Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Memories Are Made of This II



At the end of the work day Friday, I will have driven approximately 85,100 miles to work and back. I have watched the space between my town and the university town grow incredibly. I used to see this young lady riding her bike to a vet clinic every morning - now I can barely find the little building among all of the houses, business, and apartment buildings. Thankfully there is still some empty space between the two towns, which has been mandated by the voters of our county - so we can still see the mountains on that drive.

There is a tremendous crew of young people who buzz around the campus in spring and summer, planting and caring for flowers and bushes. The peak time will be a bit later in the summer, when many visitors will be on campus for conferences and conventions. In my last stroll around, I thought I'd share some of the beauty.







This lovely rose garden is on the patio of the student center - I loved to read where this young man is sitting on this beautiful summer day.



One of the most special spots on campus is The Oval. There are dozens of hundred-year-old trees around this beautiful spot where many weddings are held, and many races are run. Every year there is a canned food drive on campus, and the cans are stacked around the entire oval, several layers deep.




There are some very old and architecturally interesting buildings - such as the Statistics Building, which was refurbished to its original stateliness in recent years - they uncovered beautiful stained-glass windows in the upper levels, which had been painted over sometime in history.



The very first building on campus, which had served as the administration building at some time, called Old Main, was burned down during the turbulent 60's. This is the current Administration Building.



There was a whole little colony of squirrels having a wonderful time playing in the grass, running up and down the trees, chattering, making an incredible ruckus - really fun.





This project, built by some engineering students, is a favorite spot of the girls - they love walking around campus. This is a favorite spot for pranksters - just a bit of soap and the bubbly mess is amazing. And quite a chore for the facilities folks to clean up.

My first two mornings with Peter have gone pretty well. He is incredibly young, but very bright and a pleasant, polite young man. He will be younger than most of the students he works with. I have 3 more half days with him - it won't be nearly enough. But we'll do the best we can. I did get the memo today that there will be a bit of a get-together Friday morning for anyone who can make it to say good-bye. But many are gone for the summer.


MORE TO COME - THE PEOPLE.


20 comments:

Susie said...

I enjoyed seeing more of the beautiful grounds. The flowers are beautiful.
The bubbles in the fountain must be a universal prank as we often see it in our downtown fountain.
Glad they are doing a something on Friday.
xo

Diane@Diane's Place said...

Beautiful grounds and flowers. But you can still visit even after you retire, although it won't be the same.

I just realized when I emailed you earlier that your email addresses are both through the university, so you'll have to go through all the hassle and inconvenience of getting new email addresses and notifying all your email contacts of the new email addresses.

Lots of changes for you, but more positive than negative I'm sure.

Love and hugs,

Diane

Tammy said...

Such beautiful grounds!

So glad they are doing something on Friday, even though most are gone for the summer...at least it's something!

Looking forward to Part 3...

Susan said...

How lovely. Thanks for sharing.
Susan

Robin said...

This walk down memory lane almost sounds like it is therapy for you! What a beautiful campus. You are in my prayers as you make this big change in your life. The best is yet to be!

Nancy said...

I just love the old buildings and flowers are gorgeous. Just a few more days... I can't wait for you to enjoy this special time in your life.

Nancy said...

I just love the old buildings and flowers are gorgeous. Just a few more days... I can't wait for you to enjoy this special time in your life.

Deb said...

What beautiful grounds and lovely flowers. Thank you for sharing your last walk around campus with us.

Barb said...

Diane and I are on the same page. There's no reason you can't go back whenever you want to and walk around this beautiful campus.

And she's right about your email address too.

I'm glad they're planning a little time for all your coworkers to stop by and say goodbye and wish you well. I'll bet some of them are more than a little envious.

:-)

Carole Burant said...

Oh Dawn, this is such a bittersweet time for you, isn't it. I can't even imagine how much you'll miss the campus...what a gorgeous area! Every picture is breathtaking and I think I would join up just so that I could walk around there! hehe I love how they have flowers everywhere, their smell must be wonderful.

Glad to hear that you were able to finish writing your procedures manual...no doubt that was a huge weight lifted off your shoulders!!

Not long now and it will be your last day...holding you in a big hug. xoxo

Maine Mom said...

Beautiful landscaping and flowers...I wish our land looked like that! The reading spot looks like a great place to relax and read, and the oval looks like a nice place to hang out, too.

I'm glad there is a get-together planned for you. I'm sure Friday will be filled with lots of emotions for you! I hope the remainder of the training with Peter goes well. I'm sure he'll have lots of questions about the job as he gets into it, how could you possibly go over everything in that manual in one week, especially working half days???

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the great photos.

this is a bright spot in the day for me! I have been reading way too many depressing blogs lately.and Posting a lot of prayer requests this month.I think I'm burning out.

Midlife Mom said...

I'm counting the days with you Dawn! I will say a big YIPPEE on Friday for you. So glad they are having something for you, I was upset when I thought they weren't!
Beautiful campus! Beautiful flowers! Love the squirrels! Take care!

Linda said...

What an exciting time Dawn, but I agree that it has to be a little bitter-sweet. The grounds are just lovely. Do you think they could come and do something with my flower garden? :-)
I hope they just lavish you with love and appreciation. They are going to miss you.

Anonymous said...

Oh I know you will miss seeing the beautiful grounds every day. tHAT'S A LOT OF MILES!

Nadine said...

What a beautiful surrounding. Thanks for sharing these great pictures.

Judith said...

See, I told you that you could plan your own party, if you had to, and you've already brought more flowers than I've ever seen at weddings.

Jokes aside, I am so happy you'll have more time for whatever you want to do other than working. I do appreciate that even good things in our lives are hard to leave. But oh, the memories. They can get you through long winter evenings. The flowers you chose for this occasion are simply beautiful.

Christa said...

Looks like a nice campus. Nice photos, good for memories. Count down 2 days and congratulations are in order. I have one more year until I retire and then I will go through all the paperwork, etc. Have a great day.

Mary said...

Dawn,

The flowers on campus are beautiful. Any of these spots are eye candy.

I'm glad they're having a bit of a get-together for you, but a shame they didn't have it before everyone was gone.

Just a couple of days to go and then you will be spending lots of time with your grandchildren.

Blessings,
Mary

Grafted Branch said...

Such a beautiful campus! You've been blessed to work there.

Bittersweet, I'm sure, but God's got other beauties planned for you right around the next corner. :)