Colonials Weekend 2009

 

College Tour 2009: Wellesley College

Three of the original Seven Sisters colleges were on our middle daughter’s list of schools in her post-secondary search; Smith, Vassar, and Wellesley.  Of the three, only two fit into our schedule.  After leaving the morning tour and information session at Wheaton College in Norton, we made the forty minute drive back up to Wellesley, Massachusetts.

Aside from routing us through Boston on Route 1 (not a good idea), the GPS is only as good as the street addresses you give it.  I didn’t dig any deeper than the street address given on the Wellesley College home page, only to find that this was not the main entrance to campus.  There was a nice wrought iron gate and a small parking lot next to the child development center, but no indication where the rest of campus was.  We finally noticed another sign for the “Motor Entrance” and parked in the garage attached to the college police department.  Little did we know that the other main entrance was much closer to the admissions building where we would eventually arrive after a good ten to fifteen minutes’ brisk walk across (through?) campus.

 

Fall Back 2009

Oh, thank God (or the deity/non-specific/non-existent being/force/suggestion of your choice).  We get to sleep an hour longer tonight (except in Arizona, Hawaii, and some parts of Indiana) by changing from Daylight Savings to Standard Time.

Time.  What a concept.  If you want to know what time it is, or at least what time we’re supposed to think it is, look here.

 

Aquavit Update

Almost four weeks ago I poured a bottle of vodka (grain, not potato, alas) into a large jar with an assortment of spices and flavorings and left it in the dark, but for an occasional swirling around, in the bottom of our hutch for about three and a half weeks.  With everything going on the last few weekends I left the vodka to infuse about a week and a half longer than I have before in my attempt to create an aquavit-like drink.

After pouring the now amber liquid into a strainer lined with coffee filters and transferring it back to the original vodka bottle, I put it into the freezer to rest.  I haven’t sampled it yet, but the caraway and cumin definitely made their mark.  We’ll have the coming winter to see whether the dill, coriander, fennel, orange peel, and clove are there, too.

 

Teh Internets Hasd a Birfday

Oh hai! Blated 40th birfday wishiz to teh Internets.  It wuz yesturdai.

I’m sure this is exactly what Bolt, Beranek, and Newman (now BBN) had in mind when they created the network that was used for the first time forty years ago yesterday.

 

College Tour 2009: Wheaton College

Last Thursday, after leaving work a little early to pack, our middle daughter and I were on the road again.  Our overnight destination was the Holiday Inn Express in North Attleboro so we wouldn’t have to deal with morning rush hour traffic in Boston.  Next time, if there is a next time to visit Wheaton College, we will not – repeat not – follow Route 1 through Boston.  I’m generally a pretty fearless driver and I’ve driven this particular stretch before, but I have to say that I didn’t care much for it this time and will avoid it in the future, no matter what the GPS says.

 

Leaves

Golden late afternoon sun
warms my face.
Leaves clutter-clatter in the driveway
stirred by a chilly westerly breeze.
Smoke from a nearby wood stove
tickles my nose.
I gather the mail from the box
by the road
in no hurry to go inside.
Fall goes by
too fast.

 

College Tour 2009: There and Back Again

It’s been a busy couple of weeks.  Two weeks ago, as I reported, our middle daughter and I visited Connecticut College in New London.  Last weekend, though technically not a college visit in her case, we flew to Washington to visit our eldest daughter at George Washington. 

This week middle daughter and I left late Thursday afternoon for Massachusetts and a visit to Wheaton College in Norton the following morning.  Our itinerary included Wellesley College Friday afternoon and Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York before returning home late yesterday.  After three days, three colleges, two hotels, and over seven hundred miles I need another weekend, but tomorrow is Monday and I might not get back to post about our trip until later in the week.  For now, let me just say that the trip was worthwhile, though I’m not sure how you would define “success.”  There was no big “ah ha!” moment, no epiphany, but it was still worthwhile.

 

College Tour 2009: Connecticut College

“Tanquam lignum quod plantatum est secus decursus aquarum.”*  Columbus Day at Connecticut College in New London.

Eighteen months ago I was reintroduced to the world of higher education visiting colleges and universities in the Washington, DC and New York City areas.  Sitting through information sessions, walking around on campus tours, listening to presentations on the ins and outs of admissions and financial aid made me realize how little I really knew about all this.  Fortunately, going through seven of these in five days served as a kind of crash course in how contemporary higher education works.  Truthfully, though, I’m still not sure I know very much, at least about this.

With all the talk of SAT/ACT scores, admit rates, “demonstrated need” financial aid, and the difference between core curriculum and distribution requirements, I think I learned more about our eldest daughter than I did anything else.  I looked forward to the visit to Connecticut College with our middle daughter, and the visits we will make in a couple of weeks to Wheaton, Wellesley, and Vassar.

Last Sunday afternoon we packed what little we needed for an overnight stay in New London and headed south.  The roughly three and a half hour (almost four, if you count the slowdown near Haverhill, Lawrence, and Lowell) drive was spent talking about nothing and listening to the New England Patriots lose their composure and early lead to the Denver Broncos.  We passed the main entrance to Connecticut College in the early evening darkness, several of the buildings lit up giving us our first glimpse of where we would spend our Monday.

 

College Tour 2009: The Same, Only Different

A year and a half ago our eldest daughter and I took April vacation together and visited seven colleges and universities in five days (not counting two travel days, one on each end).  (All of the “College Tour 2008″ posts can be found in the April 2008 section of the archives.)  Now it’s time to go through the search with our middle daughter.  Just as she and her sister are different, I expect our experience of the college search will be different.

To start with, our middle daughter is also a very good student.  She gets very good grades and is diligent in her work (though she has a tendency to procrastinate – I’ll tell you later where she gets that!), but definitely has a lower profile in school than her older sister.  She’s one of those that tends not to attract as much attention to herself, has her own friends and activities, likes and dislikes, and is her own person.  As much as people mistake our two oldest for twins, they almost couldn’t be more different.