I was in Auburn for a book signing at the Gnu's Room, for my novel, Those Others. While there, I visited the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, and saw an exhibit of Audubon works of birds and mammals, among other things. Oh, and this Dale Chihuly chandelier that hangs in the lobby.
At Toomer's corner, of course, I saw the once mighty oak trees now fighting for survival.
But while on campus I also discovered this tree.
Tucked in a corner of the campus Arboretum, (one of my favorite haunts when I was a student) is this tree, called the Founders Oak.
The plaque you see in the picture reads as follows.
This post oak started growth in 1850 and was 6 years old when East Alabama Male College was established. It was 33 years old when the Alabama Agricultural Station was established, 91 when the nation entered World War II, and over 100 when this site was made an arboretum. In 1975 Hurricane Eloise wreaked havoc in the arboretum but the Founder's Oak withstood the storm. It was 150 years old at the start of the twenty-first century and is expected to be here at the start of the next century.
Also in the arboretum I saw this beautiful Pond Cypress and observed its "knees" between it and the pond.
Beautiful flowers were blooming.
I spent some time in Samford Park, of which I have fond memories. Here is Samford Hall, behind a burst of fall color.
I enjoyed the most wonderful fresh squeezed lemonade on earth.
These were the places I went to regain my sanity when college life seemed to be overwhelming. I'm glad that they are mostly unchanged (other than the oak trees on the corner) and still there for unwinding by current students.
War Eagle.
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