Sewanee

Sewanee, Tennessee, is my heart’s home. I first visited in the early 70s, when I attended the Sewanee Summer Music Center. My first impression was how sweet the air smelled: the clover was in bloom. Music drifted down from the windows of a gothic classroom building: a violinist practicing a concerto. I had never been anywhere but the flatlands of south Georgia, and the mountain and its green trees and wildflowers seduced me completely. I never wanted to leave; sobbed all the way down the mountain after the six weeks were over.

I finished high school a year early just so I could get back to Sewanee. I loved learning there. I found kindred spirits, people who weren’t afraid to be curious or to pursue art or literature or conversation for the sake of just that.

After college, I had to leave, but I never let go of the yearning to be at Sewanee, and after a decade, I finally moved back again… I’d only been there eight months (out of what I’d thought would be forever) when an old love rediscovered me and we ended up in Alaska.

I plan to go back again in October this year. My mind and my heart are there always.