Someplace Warm

So, yesterday, the hottest day in 10 years, I took Annika to visit Wheaton College in Norton Massachusetts.  Wheaton is one of those small liberal arts colleges that are so common throughout New England, and is also a former women's college.  (Frankly, I think women's colleges are a good thing, in general, but there are few left, and most colleges do offer some housing options for women only.)  Despite its origins as a women's seminary (like Mount Holyoke), Wheaton is quite secular.  But we were charmed, nonetheless.  Everyone smiles, and the presentations from current students, career services (they gave Annika a fun t-shirt), and a professor of art history (one of Annika's interests) were all excellent and informative.  I believe she will be applying.

Well, probably.  She really wants to go "someplace warm."  But, honestly, Dear, this was the hottest school I have visited since the University of Kansas in the summer of 1980.  "Haha" was pretty much the response I got from her.

"Twisted Sisters"--large art on campus

But still, she did like it.  On the way up and back, we listened to a lecture series by their resident medieval and Tolkien scholar Prof. Drout, which was really wonderful.  And the art history lab demo during the tour was fun and informative, guided by the affable and lively Prof. Staudinger who demonstrated infectious enthusiasm for her work on French medieval cathedrals.  Plus, they offer ancient Greek to satisfy their language requirement.

The campus is beautiful, if rather typical of the NE LA colleges--a mixture of Georgian and modern architecture, a small pond (featuring a great blue heron), a central college green, a multi-purpose chapel--and is surrounded by a quaint New England village, including the cliched former Congregationalist churches which are now Unitarian and probably mostly empty.  The Catholic church in town is a nearly 2 mile walk along the same street as the college, and is, of course, the ugliest building in town, but Mass is offered in the chapel on Sundays.  I did not see any evidence of a Newman club, or any Catholic outreach.  But with relatives less than an hour away, I guess it'd be fine.

Afterwards we went up to Auntie Rose's house and had a swim in the pool.  The pool was 85 degrees, and hardly refreshing, but it was better than nothing.  And the company was wonderful (my mom was visiting my aunt!).  Back home by 11pm...and it was still hot.