Re-Emptying the Nest

For the 6^th year in a row, we’ve packed up all of the essential belongings of one of our kids, and deposited them back at college (or as I like to call it, “releasing them into the wild”). Today, we returned our son to the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Move-in day can be a little stressful, since kids rarely operate on the same wavelength as parents, and often have not yet developed a fully mature appreciation for detail or organization (you left WHAT at home??). In our case, our son travels very light, easily fitting all of his stuff into our Toyota Corolla with room to spare, which makes unloading a breeze. No heavy lifting, like this guy has:



Here are a few photos I took just walking along Richmond Rd. by the old campus. First up is the Wren building, designed by Sir Christopher Wren of London's St. Paul's Cathedral fame, and one of the college's three oldest buildings (construction began in 1695). It's usually described as "the oldest academic building in continuous use in the United States," although to be honest, "use" some years just meant ringing the bell.



Here is the backyard of the President's home, next door to the Wren Building:



And here is a view of a college gate, showing the distinctive rounded-top brick wall that surrounds the old campus:



William and Mary isn't all old red brick, statuary and boxwoods. Once you get off the old campus into the newer section, there's plenty of new red brick. But we didn't take the tour today, just unloaded the car and loaded up the room, grabbed a lunch at Paul's deli, picked up some cheese and bread at the Cheese Shop to take home for dinner, and bypassed the interstates clogged with returning vacationers in favor of the scenic route back to our once again empty nest.