Bikes outside Talbot House.
Flying into Connecticut's Hartford airport, I overcame my fear of heights to look down at the terrain below. Trees, of all shades of green, plus bright orange, red and yellow, surrounded white clapboard structures. Like a modern Pilgrim, arriving in the New World after a long plane voyage, I was enchanted. No wonder our forefathers immediately got to work stamping out witchcraft; colors like this seem supernatural.
The drive up to Northampton was even more spectacular, the trees showcased on the sides of the Berkshire hills. I could see why Smith College picked this weekend in October to hold its Family Weekend.
I had never been to the campus; indeed, I'd never been to New England. My daughter picked schools from the internet, and we had no opportunity to visit them. (My visits home last year were reserved for my mom, who was in failing health.) So I was eager to see the campus she'd been calling home these last few weeks.
It was every bit as lovely as its website. Those trees everywhere—my daughter said she'd never lived in a place with so many trees, but I told her it was that these trees just jump out and demand notice. Squirrels, tame from their easy life on a women's college campus, hopped between them, entertaining us visiting parents. (By the way, if you're a Smith parent, there's a very high likelihood, based on my small sample, that your first name is Kathy.) While Smith is not particularly old by Old England standards, its buildings are suitably atmospheric.
Saturday morning some of us Kathys and other parents were led on a walk along the Mill River. It was a tame hike, made more exciting by the four-month-old puppy we came across, and the views across—and in—the river and Paradise Pond.
It was a friendly place, too, not the snobby East Coast campus of some institutions. (Not even Smith's second-place ranking by Washington Monthly has gone to their heads.) In my first hour there I was asked more than once if I needed any help, as I studied my map and looked around for the best camera view. The students I met were all delightful—smart, articulate, funny girls, some of whose talents were on display at the Montage choral concert Saturday night.
The administration officials I met too were helpful, reassuring us first-year moms and dads that the changes we've seen in our daughters—that independence that seemed to spring up overnight—were perfectly normal. Just because they never call they haven't forgotten about us, we were assured. That must be true; that afternoon at Holyoke Mall we ran into several students spending quality time with their parents.
Northampton is a small town; smaller than its namesake in Old England. It's typically "crunchy", with three vegetarian restaurants, including one vegan; two natural foods shops; plenty of earthy shoe stores; and a hemp clothing shop, all within easy walking distance from the campus.
I could live here, I thought, and envied my daughter, who does.
UPDATE: What are the odds that in my circle of blog friends is another Smith parent? She got a really great photo of the pond this weekend.
