Report of a Cold Californian

--The pond near the library--

(the building with the pointed top is the art museum)

I woke up this morning to observe ice on the inside of my bedroom window. The current temperature, the computer informed me, is “1F, feels like -6 F.” Much the same is predicted for the coming week. I asked my apartment-mate, Emily, if it was likely to be this cold all winter. “Oh no,” she said, “probably only until February.” Actually, upon further questioning it become clear that “this cold” did not necessarily mean “this cold,” and since the locals have spoken encouragingly of weather as “unusual,” I cling to the hope that I can survive the winter with all my toes intact. Still, this Californian is not entirely reconciled to wearing coats and hats, much less to thinking of winter as something that extends beyond Christmas.

--Morrison Hall, to the west of Sycamore--

--Sycamore Hall, through the trees--

The cold did not prevent me from taking my usual walk. The Bloomington campus is large, and the distance between the buildings lends it a park-like air. Sycamore Hall, which houses the philosophy and religious studies departments, is an older quadrangle near the center of campus.

Of late I have been exploring the more northern half of campus. This area is not as built up, and among the dorms and sports centers the most remarkable man-made feature I've yet seen is a carillon (a bell tower). The natural features, however, include smallish hills, some nice outcroppings of stone, trees, and, at this time of the year, patches of unmelted snow. Supposedly if you go even further north and east you run across University Lake, but I haven't seen that yet. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera on the last trip, so I can't show you a picture of the carillon, but I promise to remedy that on my next journey.

--Trees on the northern side of campus--