Margaret's Nearly Monthly News - Summer 2025
It's been a summer. Not a bad one, but a lot.
Well, it has been a summer.
In June, I went back to my alma mater, Simon's Rock College, along with more than 800 other alums for our final reunion at the Great Barrington campus. Why final? Late last year the college announced that the campus was being sold and the school relocated to a new facility closer to its parent institution, Bard.
I truly wish them the best with this transition. I want nothing more than for new students to be able to come and have a formative experience like the one I and so many of my classmates shared. And I do mean formative. I did not come to SR a blank slate, but if you have met me in adulthood, the person you met exists because at sixteen I chose to attend Simon's Rock.
The institution is not the same as the buildings and the land, but being back on campus for the first time in eight years was visceral. All weekend I would find myself stepping over a threshold and struck by a flood of memories: the smell of the air, the quality of the light, the sound of the wind rustling outside. Every sense a carrier for déjà vu. "This is where we had registration our first year. Everyone was stressed trying to get the Fresh Sem section they wanted." "This is where I took Introduction to Women's Studies." "That used to be Jenny’s office. And Nancy’s… And Becky’s… And Peter’s…”
Even two months later, I get teary when I think back on that weekend, and it sinks in that I will never go back again. Because if I do, it will have become someplace new.
If I were giving feedback on the screenplay of my life, I would note that it is a little thematically on the nose that my family interred my late uncle a month later.
There, the sensory experience was reversed. I knew my uncle, but had never been to the small town where he grew up, and where he will now rest. The people were familiar. The places were a blank slate.
My uncle lived a long, full life, and when he passed last winter, it was clear he was ready to go. We are sad for ourselves and each other, not for him. Seeing the rest of my far-flung family, even under such circumstances, was a joy.
But it has been quite the summer.
Many of you can probably say the same—for your own reasons, personal or national—and I hope that as the seasons change, the coming months bring you what you need.
On to the news? On to the news.
From My Desk
Still working! Someday I'll be able to tell you more than that. I have been making an effort lately to get back to some of the short stories I’ve let languish, and even got one out on submission, so progress! Huzzah!
What I'm Reading and Watching
I filled one of the gaps in my education and read The Great Gatsby! (Side effect of dropping out of high school and missing Junior English.) Thank you, book group, for giving me an excuse and a deadline!
On the film front, it's summer blockbuster season! I really enjoyed Superman, a movie so sincere the Great Pumpkin is probably watching it right now. Despite being very different in tone than Thunderbolts, Clark and Yelena undergo similar journeys. It’s just that her obstacles to trying to be a good person who does good in the world are somewhat more internal than his are. (But only somewhat.) Both solid recommends!
From the Cutting Room Floor of the Duolingo Dystopia
I've now finished both Duolingo Hebrew and French! What’s next? Studying Spanish in French seemed like the only logical follow-up. I have to keep in practice somehow.
And that's the Nearly Monthly News!
I hope you’ve had a good summer with only normal amounts of nostalgia and existential dread. Comments? Questions? Drop me a line! Otherwise, I'll see you next time!