Spring Break

It is a quiet time on campus this week, with the majority of our students gone for Spring Break.  It’s a shame they are gone, because late Saturday and all day Sunday, we had some of the best weather of the spring – close to 70 degrees.   And sunny.  FINALLY.

Some of our students, I suspect, got their travel plans bungled by the late, unwelcome sleet and ice we got last Thursday night and Friday.  Honestly, Deac families, this is the craziest winter I have seen in Winston-Salem in a good many years.  Normally we are not a ‘snow and ice event’ part of the country – usually we are just a bit too far south for that – but this winter has been a real bear.

I feel confident saying we are all aching for spring.  There are many reasons that spring is a wonderful time at Wake Forest, but I’ll name just a few.  And they are all about the landscape:

– Bistro tables and chairs on the Quad.  Our Bryant Park NYC-eque outdoor seating is a wonderful place to study, have lunch, sip a cold drink and warm yourself in the sun.  I hope your students use them often.  And the carts full of board games.  And the outdoor piano.  An active Quad is a beautiful Quad.  There are tables in other places too – outside the Pit, by Benson.

– Cherry blossoms.  They will be opening on the trees, especially on the Quad near the above mentioned bistro tables.  They are beautiful on the trees, but also if there is a strong wind, the tiny petals blow off into big piles on the ground.  Like a pink snowstorm.  Pink confetti.  I have a spot that is my favorite to sit on windy days, and it is beyond peaceful.

– Daffodils.  If your students drive/walk/jog/bike up the entrance to campus from the Reynolda Road/Silas Creek side, there have to be at least 10,000 daffodils that poke up during the spring.  You come up the gentle slope and it is a carpet of flowers.

– The hidden oasis.  On the side of Wait Chapel closest to Efird Hall, there is a little hidden gem.  It’s a garden dedicated to two Wake Forest students, Maia Witzl and Julie Hansen, (see article on page 2) who were killed by a drunk driver in an accident just off campus back in 1996.  Once the azaleas bloom, you can be practically hidden in this oasis – just find the opening in the iron railing and step in to gorgeous splendor.  There are 2 benches, and green grass.

And now that we have moved the clocks ahead, it is staying light longer, and so we are getting sunsets later.  If your student hasn’t found the best spot to sit and relax and watch some of our resplendent spring sunsets, ping him or her that sometimes the best thing you’ll do all day is sit in peace for 20 minutes, not on the phone, not texting, but just watching nature unfold.