Kat with a K

Nostalgia

I was thinking about this anyway, and then Lauren asked about the Berkshires, so...

What I Miss Most Right Now About My Freaky Little College in the Berkshires:

- The gorgeous campus.

- The Community Garden. I was working on campus the summer it got started, and it was great... they'd put whatever happened to be ready out on a table, and members of the community could take what they wanted and leave what they thought appropriate. And it was organic. I'm planning on making extensive use of farmers' markets and farmstands this summer, but still, it's not the same.

- The library. Great place to work, marvelous group of people.

- The area restaurants... breakfast at Martin's, pizza at Baba Louie's, ice cream at Bev's, burritos at La Choza, cheesecake at Cheesecake Charlie's, etc.

- Fabulous downtowns with nifty independent stores in Great Barrington and Stockbridge. Just drive up Route 7... it's great. Including, of course, Wonderful Things, my then-LYS.

- The faculty. On the whole, a fascinating, fun group of people. I'm so spoiled for any other higher ed places.

- Same with the classes, classmates, and discussions. The few times I've tried to start a Simon's Rock-like discussion in grad school, I've been immediately shot down or just looked at like I'm insane.

- The freedom to do really interesting academic projects and design my own course of study.

- The liberal atmosphere, although I'd like that more now than I did then.

To keep some perspective, some things I do not miss:
- The tourist traffic
- The intellectual elitism
- The dining hall food (although I do miss dining hall conversations)