At Northfield Mount Hermon School.
The walls are made of Connecticut River stone, dragged
up from the river some hundred years ago by the pupils!
The healthy tradition of putting students to work at NMH continues, my son having done sterling duty on the farm, mucking out sundry beasts and making maple syrup.
Doubtless there are numerous child labor laws to prevent this sort of thing today, but the cadres thus protected are not exactly tomorrow’s leaders.
Panny GX7, 12-35mm pro zoom.
The city of brotherly love.
While the primary purpose of our trip to Philadelphia was for my son WInston to tour and interview at Haverford and Swarthmore, we made a point of hitting some highlights of this varied city.
Tony Luke’s Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches are reported to be the best so where else for our first ever taste? This denizen, ‘wife beater’ and all, was enjoying his, along with a gallon of water. The restaurant is in the worst area imaginable. The sandwiches were fine!
We pose at the Rocky statue outside the Museum of Art.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art houses a tremendous modern art collection.
Milton Avery’s ‘Black Jumper, 1944, offsets a visitor.
This too, apparently, is Art. Con Art.
Independence Hall where both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed.
Yeah, right.
Independence Hall is very well maintained – here’s the clock tower.
The Court Room inside the Hall, a suitable venue to try the untreated syphilitic in the Oval Office today.
The architecture has withstood time well.
The Hall room where the Constitution was debated.
The Liberty Bell, crack and all. Maybe they should have bought Chinese?
The forecourt of the Barnes Foundation, home to one of the finest collections of 19th century French art on the planet.
The Barnes is a no expense spared institution.
Just for openers – Seurat’s luminous ‘Bathers’ and Cézanne’s ‘Card Players’.
A final view of the Barnes.
Despite vast disparities of wealth – we saw the best and the worst of the city – Philadelphia was incredibly welcoming, a quiet politeness pervading the air. Not once was my atrocious driving honked at.
All snaps on the Panny GX7 with the 12-35mm pro zoom.
Winston checks in.
My son checks in for his final year at Northfield Mount Hermon School, an institution which has taken a child and made a man:
Ready for the 2019/20 academic year.
By all accounts the Junior year is the toughest so Winston is greatly looking forward to enjoying his last year, having enjoyed stellar personal and academic growth since September 1, 2016.
In Bennington, VT.
Bennington, Vermont is perhaps best known for its eponumously named prep school which is renowned for its hard core left wing stance on, well, almost everything.
Visiting the town today my attention was drawn to an antique gun store on Main Street. Never having been in one before, the temptation to check it out was too great.
No shortage of inventory. The idiocy that is the Second Amendment rules.
This is huntin’, fishin’ and shootin’ country.
You can start your own survivalist movement here.
Just the thing for freeway traffic.
“Trust me, I own one myself”.
“Please do not dry fire the guns”. Go figure. Must you load first?
Winston checks out a WW2 field radio. They are a bit smaller today.
All snapped on the Panny GX7, 12-35mm Pro zoom.
Interview day.
For an alphabetical index of the New England College series of pieces, click here.
We made our way due north from Philadelphia to Middletown Connecticut for Winston’s final interview at Wesleyan University today, this being our second visit. The weather continued perfect though the traffic was awful, seemingly the whole world having decided to leave work early for Monday’s Labor Day, as we made our way through the horrors of Manhattan’s west side en route to our destination.
The Admissions building.
Winston awaits his interview …. with some trepidation.
Andrus field being prepared for commencement day.
The Olin Library.
Classic period architecture with an emphasis on brown stone.
The Van Vleck is the largest of three observatories on campus.
Another view of the Olin.
Judd Hall houses the Department of Psychology.
This is my idea of a tutorial.
The magnificent Usdan Center is the hub for student activities.
A view of the performing arts center.
The open and welcoming design of the campus fronts for a high quality college with traditional values – work ethic, fairness, and decency. Wesleyan alumni succeed in all walks of life. Winston’s concerned visage notwithstanding, his interview went well.