Spring!?!

I walked out this morning to less than frigid air and the sound of birds twittering in the cloudy early morning. As the day went on it became quite bright and sunny.

I still have the tail end of my cold and decided that going to water aerobics class tonight might not be wise. So I took a walk at lunchtime.

I used to walk fairly regularly but our whole area was under major construction for the last few years and it was impossible to get anywhere without detours, debris and fences. Add winter snow and ice and I just stopped venturing out on foot.

Much of the construction has cleared up now and while there's still snow in pockets, most of that is gone, too, so I took a walk around the block. Not a long distance, but enough.

The sun was bright, the half moon high in the eastern sky just barely visible. A cardinal was pipping in a tree as I passed. I could see a section of the dorm's inner and outer wall in a cutaway display at the construction trailer site. A few crows look like they're nesting in the old dorm I passed (it's being/been refurbished and will still be used, along with the new addition).

For many many years, my building was the "tower" on the south edge of campus. At six stories we were the tallest thing around. Not anymore. There is a lot of growth on our side of campus and more to come. A huge dorm is going up behind us, see the sketch above. We're the little corner sticking into the image at right-hand side.

Right now the side facing us is this huge black behemoth (I think the black is some sort of weather barrier on the construction but, it's been that way seemingly forever--big, black and looming.)

As I took my walk today, I could see that the western side of the dorm is nearly completed and looks much like the picture. The sandstone-looking siding will blend in nicely with the older dorm it's adjacent to. The whole area is still a massive construction site. I really wonder if it will be done in time for next September's school opening, but it was nice to see that progress is being made.