*thunk* Is it Dead? Is it Dead?

Windows (of the glass, not computer, variety), sliding glass doors, stained-glass and glazed, there are degrees of goodness for these. There isn't much nicer than a nice breeze, and when that breeze is through a slightly-too-warm apartment, it's even better. Opening windows and doors on either end allowing the wind a way through is hard to beat.

These are very good windows.

Seeing out the front of a car, watching rain find its way down a window on a spring day, huge fishtanks in an aquarium (and smaller fishtanks in peoples' houses). There are all wonderful uses of glass, great places for windows to exist. But these aren't generally as good of windows as those above. Well, maybe the front window in a car, something to keep the bugs out of your teeth. But these windows are closed--you can't reach through and /feel/ the rain, you can't pet the fish. You're being held behind a pane of glass, unable to interact with things on the other side.

All day long, I sit in front of a closed window. All day long I can only imagine the feeling of wind in my face, the sound of the rain or the smell of freshly-cut grass. All day long the window mocks me as I am forced to stay inside on such a lovely day. While I do get sunlight, I still long to be able to open the windows.

And then, when a bird runs into our window, I realize I'm not the only one that wishes they weren't there.