room to leave the professor in his reverie.

The next day in class no mention was made of the event, I'm not sure if he remembered it. The rest of the semester continued without any more staring out the window, but the memory of that day lingered on. Many is the time I've returned to that empty classroom to stand where he stood, hoping to find what it was that had caught his eye and captured his interest. All I could see were the tops of buildings leading off to the horizon, where a tiny sliver of the lake was trapped between two skyscrapers. Fire escapes, chimneys, street lights, who knows what it was. Or maybe it was just the beauty of the first snow against the blue black sky, a nostalgic memory of winters past, and a simple desire to be out there rather than in here.

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