Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Back to school, my old school and bittersweet


- Back to school for those young adults there, and probably the owners of those cars there, too.  In my home town of Milledgeville, Georgia on Tuesday afternoon for the legal stuff to close the sale of our family home.  I was so busy for those five hours that I had little time for photos, except for this one out of my car window.  But I saw hundreds of college students all over town yesterday and it brought back memories of my first days at that school

- The college campus pictured above is Georgia College and State University, chartered in 1889 as Georgia Normal and Industrial College - a college for women only, to prepare them for teaching or industrial careers.  It went coed in the 1960s.  That building in the background is Atkinson Hall, circa 1896, named for the founders of the college, who wanted to promote the education of women in the 1880s.  My freshman English teacher used to hold classes on the lawn in front of that building when the weather was nice.

- A lovely and bittersweet afternoon.  It was delightful hearing the distinctive middle Georgia accent all afternoon.  The bakery had my favorite German Nut Bars on hand.  The rain started just as I was leaving town and was at my back all the way home to Atlanta.

It would have been Julia Child's 100th birthday - we should all have something French to eat today in honor, even if it's French Fries.  :)

17 comments:

Joanne said...

It's back to school for the medical students here too! I keep trying ot get my boyfriend to go back-to-school shopping with me even though neither of us are going back to school. No such luck.

Riot Kitty said...

I am thinking about a post about Julia Child, come to think of it. Did you see what was on the Google homepage today?

Ileana said...

Nice college and history and I love that it brought back some good memories for you.

Maybe we should have a nice Chardonnay to honor Julia Child today. :)

Chatty Crone said...

You know I love GA! And I did hear about it being her birthday - I need to go eat something French! lol sandie

Snaggle Tooth said...

Nothing like a reopening college campus before classes begin- so much less stress- So much more fun than High school.
Hope all the house stuff went smoothly- like the German nut bars, mmm.
My Brother used to sell Julia Fresh Maine Shrimp she loved to eat- He has a pic of them together on the street corner near Boston where she'd go find him. She was a sweet heart also! I had a croissant-

Lynn said...

Joanne -

We all deserve to go back to school shopping. :)

Riot Kitty -

I did see it there.

Scarlet -

I had a little Merlot and some pommes frites with a goat cheese dipping sauce at dinner. Yum.

Sandie -

I do know. And this is probably the last of the sentimental posts - I dialed it back hugely. :)

Snaggle -

A croissant would have been good, too. Yum. I loved Julia's shows on PBS - she was delightful. That's neat about your brother.

Leonora said...

Lovely memories and thoughts. Visits back home, things like the subtle catch of an accent, do trigger so many fond memories don't they?

Elephant's Child said...

My memories of school are bitter, with naught sweet about them. I am however very happy that your memories are to be cherished.

Granny Annie said...

Our 18 year old grandson Dillon moves into his dorm for his first year in college today. Can any of us ever forget that day in our lives. Never knew so many emotions all at once.

My freshman English teacher is not fondly remembered and never did anything nice for us.

Honor the military today in honor of Julia Child. A member of the OSS (United States intelligence agency in WWII) , she is more than a French chef, she was a female national hero of mystery and intrigue.

happygirl said...

Back to school. Yep, it's that time of the year. So nice to see you call them young adults. I work at a college and I call them kids. I stopped by my alma mater once and, I too enjoyed the remembering of my youth. This sounded like a very nice day to surround yourself while doing very hard work. :)

OldLady Of The Hills said...

It seems so earky to be 'going back to school'----Mid August?? WOW! Back in the day...School dodn't start till after Labor Day....Evrything is moving faster, isn't it? Nice to see a picture of your Alma Mater!

Louvregirl said...

German Nut Bars; what are they like, Lynn? Hope you are well! My camera came back fixed so I can (now) take and post (decent) photos, again. Hurray (for me!!!!!!)

Hope your week is a good one, Lynn!

Jannie Funster said...

Ummm, fries!! Had some from P.Terry's yesterday, so so good.

Seems funny to me to think of college starting so early in the year. We always went back after labor day, and in Canada with the definite smell of fall in the air.

I wonder what industrial careers they were trained fro in those days? Funny how times have changed!

I can relate to hearing familiar accents when at home. A nice feeling!

xoox

Lynn said...

Leonora -

I can pick a Milledgeville or Macon, Georgia accent out anywhere. I was in a shop here in Atlanta one day and heard some women talking and asked them if they were from Macon. They were surprised and answered yes. I can usually tell. My own accent has migrated to a sort of Atlanta accent, but I lapse into a more southern accent whenever I'm down there.

The Elephant's Child -

I'm sorry to hear that. Mine weren't all great, but I like to linger on the ones that were, such as sitting on the lawn having class.

Granny Annie -

I hope Dillon loves school. I wish more professors would work harder at being great influences. I had some really wonderful teachers and some not so much.

I didn't know that about Julia! Cool.

Lynn said...

happygirl -

I was mindful during that five hours that these would be hours I would never forget - I made them work. I'll go back down there for visits here and there, but it won't be quite the same.

OldLady of the Hills -

Even the little ones are back in school here already. Amazing.

lg -

It seems to be finely ground nuts mixed within the batter to make a flaky bar cookie that has a layer of raspberry inside and covered with chocolate on top. Yum.

Can't wait to see those photos!

Jannie -

We love our french fries, don't we?

Yes - I'll bet you love hearing a Canadian accent like I love hearing the mid-GA accent.

I wonder, too, what industrial career they were talking about - sewing or something? Those were times when women wouldn't really have been in business.

xo

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Lynn .. great to read about your college and some background .. then Julia Childs - I saw that ... I wonder what she'd be thinking about the movie etc and the fact she's remembered ..

Cheers Hilary

Anil P said...

Always a treat to return to school/college/university one went too. So many memories at play, and emotions as well.

I suppose the impressions gathered during one's formative years are an inedible part of one's life, one that's usually a pleasure to revisit, and recount.