Paige, Greeley, and Michener

So today I am up in Greeley visiting Paige at the University of Northern Colorado. This morning was bright, sunny, and cold, and I had a pleasant drive up along the Front Range and then east through snow-covered fields. Paige has a cozy room in Dickeson Hall on pretty President's Row. We had a wonderful lunch in Tobey-Kendel dining hall, where we had a good half-dozen main meals to choose from, along with a selection of soups and desserts and a fabulous salad bar. I suspect our meal there was much better (and cheaper!) than the one we'll have tonight at Paige's favorite restaurant up here, Pellegrini's.

While Paige is in good spirits, there's been a minor drama over finding her and her harp a practice room in the music building. The few that are big enough to fit the harp often have pianos in them, and they are frequently in use. There is a beautiful blue and gold harpsichord (apparently produced in 2014) and an enormous Steinway in the big room where she stores her harp. That room would be ideal, but it is almost always in use by a very dedicated piano/harpsichord student. The school tried putting up a sign on one of the bigger practice rooms saying harpists had priority, but another student apparently got offended and kept taking the sign down. Finally, the school has assigned a dedicated harp studio, but Paige doesn't yet have a key. She needs to take some initiative in getting one (the process is a pain, but manageable), after which the situation should be resolved. Paige showed me around the music building today, and I think the new studio will be perfect for her. I understand that the new Campus Commons, which will open later this year, will have more practice rooms, which should alleviate the problem somewhat.

Whenever I cross the South Platte River en route to Greeley, I think about James Michener's novel, Centennial. I enjoyed the book and the miniseries, which the family watched on DVD a few years ago. While Michener's town of Centennial was fictional, the book shows a map with the town in Weld County on an existing bend in the South Platte. Paige and I hope to kayak down there at some point, thereby following in the footsteps of Pasquinel, Lame Beaver, and McKeag. Michener is one of UNC's favorite alumni. While Michener attended Swarthmore College for his undergraduate degree (he graduated summa cum laude in English and History in 1929), he went on to get an MA in Education from UNC (then known as the Colorado State College of Education) in 1937. He stayed on until 1941 to teach at UNC and at its associated very progressive laboratory school, College High School, where he worked with director Dr. William Wrinkle. He was apparently a popular and well-respected teacher, and he published a number of articles on education, including two on the relationship between music and social studies ("Music and Social Studies" in 1937, and "Bach and Sugar Beets" in 1938). His evolution from teacher to writer seems a natural one as his  books are so edifying and instructive. In 1997, during the last year of his life when he was 90 years old, Michener donated $500,000 to UNC so that its Michener library, which opened in 1972, could become the main repository  of his manuscripts, notes, and letters. It already housed the materials he used to write Centennial, and now also displays a set of his false teeth😮 Apparently some other universities were asked to give up materials Michener had previously donated to them so that all of his research materials could be kept in a single location. Michener had a productive and busy life. He worked very hard from childhood on. At the age of 11, he apparently spent a summer working from 7am to 5pm six days a week, and he handed all his earnings over to his Quaker mother (he was adopted). He leaves a legacy of over 40 well-researched books. I have his autobiography, The World is My Home, on Kindle and am about halfway through.

Update, 1/24/18: I got home safely last night. For some reason, traffic was unusually light. Paige and I had a very pleasant dinner at Pellegrini's. I still maintain that main meals, salads, and soups are much better at the UNC dining hall, but I concede that Pellegrini's desserts are vastly tastier, if not as healthy (the dining hall offered carrot cake, vegan chocolate brownies, and peanut butter and nut bars for lunch yesterday). At Pellegrini's, we had a cosy table with comfy armchairs right next to a roaring fire, which was very welcome as the temperature dropped precipitously yesterday evening. Paige had two of her favorite Pineapple Martinis, and our waitress was kind enough to give her their recipe!

Pineapple Martini:

1 oz. Malibu rum
1 oz. Hpnotiq liqueur
1 oz. pineapple juice

I got Paige a cocktail mixer set for Christmas and was rewarded with a wonderful cocktail, sometimes enjoyed listening to harp music, every evening over the winter break. We've had Mai Tais, Tequila Sunrises, Blue Hawaiians, Margaritas, and Pina Coladas. 'Just one cocktail per day😀 Next on the agenda are Pineapple Martinis and Brandy Alexanders.