The “That’s So Grinnellian” photo at the end of the Winter 2017 issue of The Grinnell Magazine brought unexpected tears to my eyes. How could a simple picture of leaves and grass glistening with frost by a quiet campus walkway be “so Grinnellian”? However, the image did indeed transport me back to Grinnell and the glorious and sometimes shocking transition from warm weather to cold. I remember stepping out of my dorm one morning on my way to an early class and being stunned by the suddenly sparkling world that greeted me. The following poem was written that day:
The wave of summer
Holds November
Crested in the sun.
And curls and falls with night —
Crashes; Crystals in the grass.
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