After a long hiatus from posting, I decided that it was high time that I compose another post. Not that I think that I have any faithful readers who have missed my scintillating (aka boring and perhaps pointless) daily ramblings rather, I decided I would like to write another post and see how many hits it gets and if I get any comments about it.
Anyhow, this weekend was my five year college reunion so my husband and I flew into Boston and then headed up north to Vermont with a friend. It was about 55 or 60 degrees and raining when we left Boston but by the time we arrived in Middlebury, although the rain had stopped falling, there was plenty of moisture still in the air, not to mention, it had gone up by about 15 degrees. It was disgusting! We took off our sweatshirts and headed over to Coffrin where we were staying. Once we checked in, we went back to the car, got our stuff, headed up to our rooms to put outr things down, and then walked over to the CFA for dinner. It was so great to see everyone again! There was just a feeling that I can’t exactly describe, or even put my finger on, about being back up there, it just felt comfortable, like returning back to a place full of great memories, like home. We sat outside under those tents at dinner for a good two or three hours just visiting, chatting, and catching up with everyone. Eventually, it got dark and the dining staff began cleaning up all around us so we threw away or garbage and headed back up to Coffrin. Some people went into town to get drinks, but we decided just to hang out on campus. We stood in the entryway to Coffrin for about two hours. I can’t even begin to express how wonderful it was to have so many familiar faces back in the same place again! Much to my chagrin, the sleepness night from a cross-country plane ride began catching up with us around 12:30 and we went up to our room and went to sleep.
Saturday brought a relatively early wake-up at 8:20, followed by a quick trip to the dining hall for a piece of toast and peanut butter, and a run out to four corners at 9:30. It was so much fun (albeit disgustingly hot and sticky) to run around Middlebury again. Of course, the running route itself was not the absolute highlight of the excursion that designation is reserved for getting to run with the Mikes again (ooooh, and an added bonus, running with Jeffy!). I hadn’t forgotten how much I enjoy running with those guys but memories can only take you so far. Getting to actually do it again was awesome!
Since it was about 85 degrees and humid when we left and about 92 degrees and humid when we got back to the dorm (oh, let’s not forget that maybe 400 meters of the entire 8 mile run is in the shade, the rest is exposed to the sun) I downed an entire bottle of water in about three minutes. Holy cow! It was HOT! There was sweat dripping in my eyes, my shorts were soaked and it was so hot and humid that taking off my shirt in the middle of the run did nothing more but allow me to get more of a sports bra sunburn than a t-shirt sunburn! After a much needed shower (I was actually disgusted by my own stink, it was so bad!) we headed down to lunch behind the CFA. My husband went up to Burlington to see a friend and I went with the Mikes, Marty, Sandy, Robyn, and Ken to the Falls of Lana. The path to get down there seemed a bit more treacherous than I recalled, however, that coould also have been due to the fact that I was wearing flip-flops – probably not the best selection of foot attire…Although I was initially hesitant to get in the water (it was absolutely freezing!), I took the plunge and felt incredibly refreshed, nice call to go swimming! We hung out at the falls for a good two to two and a half hours and then drove back to Middlebury feeling much cooler and much less cranky!
When we got back, we quickly got ready for dinner and headed back towards the CFA. The food was delicious – salad, salmon, corn, bread, and strawberry shortcake for dessert. I wanted to eat more, but I couldn’t fit anything else into my tummy, that is, of course, until Sandy brought over some candy that she found in another class’ tent, yum! After dinner we sat around under the tents for a while and then headed back up to the dorm. Two of the Mikes decided to play a game of beer chess (not a very spectator- or participant-friendly sport, so we went downstairs and outside (where, thank goodness, it had finally cooled off a bit!) to see what other people were doing. After walking around and talking to some people for a bit my husband and some of my friends picked up a whiffle ball and started swinging it at a four square ball. The ball was too heavy so it didn’t go anywhere, no fun. Then someone had the brilliant idea of using an empty water bottle. We occupied ourselves for a while playing whiffle bottle and then as it got to be 1:30, we decided it was time for bed.
Sunday we woke up (it feels so good to wake up here, to see the sun shining, and to get to start another day at Middlebury. Again, it’s that feeling of comfort, and happiness, and home that I just can’t seem to do justice to by describing it in words), made another quick trip to the dining hall, this time to Proctor (yahoo for Proctor!), and then it was off for another run. Today, after learning our lesson from yesterday’s run, we chose a route with a bit more shade a heck of a lot cooler breeze. The run down Creek Road was great! Having running buddies who I can just talk with about anything or nothing is so wonderful. We got back to the dorm, drank a whole bunch of water, stretched, showered, and went over to Atwater for brunch. Yeah for dining halls! I love the Middlebury dining halls! There was cereal, fruit, yogurt, granola, cream of wheat, eggs, french toast, pasta, vegetables, practically anything I could have ever wanted for brunch and it was all prepared and cooked for me and I didn’t even have to do the dishes! We sat with Cheryl and Jeffy and said bye to a few people as they started to leave. After brunch, people started packing up and leaving and while it was sad to leave and to see everyone else go, we had spent just the right amount of time there. I realize that while it’s still my school, it’s really no longer my school. There’s a whole new group of people there and it’s their turn for the school to be theirs. It was an excellent weekend, and I’m already excited for reunion 2013!
