It's that time of year again...
I'm heavily in the throes of trip-planning for my fall hejira across the nation for Duke. It occurred to me that I'm always taking photos of other campuses, and I never take photos of the Duke campus, which is quite beautiful in its own right. So here are a few I snapped on our campus yesterday as I was walking to my car.
Every summer about this time, I start the excruciating process of planning my fall trips all over creation. I will be gone from right after Labor Day, on September 8th, until early December with only a Thanksgiving break. I will only be home in North Carolina for a total of 8 days, (5 of which are weekend days.) I'm usually gone three or four weeks at a pop, and then I'm only home a day or so and right back at it again.
While I wind up seeing some fascinating parts of the country, I do miss home. I'm essentially a home-body, so I have to muster up my strength to get myself psyched for this peripatetic lifestyle that awaits me.
This year, I'll be traveling to some familiar places, but I'll also see some new sights which I'm excited about: for example, I'm building into my trips this year some good forestry schools, and so one of them I'll be seeing is Humboldt State University, up in the far north coastal region of California, where the redwood trees live. (It's also earthquake and tsunami territory, mind you!)
I'll be visiting Washington state, Oregon, California, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Alabama, Louisiana, Colorado, Minnesota, Virginia and Tennessee this year. 
I have never been to Alabama or Louisiana before, and I'm already primed for new adventures. It should be a wild ride, and I hope you'll stay with me for some of it. I'll try to take photos as I see interesting things. I will also try to sketch, nights in hotels, when I can. 
In the meantime, I no longer work from home when I'm not on the road--I'm commuting in to Duke every day, so here and there, I'll have to try to take some Duke campus photos when I AM home! It's a lovely campus, and deserves my attention.
When my son Eric was looking into colleges, I arranged for the track coach at Duke to meet with Eric, hoping I could entice him to go to school here in North Carolina. Eric was a strong cross-country runner, and I figured if he liked what he saw, maybe it would convince him to stay here nearby. They did hit it off, and Eric really loved the Duke campus architecture as we wandered the campus, but ultimately, he decided to go to Williams College in Massachusetts, which is a wonderful school. It was a great choice for him, but I did my best to keep him near me, honestly, I did!! He's very smart, and I knew he'd get in wherever he applied, but Williams was a great "fit" for him.
I really do get to see many beautiful places in the course of my travels, and I'm fortunate, but I will be exhausted by the time Christmas rolls around again this year. 
And every year, as I see the day lilies stop blooming, and the end of my hydrangeas, I get a knot in the pit of my stomach, realizing it's all starting over again, and for me, at least,--summer is almost over. I am definitely in "Trip-planning Mode." Bear with me!"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move." (-Robert Louis Stevenson)
25 comments:
Beautiful campus!
Duke is such a pretty school. My wife's father went to Divinity school there. Your travel schedule sounds absolutely crazy. Bu it does give you the chance to see some new places and gather lots of material for painting. And interviewing prospective students must be fun, too.
It is a pretty campus, yes! Chris, you'd find tons of great images here--I wish I was a good photographer. You'd have a field day on this campus. The schedule is insane, but I know I'll be rewarded with many adventures, too!
WOW. That schedule would break my heart being away so long. but you do seem to get the most out of it.
Where in Oregon are you going this time? We are in the south part. Roseburg. It IS a beautiful School you work at.
Cris, the weekend of Oct 10th, I'll be driving from Eugene down to Arcata, CA. Maybe if you're around, I could try to come meet you somehow! I'll keep you posted as I get closer to that time. I'll have to see if it's a huge detour--I haven't routed the actual road portion of that trip yet. It'd be fun to meet! Thanks!
Would be fun if it works for you. We are an hour ish.. depending where you are in Eugene.. from Eugene down the 5 FWY. The FWY goes thru our town. Arcada is on the coast above Eureka in CA so you can go down the 5 and cut over below us at Grants Pass to the Coast or at the boarder of CA on the 5.Not exactly sure where.
Glorious architecture! I love the way the sunlight is coming through the arches in your second pic.
There are a lot of paintings to be had at Duke by the looks of it.
That long haul of a work trip makes me stop whining about my forays into the Newfoundland wilds to visit clients! I'm usually not away for more than two weeks at a time. However, it is a good way to find inspiration.
BEAUTIFUL pictures!! What a grand campus -- absolutely LOVE the arches.
I'm getting nervous just thinking about your upcoming travel season...naturally we all get the benefit of your travels (and I think you have more time to paint when you're on the road - but that may be my imagination) but I empathize with you, being gone so much.
I have to say that I so enjoyed reading your entry today. Your writing still is lovely. I found myself wishing I had a job that included travel (well, almost any job sounds good about now). That Duke campus is so beautiful and I too see a huge opportunity for paintings. I'm in IL now, but I lived in Washington for 12 years. Both WA and OR are stunningly beautiful states and the weather, to my mind, is the best ever. I hope you have a great trip, despite not being home for 3 months...
Wow, I am stunned by your schedule, Sue! I used to travel a lot too but it was not nearly so intense!
It is wonderful to see new places and i do hope you have time to see more than airports, hotels, and the inside of meeting rooms!
Road warrior blessings to you!
Duke is beautiful--impressive, serene, just as a campus should be.
I love the first photo--it'd make a great Sonia Delauney-type painting!
I see PA and DE are not on your list, but if your travels ever bring to the Philadelphia or Wilmington, let's get together!
Oh, I'm getting anxious just reading about it! It's THAT time of year again. I'm so glad we're going to have our sketch outing next Saturday because, as you say, soon you'll be gone :(. But, you're here now, still, and these are lovely photos!!
Thank you, dear Sue, for priming the pump ---you know what I'm talking about.
That Duke architecture is astounding, simply beautiful!!! I couldn't stay away that long, what a trip, and right before Christmas! You are heading down my way - Alabama! ....and we DO wear shoes, well, at least the majority of us!
What a lovely building Duke is. I love the photo of those arches, it's the best. I would just hate to do all that travelling. It would drive me nuts! But you will see some great places. 3 weeks is longer than I can stand. Lovely post.
When are you coming to PA? I'm really close to Millersville U and Franklin and Marshall College.
Good luck with your travel plans.... I'll come along by internet.
That is one daunting schedule Sue.
Yet there must be some down time -you do such beautiful paintings on your trips.
I appreciate how difficult it must be for you to post with your work load...
Duke is really a nice campus, we often overlook our oan backyeards!
I would love to know what you do that takes you all over the place in fall? To me it sounds very exciting?
But I can believe it to be exciting and tiring at the same time. Maybe you should see it through our eyes...all the experiences and seeing new places, all the stories, all the richess you add to your life...and we get to see and read all about it on your blog!! This is the words a friend told me once when I complained about us moving to a different country every two years. So, I'm looking forward to the travels with you in the fall!
ronell
It's a beautiful campus - thanks so much for the guided tour. Your job sounds so exciting, but I can imagine how tired you get of travelling. Great for sketching, but sometimes we just want to be with our loved ones.
What a beautiful place - those arches are wonderful! Just found your blog and love it - especially your watercolours! Will be back to visit again.
Caroline
Good evening, Sue!
I wrote a comment last night,
apparently I did not click on the right button when I sent if off.
So this is just to say hello! :-)
I love this qoute and your images of Duke are so stunning.
Travel is indeed good for the soul...bisous...
Sue, will you be in Portland, OR? I'll be back here on Oct 6th and would love to take you out or give you a home cooked meal if you have time and/or inclination. A small way to thank you for so many enjoyable picture and great quotations.
Thanks, everyone! Francoise, I will be in Portland, Oregon at some point--just for a day's event, and then I'm heading home. If it looks at all feasible to get together, I'll try--I'd love to meet you! But I know it's a very busy schedule that week. Thank you for thinking of it! Very sweet of you!
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