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. Â I generally tell people, when asked how I liked the military academy, that it was a valuable experience. Â Yet I do have some fond memories. Â 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. Â 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. Â 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!” Â (I think I was 26 or 27.) Â UT is a pretty campus, and I love Austin. Â My parents live nearby so I do get to occasionally visit.
Vet school was, well, vet school. Â Though I’ve stayed in touch with some of my classmates, I really don’t care about visiting College Station. Â I do have very fond memories of where I lived — in a little house in a cluster of farm buildings. Â The farm belonged to Ed, who taught at Texas A&M and ran cattle and built things around the farm (like the little house). Â 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:
