Orientation programs are in full swing at the University at Albany. We hear the student orientation leaders reeling off facts and trivia while leading tours through the Campus Center. We see wide-eyed and apprehensive soon-to-be freshmen, some with parents in tow, walking across the perfectly landscaped campus. Change is coming, a palpable sense of anticipation for what lies ahead.
Kids grow up. They grow away. Parents grow old, dazed at how quickly childhood ends.
In Lewis Carroll's "A Boat, Beneath a Sunny Sky," the poem at the end of Through the Looking-Glass,
he writes about the unbending passing of time in lovely phrases, all beneath a sunny July sky.
Enjoy the weekend, friends.
A Boat, Beneath a Sunny Sky
by Lewis Carroll
A boat, beneath a sunny sky Lingering onward dreamily In an evening of July —
Children three that nestle near, Eager eye and willing ear, Pleased a simple tale to hear —
Long has paled that sunny sky: Echoes fade and memories die: Autumn frosts have slain July.
Still she haunts me, phantomwise, Alice moving under skies Never seen by waking eyes.
Children yet, the tale to hear, Eager eye and willing ear, Lovingly shall nestle near.
In a Wonderland they lie, Dreaming as the days go by, Dreaming as the summers die:
Ever drifting down the stream — Lingering in the golden gleam — Life, what is it but a dream?
(1871, Through the Looking-Glass)