I typically get to work pretty early, and today I had to park far away and walk across most of the campus to my building.  In the spirit of our “Five Senses” posts, I thought you might like a peek at what you see on campus around 7:15 am.  So here are some impressionistic snapshots of what I saw and heard.

On the Quad proper:

One male student on the Quad with a backpack. Could not tell if he was heading to the Pit for breakfast or off to the library.

The door to Campus Grounds coffee shop was open and I could see someone in there.

There were Facilities workers on riding lawnmowers mowing the Quad grass.  (This is a routine student complaint, hearing lawnmowers and leaf blowers at 7 am.  But the staff needs to do the cutting before it gets too hot, and the sidewalks need to be swept of leaves before there is a ton of foot traffic).

A female student was stepping on to the Quad, texting as she walked.

There was almost no one in the faculty/staff parking lot or the visitor lot between Davis/Taylor and Kitchin/Poteat, respectively.  I bet those faculty spaces are filled by 7:45.

A girl dressed in shorts and a top was going in to Kitchin with a purse in her hand.

Heading down the hill from the Quad toward Worrell Professional Center/passing the Sutton Center & Reynolds Gym and the track:

A student in scrubs and a boot cast walking in the general direction of the Health and Exercise Science building. He might have been a grad student (not sure why he would be in scrubs otherwise).

There were a couple of people driving and tooting their horns.

The shuttle service was already running.  I saw one of the big shuttle buses.

I could see golden sunlight starting to come up over the east side of campus behind the Sutton Center.

A girl in workout clothes was walking on the sidewalk talking to somebody on her cellphone via headphones.

There was big, loud, orange construction equipment down by the front of Reynolds Gym.  They were hard at work and you could hear metallic clinking and sawing.

The sunrise was hitting the side of Farrell Hall, casting some beautiful golden shadows on the façade.

There were some hard-core people down on the track working out.  I could see somebody doing burpees (yuck!), and a pair of male joggers.  There were three more people standing there who looked like they were getting ready to have a morning workout.  Every last one of them was in enviably good shape.

In the distance I could see in the Miller Center [student workout area] windows and there were already people on the elliptical machines.

A second group of female students arrived at the track for some kind of morning workout.

Rounding the corner toward Worrell/the Health and Exercise Science wing, and Alumni Hall:

I passed a solitary girl jogging with her headphones on.  She was going at a pretty good pace.

The Wake Line shuttle (smaller van) was heading through the big parking lot.

A pair of students walked toward the Health and Exercise Science new addition at Worrell but did not go in that entrance, so maybe they were law students heading to class?  It was hard to tell how old they were from a distance.

On some mornings this early, I might see the ROTC students jogging as a group or running drills outside their building – but not this morning.  The ROTC building was quiet.

General impressions:

The air was cool.  It was a cool kind of moist air, like you know it might be hot later – but for the moment it just felt really refreshing.  It was maybe 72 degrees.

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky.  Just a beautiful blue sky on one side of campus and gold sky where the sun was coming up on the other side.

There are still a lot of flowers on campus: tons of ornamental grasses and hydrangeas, and yellow ball-like flowers that I don’t know the names of, but made me think maybe chrysanthemums? (I’m not a good gardener).

It’s really peaceful in the morning before everyone’s awake and you feel like the campus is just yours.  I know taking a 7 am stroll for the heck of it is probably not how students would choose to spend their morning, but it’s very peaceful to be one of the only ones outside, before it is crowded, before your day begins.  Just you and the campus.

 

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