“Mom! Come see this beautiful sunset!”

With bedroom windows peering in a southwest direction, James always seemed to catch a beautiful sunset before the rest of us. He’d head outside to watch the changing colors and often grabbed a few photos at just the right moment. Other times, he slung a guitar over his shoulder and sang to the birds, deer, and the occasional groundhog as dusk settled.

Mom never tires of hearing her red-haired grandson has a poet’s soul.

Two questions came up last week as we prepared for the move-in trip up to Terre Haute for James’s sophomore year at Rose-Hulman. James wondered about the dimensions of his dorm room (this is the year he’s determined to build a loft), but also its location. He wasn’t concerned about which floor, but which side.

The photo above shows the front of his dorm. James’s hope was that his assigned room would be on the other side of the building, though.

… so he could have this view:

James is already looking forward to fall leaves changing the color palette of his view out the window. And then the gentle snowfall of winter.

What he’s not looking forward to all that much is the geese. Despite my Cameron-given nickname of Goose (rather than “grandma”), James finds little comfort in their presence at Rose.

“All they do is hiss. And shit on the sidewalks.”

The other critter in abundance on campus? Squirrels! They’re a bit more tidy with their bathroom habits, thankfully.

As Gary and I returned last home last night, it didn’t take long for us to miss our youngest lad. I mean really miss him. Our Wi-Fi was out. And our piano was chirping (James takes care of “watering” its humidifier). He’ll be happy to know, I’m sure, that his 60-something parents managed to remedy both situations on their own post haste.

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