Trying to Get to Now Part 2

Well, I'm already making revisions, probably the first of many!  Instead of fast forwarding to 16 years I should have said 14 years later.  I didn't want to make myself older than I am.  So now on with my relationship with SIU.

I tried to get a job there for many years and even turned down some.  I later discovered some things are meant to be.  I started working there when I was 31 years old.  (I can only remember that fact because my cashier # was 31.)  Anyway, I thought myself older and experienced, but I had a supervisor 2 years my junior who taught me about SIU. We did a lot of extra activities together on and off Campus and she loved to take walks on campus. Also a very kind considerate Director of the Student Center, Mr. Corker, yes I say this out of respect for him.  (I still can't call him by his first name, like you are with a grade school teacher you see 20 years later.)  Mr. Corker was passionate about the Student Center and extremely involved at work and on his free time.   There were also 2 co-workers, Jeri and Betty.  We would walk during our lunches, I forgot to mention my 3rd favorite place on Campus, Thompson Woods!!!  We had many walks, talks... cussing and discussing, kids, work, husbands, or just the beauty of the woods.  

We enjoyed Campus like it belonged to us and we belonged to it!  From the perch at my desk on the second floor I could watch the seasons change with the trees out the window.  One Spring we had a nest full of baby birds, watching the rain come down, the beautiful color changes in the trees, or the snow gently falling. We could watch the busyness of Campus below us.  At night in the Summer we would gather with others from the Student Center to listen to the Sunset Concerts.  Children playing in the fountains and adults enjoying a Summer night together!  The trees shading our chairs and blankets on the ground, a family picnic. There wasn't boss, supervisor, student relationships, just family and friends.  Once again Old Campus was enchanting.  

Later I enjoyed and had the opportunity to enjoy another side of Campus.  A friend of mine was a police officer on Campus.  He knew it from a different perspective and had been there since 1964.  He knew the Campus inside out - from the steam tunnels to the tops of buildings and around Campus Lake.  Once again a renewed interest and a new romantic side of the University.

Let's get Closer to Now, a few years ago the University started the process of construction on a new building outside the Student Center.  In my eyes, it greatly changed Campus!  A great deal of the old trees were taken out and in their place ----CONCRETE!!!  The thru-way along Faner  was ripped up!  With these changes more concrete!  The distinction between Old Campus and the other buildings became very noticeable.  I thought it all an eye sore and the beauty of Campus gave way to a more modern campus.  It lost so much of it's old charm.  With all these changes I became depressed at what I saw and I hated to walk.

When the new building went up the parking garage was torn down.  This meant I had to go to work early.  I used my Ipod as a timer to remind me to start work.  (I would walk the halls in the Student Center to avoid the hideous concrete.) On one particular day after much grumbling to myself , I stated to self  "There has to still be beauty on this campus and I will use my Ipod to record it."  I saw things or should I say I went looking for things and started looking for beauty.  Sometimes it was small, a flower by the Ag. Building or a squirrel on a tree.  The seasons changed and I found myself outside walking every morning no matter what the weather was.   I would put my images on my work computer and when they popped up I would remember how beautiful my surrounding really were.

 I became interested in photography after the purchase of a new DSLR.  Thank you Leon!!    This brought on a new aspect of my love affair with Campus.  I took a class through ALPS with Rene and every week was a challenge.  One challenge was a sunrise---how am I going to get a sunrise!!?  So there I am getting my tired butt out of bed to watch one of the most beautiful sunrises in my life right there on Campus!  In the Fall I went to work early to make images of leaves, remember Thompson Woods?  I spent weeks in the Woods with gorgeous colors and wonderful light . Also a favorite was an early morning with fog over Campus Lake!  Yes, I had rediscovered the old flame of a long relationship!!!

Have to go now, but we are almost to Now.  So stick with me, please.