Yesterday was my ten-year high school reunion. Admittedly, I wasn’t too keen on going in the first place. I knew there weren’t going to be many attending; those who I was particularly eager to see were among those unable to come. If I hadn’t just happened to be in town for it, I would not have made the trip especially.
It was unfortunate that an event which should have been fun and interesting turned out to be such a bust, but I’m also convinced that -without wanting to offend those who planned the occasion – it could have been arranged in a much better way. I felt sorry most for those who had travelled great distances (such as Oregon or even Germany), all for such ghastly disappointment. However, a small group of us consorted in one area when we arrived and decided to eventually migrate elsewhere for our own version of a reunion. This turned out to be a much better idea.
I was glad of the company that trailed off to the Jolly Pumpkin in downtown Ann Arbor. We filled a few scrunched-together tables on the ground floor and found many similarities in our adult lives that didn’t always exist when we were younger. At the end of the night, friendships were renewed and we walked out of the Jolly Pumpkin and onto Main Street, where nearly all of the remnants of this year’s Ann Arbor Art Fair had been carried off and carted away.
Speaking of the Art Fair, I always marvel at why every year it is held on the hottest week of the summer. Stifling! For once, I’d like to see it set up at the end of June, when people are comfortable enough to meander through the booths without complaining, sweltering, and smelling.
Corner of State and Liberty:
State Street, near S. University:
Last week was one of peace and quiet and one I was exceptionally grateful for. I spent ten days house/cat-sitting for a friend of mine, just south of Ann Arbor. They have a beautifully rennovated farmhouse in the country, amidst corn and wheat fields and fruit orchards.
At one point, I decided to take a spontaneous post-dinner country bike ride around the area and managed to snap some shots with my phone:
Wasem’s orchard: 
I’ve also been revelling in the past few weeks of Professor Williams’s class on the period from 1600-1800. Since that week was devoted to reading Paradise Lost, I was glad for the respite and silence of the house in the country. A week alone with Milton. That sounds like it deserves a poem.
To help me study Milton, was sweet Nanny Sage. Sage is 21 years old and affectionately nicknamed “Grandma.” It’s easy to relax into a poem like Paradise Lost when you’ve got this tiny little thing purring on your lap, nudging her whiskers into your book for attention:
In addition to this class, I’ve been attending Thursday bonus lectures on Shakespeare’s sonnets. I don’t believe I’ve ever loved Shakespeare more than when in the presence of Ralph Williams. I’ve attended his lectures a few years prior on a few of the plays, but now to hear the sonnets and discuss their complexity is quite the treat!
And what would make all of this studying complete? Latin tutorials. Yes, that’s right. I’ve been studying Latin on the side – just for fun. A couple of girls and I who had taken the Chaucer course this past winter semester have decided it would be a good time to brush up on our Latin skills. It’s helpful that one of us, Laurie, has had Latin before. Otherwise, I’d be completely lost. The only Latin I remember is mass from Catholic school days – and who pays attention in mass when you’re that young? No, you’re rather thinking about whether you’re going to be picked last for kickball on the playground at recess.
All this is keeping me extremely happy. I love spending more and more time on campus and studying works and subjects that truly mean something to me.
Poet Abroad 