Dreams of Days Gone By

I went out for a jog in the neighborhood this afternoon. My legs, heart and lungs were working well together, the temperature was about 68 degrees, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was the kind of weather that would have required a "change in schedule" if I were back in college.

I went to a small, liberal arts school on the banks of the St. Marys River in southern Maryland. One thing you could always count on was that the first warm day in spring, or late winter in this case, meant forgetting about those afternoon classes and heading down to the waterfront to enjoy the gifts of the day.

Yeah, I'm sure there were many kids who went to class on those picture perfect days, but I wasn't one of them. Really, it never took much of an arm twist for me to bow out of two hours of British Literature.

The waterfront offered a variety of activities that included, sun bathing, canoeing, windsurfing and sailing. No matter the activity, the background was the same; the calm bluish-green waters of the St. Marys River and the view of stately homes on the surrounding river banks. Students would gather on those first warm days and laugh with each other. Of course, we were a bunch of liberal arts majors so I'm sure the conversations held a certain philosophical bend to them.

Today's weather took me back to those waterfront days. My jog was a nice visit with nature but I do wish I could have spent my afternoon down south on the water.