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| Samuel and Steven near the freshman dorms, Kenyon College |
It's been seven weeks since we dropped our youngest off at Kenyon College, in the heart of central Ohio. Samuel has done a remarkable job fitting in and getting involved at this campus of about 1800 students. He's joined a number of clubs, goes to the football games, watches the stars at the observatory, and knows just about everybody in his dorm. He also knows the best time to do his laundry (Tuesday) and the machines that work the best. He is a campus pro. And oh yeah, he's looking forward to his first Ohio winter.
We went to visit Samuel for the family weekend in mid-October when the college lines up an eclectic mix of activities. If you can make it on Friday, you're welcome to sit in on classes (with or without your student). As it takes us all day to get there, we missed the classes, but we had a full day on Saturday. We started with a trip to Gund Gallery, where I viewed works by Swiss artist Pia Fries, who makes use of "thick, pulsating pigment." Think paint piled up like frosting on a cake. I also enjoyed a room filled with art journals from around the world, including a story told in ten flipbooks. All books should be so enjoyable.
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| Gund Galley |
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Samuel observes a llama at the harvest festival.
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After a talk by the school president and lunch at a combo Greek/Indian eatery in nearby Mt. Vernon, we headed off to the fall harvest festival at the Brown Family Environmental Center. This is a teaching center near the Kokosing nature preserve, but also a community park. We didn't join in the pumpkin decorating, or cider pressing, or horse drawn wagon rides. We did pet a llama and enjoy the music. (Steven said he'd like to have a llama, and I said that was fine, if he took care of it. This was followed by a long silence.)
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| College football, NCAA Division 3 |
Then it was off to watch the Kenyon Lords play against the Alleghany College Gators. It did not go well for the Lords. Final score was 54 Gators, 10 Lords. But it was delightful sitting in the stands, looking out towards the corn fields on a brisk sunny day in central Ohio. We stayed only until half time, when, because Samuel had recently joined the Rural Cause club, we headed over to Kenyon's 11 acre farm, run by student farmers. The farm, acquired in 2012, grows vegetables and raises ducks and goats. All of it (yes, including the animals) finds it's way to the school cafeteria. At some point during the year the farm hosts a Goat Roast. I'll let you imagine what that entails. I've never had goat myself, but I heard it takes like chicken.
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| Chicks for sale at the local Rural King store. |
Then it was off to Rural King (think Walmart for farmers), to get some cold weather gear for Samuel. Rural King has all the basics, plus tractors, firearms, chicken feed, varmint traps, etc. We took a gander at the chicks in the middle of the store, and the rooster. A sign warned us they were not to be sold individually, but in sets of six, for agricultural use only. Well, it would be hard to get them home anyway.
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| Main Street in Mt. Vernon. The Joint is on the corner. |
And then, because the Village Inn back at Kenyon College had a forty minute wait for dinner, we enjoyed some smashburgers at The Joint in downtown Mt. Vernon. It was 50's diner style in a hundred year old building. (Mt. Vernon was founded in 1805.)
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| Samuel, Steven, and strawberry malt at The Joint |
And then we ran out of steam. More fun in Ohio tomorrow.
