1977
P.O. Box 861 Norwich, VT 05055
Plunging down to the winter solstice, dawn came even later today. It was 7:30 before the rays came over the hill across the way. That's the thing you notice after being away—and south, and west—for eight years. The other thing you notice is the sunset. It's pretty dusky by 3:30, and the clouds color the sky no later than 4:00 p.m. Selective memory: we've forgotten these things, and are learning them again.
Still, the early dark begs for light. The pine tree in the Green's center brightened the campus last Friday. Hot cocoa and festive voices singing warmed the insides around the tree's base, lights of a different nature. Young children ran off to the Inn, anxious to tell rosy-cheeked Santa of their heart's desire. Shoppers marked their way down Main Street, between the small, white lights on the curb trees and the store displays. And the College students seemed to revel in it all, a respite before the reality of all-nighters—to finish that English term paper or study for this biology final examdrove them to quarter's end, home for the holidays.
Fortunately, the next thing you remember is that for every long winter's night there will be a long summer day, with enough light to run up Moosilauke when the workday is through.
Onward. Look for a sidebar on MaxwellAnderson next month; Dr. Anderson was appointed recently as head of Emory U.'s Museum of Art and Archeology. Ken andJanet Rosenfield visited us over Thanksgiving weekend. Or rather, Janet and son Cory came for a visit while Ken took his cardiology calls. They're struggling with a tough problem: a possible move back to San Francisco, having been back in New England a brief 18 months. How does one balance friends and job and family, hometown, and opportunity? Janet related that Eric Donnenfeld and wife Marleen Brajer were in town for a fall conference on dual-career couples in the medical profession. Eric and Marleen practice ophthalmological surgery and radiology, respectively, on Long Island, and enjoy their two wonderful children, Ashley and Robert, whom Al got to meet a year ago. (One thing you notice about writing this column: the grief you give someone for not stopping by and saying "hi" has a much wider range. Hint, hint, Eric. That goes for the rest of you, too.)
Other locals. Mike Hogan was pictured recently in the Valley News, dashing as Frederic in Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance. Sue Wiley Young had a son, Benjamin, on December 7. Stewart Chapin and a cast of hundreds—including President Freedman, Nancy Wasserman, and a news crew from TV 31—were seen at the opening of the new Dartmouth College Child Care Center facility.
News was a little light this month, folks. At such times writing this column seems a bit like scripting a show for Leave It to Beaver: the same characters appear each month, only in different situations. Maybe the holidays were distracting or maybe you all like watching the antics of the Cleaver family! Perhaps this anecdote can help ink your pens. A couple of months ago, we passed along some news from Evy Chan, and reported her as the most invaluable source for the previous columnist, M. Ted Wingate. Well, Evy wrote us a postcard: "I was so surprised by your bit in the Alumni Magazine—I wrote Ted a total of two times during his five yrs.!!" So there you have it; to make yourself truly invaluable, you need write us only twice in the next five years. Go for it.
