reunion: day 1
We drove from DC to Poughkeepsie (in New York State) on Friday. The scenic route, which we took, is through Pennsylvania via Harrisburg and the melodiously named Scranton, thence across the Newburgh bridge and on to Poughkeepsie. It's very lightly policed, and there was very little traffic, so we were able to motor along at a good rate.
I had an eye-opening conversation while waiting to get a coffee at a McDonald's somewhere in southern PA; a young black guy started to tell me that he was about to turn 22 and had concluded that he needed to get himself straightened out so that he wouldn't be a knucklehead. He wasn't totally specific about what he meant but I took some clues from the "Mr Pot Head" (instead of Mr Potato Head) t-shirt he had on. However, the unprompted rant that he proceeded to go on re: our fearless President was entertaining...
L in the meantime was locking herself in a stall in the ladies' room and R had to crawl under the door to release her; frankly I was pleased to get off lightly with a brown diaper from Rr.
It had been supposed to rain the whole day but we got caught only once in the rain. By us, I mean that R and L got trapped at a rest area toilet when the heavens opened. I had just decided to get them with a golf umbrella for shelter when they arrived, soaking and laughing. Then Rr lost it, so while R was calming her down I put L into her butterfly rain coat and wellies for some serious puddle splashing -- much to the amusement of three old dears who I am sure were on their way to Vassar also...
When we got to Vassar there was a cluster-f*ck with the housing. We had registered early to get an apartment in the center of the campus, but were sent out instead to temporary housing at the perimeter of campus... it was filthy; the floors left the girls' feet black, the porch was covered in cigarette butts and such, and there were push-pins and nails all over the inside. Of the five (single) bedrooms, 4 reeked to varying degrees of cigarette smoke and the fourth of incense and other tangy herbs...
Anyway, we tracked down R's friends and went off to cocktail hour and then dinner. R's closest friends who were in attendance are all childless, but they all were doting on our little charmers, who were also playing with a couple of other kids there. There was very immediate separation of people into cliques, and those of us who were there as "spouse of" were surreptitiously sounding one another out on it. That clumping can be a drag; there was one woman with an 18 month old who was stuck with her husband's friend and his older children, she kept gravitating towards Rr but to no avail long term.
One final thought: putting small children in housing underneath a fireworks display is a cruel trick - I thought we were going to have to peel L off the ceiling. Still, eventually we got them down and R was able to see some more of her friends... with only one interruption at 3.30 in the morning when I woke up with a headache, Rr woke up screaming and brought her sister along, and much time was required for all and sundry to get some more sleep...
I had an eye-opening conversation while waiting to get a coffee at a McDonald's somewhere in southern PA; a young black guy started to tell me that he was about to turn 22 and had concluded that he needed to get himself straightened out so that he wouldn't be a knucklehead. He wasn't totally specific about what he meant but I took some clues from the "Mr Pot Head" (instead of Mr Potato Head) t-shirt he had on. However, the unprompted rant that he proceeded to go on re: our fearless President was entertaining...
L in the meantime was locking herself in a stall in the ladies' room and R had to crawl under the door to release her; frankly I was pleased to get off lightly with a brown diaper from Rr.
It had been supposed to rain the whole day but we got caught only once in the rain. By us, I mean that R and L got trapped at a rest area toilet when the heavens opened. I had just decided to get them with a golf umbrella for shelter when they arrived, soaking and laughing. Then Rr lost it, so while R was calming her down I put L into her butterfly rain coat and wellies for some serious puddle splashing -- much to the amusement of three old dears who I am sure were on their way to Vassar also...
When we got to Vassar there was a cluster-f*ck with the housing. We had registered early to get an apartment in the center of the campus, but were sent out instead to temporary housing at the perimeter of campus... it was filthy; the floors left the girls' feet black, the porch was covered in cigarette butts and such, and there were push-pins and nails all over the inside. Of the five (single) bedrooms, 4 reeked to varying degrees of cigarette smoke and the fourth of incense and other tangy herbs...
Anyway, we tracked down R's friends and went off to cocktail hour and then dinner. R's closest friends who were in attendance are all childless, but they all were doting on our little charmers, who were also playing with a couple of other kids there. There was very immediate separation of people into cliques, and those of us who were there as "spouse of" were surreptitiously sounding one another out on it. That clumping can be a drag; there was one woman with an 18 month old who was stuck with her husband's friend and his older children, she kept gravitating towards Rr but to no avail long term.
One final thought: putting small children in housing underneath a fireworks display is a cruel trick - I thought we were going to have to peel L off the ceiling. Still, eventually we got them down and R was able to see some more of her friends... with only one interruption at 3.30 in the morning when I woke up with a headache, Rr woke up screaming and brought her sister along, and much time was required for all and sundry to get some more sleep...
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