A Walk in the Woods

The weather continued to be absolutely splendid this week. In honor of the unseasonable occasion, I decided to go on a walk. About a block away from campus is an old cemetery that dates back to the 1800s. A friend and I decided to take a stroll in between classes. It’s really fun to see all the old graves, some of which share names with the older buildings on campus (I saw a Hathorn, a Lane and a Moulton). It’s fun to see the connections that Bates had with the community, even back in the 1800s. Just off the cemetery is a little trail that wanders through the woods along the Androscoggin River. There’s a little tributary in the way, but if you hop across the rocks, it’s pretty easy to ford. The path winds its way along the river for maybe half a mile, which is an ideal length of time if you have to get back on campus for an afternoon class.

My friend by the river–look! teeshirts! In March! In Maine!

I’m a big fan of going on walks, and Bates is great because there’s so many close places. In addition to this cemetery/river walk, there’s a longer river walk just downstream a bit from where I went walking. And if that’s not enough, just five blocks from campus in the other direction is Thorncrag Bird Sanctuary, a massive, beautiful forest with lovely walking paths that you can easily spend a few hours walking in. I didn’t quite have time to get all the way up to Thorncrag today, but it was really nice to go on a walk and enjoy the warm air and be in the woods.

Strolling along the river on a lovely day

Unseasonably Warm Weather Brings Out the Fun in Everyone

Today was incredibly warm: 60 degrees! While this may not seem like much if you’re accustomed to tropical or even temperate weather, but up here in Maine, this is cause for celebration! Everyone (including me) was out and about in tee-shirts, some people even went so far as to wear shorts and flip flops. There was definitely a spring-like atmosphere on campus, with people hanging out outside the library, or sitting on the benches that pepper Alumni Walk. I took a study break to jam with some friends on the Quad. One of my friends brought a guitar. It was a wonderful musical interlude to the busyness of the week.

The only downside of the weather was that bringing myself to go back into the library after singing OCMS’s “Wagon Wheel” (one of my favorite songs!) to get back to that paper on Hegel that’s due on Monday…

 

Impromptu jam session on the steps of Coram overlooking the Quad.