Indian Summer
Not sure if technically you can call this weather Indian Summer - since it’s still September after all - but it is warm and sunny and really lovely out. Looking out my window toward Manchester Quad and the Bostwick-Collins-Johnson dorm trio, I see two young men playing baseball. I guess since it’s just 2 people, it’s technically just catch. One of the guys is really hamming it up, spitting into his glove and trying to look very official.
There is starting to be a hint of fall leaves on the trees, just a couple of pokes of brown and dark orange on the top of the skyline. Give us another few weeks and it ought to be a glorious collage of fall colors. Many of you remember driving down Reynolda Road, past Reynolda Village and Graylyn and Reynolda House - it’s a stretch of road where the tree branches overhang the road, so the effect is a canopy. In the fall, I’d argue it’s one of the prettiest stretches of road in our state.
I took a WFU Travel Program trip a few years back to Provence, France. Our hotel was located in Aix-en-Provence (Aix is pronounced like the letter X) and Aix boasts the Cours Mirabeau, which is arguably one of the prettiest avenues in France. Same basic idea - huge trees that provide shade over a wide vista of road.
While on that trip, our tour guide told us that the reason the French have so many symmetrical tree-lined streets is because they were planted centuries ago - pre cars or air conditioning - so that the buggies with produce had shade as they were being pulled from the farm into town. Kept the groceries from getting spoiled. Not all bad.
There endeth the lesson in French tree planting - but its a good reminder that there are a whole host of excellent educational trips WFU offers. They are open to alumni, parents, friends - if you like WFU, you are welcome to travel with us! Info is available on http://www.wfu.edu/alumni/kiosk/travel/travel.html