I just published my MFPP ebook, Autumn Nostalgia!

As I’ve gotten older (old enough to have college age kids of my own) I think I’ve gotten more nostalgic about college.

As I note in the introduction, my college experience, at West Point, was NOT conventional.  I generally tell people, when asked how I liked the military academy, that it was a valuable experience.  Yet I do have some fond memories.  And there’s no denying the beauty of the campus in fall, with the brilliance of the red and orange foliage contrasting against the grey granite buildings and crisp blue sky.  I’ve not yet been to a class reunion — politically I’m so far away from most of my classmates I feel it’d be uncomfortable — but I’d like to visit.
By the time I did my pre-vet work (and zoology degree) at UT Austin, I was much older (relatively speaking) than my classmates.   In fact, once during class, when I was chatting with one of my classmates –I think about the Army reserves — something, in any case, to prompt him to ask my age — he blurted, “But you don’t LOOK that old!”  (I think I was 26 or 27.)  UT is a pretty campus, and I love Austin.  My parents live nearby so I do get to occasionally visit.

Vet school was, well, vet school.  Though I’ve stayed in touch with some of my classmates, I really don’t care about visiting College Station.  I do have very fond memories of where I lived — in a little house in a cluster of farm buildings.  The farm belonged to Ed, who taught at Texas A&M and ran cattle and built things around the farm (like the little house).  There were squirrels, possums, snakes (including water moccasins and copperheads), beautiful birds (Texas is great for birding), and an alligator in the bass pond. Really.
Before  I meander too much, here are the patterns: