Katy Dickinson

Last College Trip - Writing from Northampton, MA

My 18-year-old daughter Jessica and I are on her last college selection trip. I am writing from Northampton, Massachusetts, home of Smith College. Tomorrow evening, we fly to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for a last look at Carnegie Mellon University. Her final decision is due to the schools on 1 May.

Jessica is staying over 2 nights with Kat, one of her Cantilena choir friends who graduated from Harker last year. We arrived yesterday in time for Jessica to go to Smith's Spring Fling dance. Even though Smith is a women's college with a vibrant lesbian population, Jessica said the event had about the same 60% girl, 40% guy ratio she sees at most high school dances. She observed that the drinking was less intense than what she saw during her Rice University visit but there was more making out (girl-girl and girl-guy) on the dance floor than she was used to. Tomorrow morning, Jessica will to sit in on several music and Engineering classes and is going to meet Kat's voice coach.

Today, I went to church at St. John's Episcopal while Jessica and Kat had brunch. Then, Jessica and I drove to nearby Amherst to tour the Emily Dickinson Museum. Both Jessica and I are fans of her poetry and enjoyed seeing her bedroom, cookie basket, and some of her things. Upstairs is a reproduction of one of the poet's house dresses with a special pocket for carrying writings on paper scraps. The reclusive poet stood well under 5 feet tall and (even though the famous picture is of her in black) our guide said Dickinson usually wore white that showed off her auburn hair. We were the only ones on the 1:30 p.m. tour and our guide was disappointed that we just wanted the half-hour version (which does not include the poet's brother's house next door). Our guide was also bitter that so many of Dickinson's possessions and books had been sold to Harvard University in the 1940s and that Harvard was not going to give them back. She ended the tour with all three of us standing in the warm sun reading poems under the trees among the new white and purple crocuses. Because we share our last name with the poet, I bought books, t-shirts, and other gifts for my family at the museum gift shop.

After lunch, Jessica and I returned to Northampton to buy Jessica's prom dress. The town is full of fun clothing shops, coffee and baked goods shops, craft and jewelery stores, plus at least three shops only selling lingerie. I even saw a shop featuring ceramics by Laura Zindel. I own two of Zindel's dragonfly vases and I admire her designs. Northampton reminds us strongly of Ashland, Oregon, home of the Shakespeare festival. On Northampton's Main Street, Jessica and I found a delightful shop called Ultra Gal which sells new and used clothes as well as theatrical costumes. It has three basement levels to explore. Jessica ended up buying two formal dresses - one white and one black - to use for both the senior prom date with Matt as well as her senior singing recital. Together with a sparkly frog pin for me, both dresses cost $106 (very reasonable!).

Posted at 06:57PM Apr 22, 2007 by katysblog in Home & Family  |