This week has been brutal with the heat. With a heat index as high as 108 degrees in southwest Ohio, the smart play would be to stay inside, hunker down, and enjoy the comforts of air conditioning. But sometimes, being stupid is the smart play.
Once in a while, the planets align just right. In this case, Rhonda and I had the opportunity to see four friends from our old graduate school days at Miami University of Ohio. They were all free on the same weekday, mostly at the same time, due to happy accidents with their work schedules. Our friend Ted just happened to be in the area from Chicago visiting his father. And our friend Dave just happened to have the day off from his local job, as did our married friends Tom and Judith.
It would be a mini-reunion of sorts and we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get together, heat and oppressive humidity be damned.
We began at noon, meeting up with Dave, Ted, and Tom at the locally popular hole-in-the-wall restaurant Mac & Joe’s in Oxford, Ohio. We spent the next couple of hours talking, laughing, and catching up like it hadn’t been six years since we last saw each other. It is funny how you can just pick up where you left off with really good friends without missing a beat.
Once we finished up the lunch portion of our day, Dave and Tom had to go back to their respective families to take care of business. But Rhonda, Ted, and I would meet up with Judith and Tom later over dinner at their place.
In the meantime, Rhonda, Ted, and I thought it would be a great idea to brave the stroke-inducing heat and tour the Miami University campus. On our walk, we discussed the merits of proper hydration, body temperature management, wearing your ice cream, and the sweat-wicking properties of our clothes as we toured our old academic haunts during the hottest part of the day.
After walking across town we finally approached Pearson Hall, home of the Department of Biology, and the occasional face of Miami University campus admissions propaganda.
Going inside, there was a shocking amount of renovation since my heyday in the 1990s. Kind of looked like the set of a sci-fi television show, with all of the new windowed classrooms and lab space, blinking lights, and shiny things. Oddly, the space that housed my now-retired research advisor’s lab appeared completely unoccupied. Strange, considering how valuable research space is at research-based institutions.
Despite the many renovations, I was happy to see that they kept the really cool Web of Life tile wall mosaic created by Cincinnati artist, Charles Harper.
Click to enlarge
Click the mural key to ID the species!
We then wandered over to the Conrad Formal Gardens, which appeared to be in a state of transition. It seemed like the spring plantings had been removed, but summer plantings had either not been installed or were in a delayed growth state. Strange. Perhaps another budgetary casualty of COVID.
We toured a number of other buildings, including the new Armstrong Student Center, Bachelor Hall (home of the Department of English), and one of Rhonda’s favorite old botany haunts – Upham Hall (pictured below).
Upham Hall. Shiny on the outside, aged 1960s decor on the inside.
Afterward, since time and our tolerance for heat exhaustion were pressing, we sauntered over to Western Campus to see the new facilities there. Western campus always had a more rural vibe compared to the rest of Miami University, so it was sad to see that many of the natural areas had been removed.
But we were glad to see that Kumler Chapel, where Rhonda and I were married years ago, was completely untouched.
As hoped, the chapel was open for public viewing.
Inside was as we remembered, with lots of arches, chandeliers, and stained glass windows.
One stained glass window of many.
Partners in crime.
It was fun to revisit our wedding crime scene. Hard to believe we’ve been married for over 25 years! Our ceremony had quite the cast of characters and we still have fond memories of the faces of our wedding guests when they heard our recessional music selection. Our pianist was particularly pleased.
Dehydration and possible heat stroke were settling in nicely, so we decided to walk back across town, get back to our cars, and head over to Tom and Judith’s place for dinner.
It was at this point that we noticed some really dark clouds closing in and the sound of loud thunder. By the time we reached the Center for the Performing Arts rain had started to fall, so we decided to take advantage of the lounge area in that building to hydrate and wait things out.
Wishful thinking.
The forecast is cloudy with a 100% chance of HOLY $@!#!
When hail began to fall, followed by high winds and torrential rain, we knew we might be in for an interesting time. After waiting 45 minutes for the storm to break with no end in sight, we checked our weather apps and saw an upcoming drop in the rain intensity that would last about 10 minutes.
We ran for it and made it as far as the Shriver Center bus stop shelter before the heavens opened up again, accompanied by gale-force winds. It was a hilarious situation, but a bit scary as the weather was really bad. Hunkered down in the porous bus stop shelter, we knew we were in over our heads and called Tom for an emergency pickup.
Never being so happy to see a minivan in our lives, we piled into his car and made our way to Tom’s place. On the way, it was clear that the city of Oxford was taking a real hit. Flooded intersections, downed branches and trees, and water shooting OUT of the sewer inlets made it clear that this weather was unusual even by midwestern thunderstorm standards.
Thankfully we made it to Tom and Judith’s house in one piece, albeit in a moistened state. Ted was especially wet from wearing layers of cotton clothes, so he had to take advantage of Tom’s wardrobe while waiting for his own clothes to dry.
Dressed for dinner.
While the storm raged, the three of us sat down for a nice dinner and told tall tales with Tom, Judith, and the rest of their family. Good times! Rhonda and I are blessed to have such awesome friends.
Tom was kind enough to drive us back to our cars once the weather finally broke, and it was then the carnage of the storm became apparent. Streets were closed from downed trees and power lines, and debris was everywhere. The drive home was safe enough thankfully, but it was clear from the news the next day that Butler County really took a hit by the storm.
But it was a fine day.
Even with the oppressive heat, humidity, torrential rain, hail, and gale-force winds, we’d happily enjoy being stupid with our friends again.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to drop a reply in the comment section below.
2 thoughts on “Good Friends, Old Stomping Grounds, and the Merits of Being Stupid”
So much fun to catch up with old friends! It’s funny to hear about Oxford from someone else, I heard so many stories about Mac and Joe’s from my friend Jason, who was a librarian there. Small world.
Mac & Joe’s is down a dark alley in a sketchy side entrance into a nondescript building. From the outside, it reminds me of the entrance to a Polish men’s social club I delivered pizza to back in the day. But in this case, the inside is very nice!
2 thoughts on “Good Friends, Old Stomping Grounds, and the Merits of Being Stupid”
So much fun to catch up with old friends! It’s funny to hear about Oxford from someone else, I heard so many stories about Mac and Joe’s from my friend Jason, who was a librarian there. Small world.
Mac & Joe’s is down a dark alley in a sketchy side entrance into a nondescript building. From the outside, it reminds me of the entrance to a Polish men’s social club I delivered pizza to back in the day. But in this case, the inside is very nice!