Meredith and I went to Middlebury College
in Vermont, where we met. We decided on the way back from Maine that we
should swing by the campus again. It was only the second time in 12
years we had been back. Vermont is GORGEOUS. Almost every corner we
went around driving to Midd elicited sighs, followed by “Why don’t we
live here?” There are mountains, a
nd
small cute towns, and small streams, and picturesque farms everywhere.
As much as I love Maine, I could be quite happy living in Vermont, if
a) there were jobs, b) my family was not a million miles from
Vermont, and c) if Vermont were not a million miles from everywhere.
We wandered campus, talked to one of my profs for about 2 hours (he let
us out on the roof of the new science center so I could take pictures),
and had a great meal in town. We also got to see Midd’s new field
house, w
hich included an indoor track that was in a big balloon. I had
never seen a building held up by air pressure. You
have to go through an airlock and everything to get inside. Oddly,
after leaving Midd on our way to Niagara-on-the-Lake and Michigan, we
saw two more of these “buildings.”
Anyway, Midd was fantastic. So, for those of you who, for some inexplicable reason, are going to another college, it is NOT too late! Transfer now! 
BAH! Why would anyone transfer from Williams to Middlebury?!!? Is WILLIAMS in the middle of nowhere? Huh? Well, ok. So what. Graduates from WILLIAMS go on to have exciting and powerful jobs as computer technicians! What do grads from Middlebury do? Huh? Well, so WHAT if you got me my first job as a computer technician.
If nothing else, we have a cooler mascot.
Yeah, my campus was pretty ugly, too…
Okay, so that last post didn’t work (I was going to post a picture of Williams College, but it didn’t work).
Ahh…stop it! Akron is looking less and less appealing. Geographically, anyway. Somehow serene woodland waterfalls seem more aesthetically pleasing than asphalt. And concrete. And beater cars blasting the latest bass-overcome rap that makes their rear bumper (and my window) rattle.
However, I won’t complain…too much. I like the art program there verymuchso. So there. (*attempting self-affirmation*)
The Williams mascot is a purple cow?!?!? ROTFL. A purple cow?!?!!?
Note the Univ of Texas mascot at the left– and further note how I figured out a way of uploading the pic. The mascot’s name is Bevo and further, further note that he is a living, breathing mascot, proud to represent the best university in the largest state of the union (that’s not covered by ice all year).
Yup. A purple cow. And our sports teams’ nicknames are the “Ephs” (pronounced “eefs”). I love that they are both weird. It demonstrates imagination. (The scene in Texas: “Jack, we need a mascot! What should it be?” Jack looks about the landscape, seeing nothing but scrubgrass and longhorn cows. “Well…we could be the scrubgrasses…”)
I think our mascot was a barefoot hippie:
http://www.shimer.edu
but because of Shimer, I got to spend a year in Oxford. There I got to drink lager in a pub, The Eagle and Child (better known as The Bird and Baby) that had been frequented by The Inklings – CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, and the lesser-known Williams (http://www.geocities.com/charles_wms_soc/).
I think the mascot at Oxford was Oscar Wilde. He often wore purple, and he must have made some witty comment about a cow at a society party at some point in his career….
For those who DO want a peak at a great picture of Williams (too big to do the Rev’s icon trick): http://kiwi.pyro.net/~sriordan/aerial.gif
And you can see how SPOOONNN and I were meant to be: she has connections to a pub where a guy named Williams drank. I went to Williams. She went to Oxford and Williams has an exchange program there. I’m kind of shy and she went to Shimer. It all ties together…
She drank with the ghosts of the Inlkings and you don’t have an inkling…
The photo is of scrubgrass.
I wouldn’t know what to do with an inkling if I ever somehow came into possession of one.
the reason you dont live there is so kevin doesn’t starve in college without steve. i had my pseudo orientation this past weekend and got lost and almost ended up at your house. i would’ve stopped by if i wasn’t already running late
Middlebury? Were you there when Snake from the Simpsons was there?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_Jailbird
Wow. How cool is that? A fictional cartoon felon never went to Williams, now did he?
Nah, the other felons in jail would tease him mercilessly about the purple cow.
I’m sorry – were we making fun of the best liberal arts college in the country? The liberal arts college that has produced more Rhodes scholars than any other liberal arts school in the country?
Although it IS a feather in Middlebury’s cap to have had Snake go there…
Hello. If I wanted to send something in the mail to you and your wife, how would I do that?
Yahoo gives me an address in Alliance, is that you?