Stairs

I finally took pictures of the incline getting up to Josephine Tucker, my dorm.  First, here’s a shot of (some of) the Honours College.  We climb the hill to get to the parking lot.  If we’re coming from the left, there’s a hop over a culvert that gets us to the parking lot on less of an incline.  I am not terribly fond of that hill because the catering vans drive up and down it constantly, which means it’s in a perpetual state of dust.  Dust is slippery.

From the parking lot is this little set of stairs; Rachel Hall, the dorm I was in my first semester, is on the left.  I didn’t frame this well, because there should be one more step on the bottom, probably due to erosion.  So I use the mudslide on the left to get me up to the first step.  If it’s really, really wet, I’ll walk around to the right and walk up the grass.

Next is this set of stairs (Rachel Hall is still slightly visible to the left, and you can see Josephine Tucker peeking in the top left).  Winfred Brown, the dorm for my second and third semesters, is behind left of Rachel Hall.  These stairs aren’t heinous, though the second set is a bit more steep.  I usually come down the stairs, but climb the mudslide.  But only when it’s dry.  Straight ahead is Thelma Hall, which is used by the catering guys to make food to take to the hostels outside the gate (hence the catering van activity), as well as everyone and their brother when they want to have food in conjunction with a meeting.

Walk past Thelma, and ta-da!  The stairs to Josephine Tucker.  I have no idea what the big, concrete cylinder is.  There’s a drainage pipe at the top on the other side, so I imagine it functioned as some kind of water tank at some point in its life, but now it looks like it was covered with concrete fondant.  Can you tell I watched a couple episodes of Cake Boss during the long holiday?  LOVE that show!

So these are the stairs that keep my heart rate elevated.  And when I don’t feel well, like now, with a sore throat and ear ache (Mom, I’m FINE), I really try to economize the number of times a day I traipse up and down these puppies.  And yes, the couch on the porch is a bit dilapidated, but that doesn’t stop some from using it.  I take a pass.