Where We Live

Here are a few pix of our B&B, the Swift House Inn:

A quaint country New England boarding house. 

Very Laura Ashley.

The places we live also include dorms, and today was move-in day for Hannah. Battell South is an ivy-covered building, white clapboard and stone, with a blue door. Inside, however, it is a typical dorm room, with cinder block walls, heavy-duty light wood furniture, and tight living quarters. Nevertheless, Hannah did her best to make it feel like home.

Doesn't it look great?

Midd Adventure (Day 4)

Today we actually toured the campus and the town of Middlebury, which is so lovely, the best I can do is post the photos, so you can see for yourself.

One of the many grassy quads.

The chapel.

Hannah's dorm.

The library.

Hannah and Charlotte stroll through town. Note the banner welcoming incoming students.

Otter Creek runs through town.

There are even waterfalls.

We stopped at this tea shop in a restored stone building that was originally used to process marble that was mined locally. We enjoyed freshly brewed chai and maple oolong.

Tomorrow is move-in day. Wish us luck!

Midd Adventure (Day 2)

Today was the big dorm shopping day, but we also managed to take in some of Burlington's sites. Here's a brief tour.

I've got hangers, but I still need hooks for all my coats and scarves, don't I?

Lake Champlain is a great place for some R&R after too much shopping.

Refreshment is just a scoop away at Vermont's own Ben & Jerry's.

Midd Adventure (Day 1)

It's a long way from San Diego to Middlebury. But here we are happy to be in Burlington, Vermont, on the first day of Hannah's great college adventure.

We spent our first evening on Church Street, which is a picturesque pedestrian promenade similar to the one in Santa Monica. Crowds of people were dining al fresco, musicians were playing, shoppers were spending money and everyone seemed to be having a great time. I know we were.

It seems all the cows that were in La Jolla last year have returned to the state that made Ben & Jerry's famous.

More to come...

Vermont

No act shouts Heading East as much as our imminent trip to Vermont to take Hannah to college. It truly speaks to the feeling that I have of living on the western edge of the continent with a longing to go east, where something more is happening, or where nothing much is happening, but to a place where one can feel grounded. Some days, it wouldn't surprise me if an earthquake caused all of California to break off from the rest of the continent and drop away into the ocean, like a massive ice chunk breaking free of the polar cap. The farther east my children go, the more I feel the tug to go back there, the more San Diego feels like it is drifting into the sea.