compare and contrast

I spent most of yesterday at a conference 60-odd miles southwest of here.  The sessions I attended were wonderful, I made new friends, I have pages and pages of new ideas to think on . . . and I have come back with a fresh perspective on this beautiful workplace I sometimes take for granted.

At the conference there was a special place just for cars to park:

Gutterson Parking Garage, UVM

Where I work, the parking lot is a great deal more diverse:

Sugarhouse Parking Lot, Sterling College

Both places have certain parking conventions:

Special but anonymous parking, UVM

Special parking just for Barb, Sterling College

There, the buildings are mostly taller than the trees:

University Heights dormitories, UVM

 Here we do it the other way around:

Dunbar Hall entrance, Sterling College

Both places have structures of brick and concrete, I notice:

Student residences, UVM

Student-built outdoor oven, Sterling College

Both campuses have miles of opportunity for foot travel, but the footpaths there are paved:

well-marked footpath through campus, UVM

Whereas the trails here are not:

lane to campus woodlot, Sterling College

Both places use signs to give direction:

Direction, UVM

Directions, Sterling College

This sign seems abrupt:

traffic control sign, UVM

I think this one is more polite:

Traffic control sign, Sterling College

In both places, signs explain norms:

Explanation, UVM

Explanation, Sterling College

Campus security seems good there as well as here:

Vigilance, UVM

Vigilance, Sterling College

Both places include legumes in their permaculture plantings:

lawn of white clover and crown vetch, UVM

pasture with red clover and cow vetch, Sterling College

And both places have bird life:

Gull taking bird's-eye view of campus, UVM

Bird's-eye view of student project, Sterling College

The main place-difference I notice is that the conference center has a beautiful view of Vermont’s landscape . . .

Green Mountains to the east of campus, UVM

. . .while back  here in Craftsbury, we are Vermont’s landscape.

Wild apples, hillside, and the McCarthy Barns, Sterling College

Wonderful as it is to attend conferences, see a new place, and hear tales of other campuses, I’m not a bit sorry to work at this one.

 

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