Winter View: Central Campus in Snow

I had just gotten my car back the day before, and I was raring to drive it. But when I woke up, the front steps and drive way were very, very icy. I tried the road and found I could stand up on it, but I didn't want to take the risk. So for one more morning, I took the bus into town.

This was the first I'd been on campus since our weekend snowstorm. And so I had the opportunity to stroll around and take some fun winter shots. With snow; yes, actual snow! And strangely enough, it must have been a bit warmer there than at home, as there was very little ice to be found, aside from the occasional slick spot.

This is a scene from Penn State's central campus. Carnegie Building is the tan building to the right. Down a bit and across the road from it is the red brick building that is Willard. To the left, you can see the pillars of Schwab Auditorium.

I stopped in this spot because I was trying to get a photo of a squirrel who was being harassed by three crows. I was alerted to the presence of the creatures above me when a bit of snow fell down on me from a tree branch. The squirrel was accidentally plowing the snow as it walked.

I turned and tried to get a shot straight up into the tree, but failed, pretty much. And then I saw that the light was breaking down to the left. I took about a half-dozen steps up the hill and shot back down the mall.

The main elm tree in the center is the one the squirrel and crows were playing on. And it turns out that this was indeed a good place to stand to take some pictures. So thank you to the squirrel and the three crows who brought me to a stop here!

It was a great day for photos, and so I have included two extras. (Yes, TWO!) The one extra is a monochrome scene taken a bit further down this very same pathway along the mall, looking toward town and the Corner Room in particular, where I managed to make time to stop for a quick, hot breakfast. (Yay!)

The other extra is a strange shot of a ladder that someone left beneath Hammond Building, one of the engineering buildings on this side of College Ave, right across the street from the Corner Room.

I loved the ladder the instant I saw it, and I took many shots of the light and shadows through it. The colorful shot in the extras might just be my favorite of that group.

Penn State's main campus is one of my favorite places to take pictures. It just looks so . . . quintessentially college-y. Nice buildings, pretty lawns, lovely trees, stylish black metal benches and lamp posts, and charming little garden nooks tucked here and there.

There are many new buildings on campus now that were not here in the 80s when I was an undergrad, or the 90s when I was a grad student. But so much of campus - like this central part right here - is still the same.

The soundtrack: Bob Seger, Still the Same.