Other than a really vicious hang over, Sunday started rather pleasantly. Steve delivered my iToys with a comment that he tried to deliver them to my room but I was so sound asleep (passed out) he kept them in his room until he saw the whites of my eyes. Make that the bloodshot areas of my eyes.
The morning was unstructured. After breakfast, we had a discussion of Tom O'C writing a book about the farm experiences. That was a discussion I could not contribute to at all, unfortunately. However, I did think of a question that I posed to the group at dinner and it is, "Cast yourselves back to the spring of junior year (1968) and in your best possible mood and memory, try to remember what you thought you would be doing without the Farm after graduation. Then compare what did happen."
After lunch, a group of us went for a walk and we somehow ended up on the woods trail instead of the meadow trail. We met no fewer than a bazillion small, flying residents of Minnesota during this part of the walk. We took a fork in the path and headed for the "Old College Road" which relieved us of the bugs but put us in full sunlight. Someone said at lunch that the walk would be buggy and sweaty. Damn right.
The Old Collegeville Road used to be the main entrance to the campus. When the interstate was put in, they moved the entry road. The new approach has the benefit of putting the well known belfry in full view as you drive towards the campus. The old road was at the perfect angle to see the narrowest part of the belfry so it often wasn't recognized until you were on the commons area. In comparison, it is clear how the belfry is now a tremendous visual element on the skyline above the tree line as you approach the campus from the new direction.
I messed up (again) and did not put on the exercise clothes I brought along for the walk. That means I DEETED and sweated into one of my "see me in public" outfits. I solved this problem on Monday by buying a St. Bens polo shirt to go with the cap. In the meantime, the Farmers had to suffer my day old clothes. No one grabbed their noses and collapsed on the floor, so it could not have been too bad.
The Old Collegville Road does cross the interstate but it has been reduced to a walking/bike path at that point. We met a Bennie walking from St Johns to St Bens and she explained that she stayed on the old road until she reached the Lake Wobegon Trail (there really is such a thing) and the trail took her to within a few blocks of the St. Benedict's campus. Total distance is 6 miles or a touch more. (I later confirmed with the counter clerk at the Guest House who was a Bennie. She said it was 6.5 miles and she only biked it, never walked it.)
Arriving at the Guest House, I found David in the cafe area messing with his new Nikon D5000. I brought my D200 and we had quite a session comparing functions, swapping lenses and componetry and helping David understand how the new digital SLR behaved compared to his former film based SLR. Basically, it was a couple of guys with a selection of modern electronics trying to figure things out without reading the manuals. Works for me!
After I had showered to get rid of the sweat and DEET, David and I headed to the McKeown center. At that point, Diana approached me for help with her electronic devices: a new iPad and a new iPhone 4. We worked through them, including setting up her Amazon account and downloading two books she wanted to get her started.
On Sunday, I was much more alert and aware than I was on Saturday--something to do with two martinis and wine chasers, I assume.
Dinner was great as always. Good discussions of all sorts. We had a guest for Sunday, Fr Hillary who was instrumental in making the Farm happen in 1968. In fact, he had hoped to be the faculty member in residence but he was named Dean in the summer of 1968 so Fr. Patrick became the resident faculty member. The quilt came together as part of the evening and I am not posting pictures until we have a chance to review all taken by the group. Its a really cool quilt!
Next posting, Duluth or otherwise know at Doo Loot.
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