Wednesday, November 07, 2007

miss UW? you should.

My days have been variously touched on (caressed? punched at? both?) by this university since 1979. Initially I came as a lecturer. And as a spouse of a prof. I continued as a law student. And as a mother of an occasional class-taker. I came back as a law faculty member.

On Wisconsin, on Wisconsin!

For nearly thirty years I’ve made my way to campus, back and forth, back and forth, by bus, by car, on foot, motorcycle or bike, back and forth.

UW, blending into Madison. One, impossible to imagine without the other. As if there wasn't a boundary between the two.

Yes, sure, I’m feeling nostalgic with the onset of a Madison late fall/early winter. (And happy to be home and warm after a blustery ride back.)

Let me take Ocean with me on that 23 minute ride, forgetting about the usual lake path. Working my way from the hallways of school life to the gardens on Observatory, past a practicing band, finishing in the newly opened café (just today! Because I have a nose that's viciously long for new and sparkly cafés) within a stone’s throw of my condo.

First, the Law School. Fall colors, pouring into the library:


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Onwards. Past Centennial gardens. Quiet. Monochromatic. But not dull.


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Then, past a practice session of the marching band. Men, women, almost oblivious to the biting cold. Almost.


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Finally, a quick pause at a new bakery and coffee shop ("Gallup"). Warm colors. Great coffee. Good ending to a cold ride.


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