It is fall. It is so simple to say, but the sheer exhilaration I feel in that declarative statement is unfathomable.
It. Is. Autumn.
This is the culmination of all of my favorite things: hand made caps and scarves, sweaters and cool weather, crunchy leaves on the ground, hot apple cider and pumpkin flavored food (especially donuts!), bright reds and oranges in the trees, deep brown tones and gold glinting off the sidewalk, bon fires and costume parties, candy corn and popcorn balls, apple picking and corn mazes. Michigan Winter is yet to be realized and I am thrilled to walk with the blustery but not-too-cold wind blowing my hair out of place.
I’ve been meaning to do something with this blog for a while now, but couldn’t find the time or motivation to start up a series. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about my impending (I say that as if it’s going to happen any time in the near future - unless you consider “near” about one year away) move to Seattle and how much I love/will miss my state. Having been to thirty-six different states in the US, I can honestly say that Michigan is my most beloved, especially in the fall. There is something in the atmosphere here, despite the failing economy, that makes me feel as though this is home (yeah, I know. It IS home. I mean in a sense other than routine familiarity, something that hits deep inside and, as cliche as it may seem, soothes the soul). I love the water, I love the trees, I love the many corn fields and apple orchards and sheep farms. I especially love the sheep farms.
So, considering it is my favorite season and I am ecstatic every time I step outside, I decided to start a series entitled Things I Love in which I document and research my city to keep a record of all the things that have made me fall in love with this town. I constantly tell people about my favorite things in Kalamazoo, especially newcomers or people unfamiliar with the small, hidden areas. Some of the places are less unknown than others (how many people on Western’s campus or who live in the student ghetto and have been around for a while HAVEN’T been to East Hall at one point or another, really?), but, for me, they are all comforting or reminiscent in their own way.
I have lived here for three years but I only recently discovered the secret joy of walking down Wheaton and trailing my fingers along the concrete retaining wall, or strolling near K College’s campus and basking in the visual beauty that is the architecture of that college. I wish I had counted the times I told people I love Kalamazoo more than I ever loved Grand Rapids, despite growing up there. I first fell in love with this city because of the emphasis on art and local entertainment; that love intensified after I started exploring the city more and sharing each place with friends. I never involved myself in the political in-fighting that happens between the city and surrounding areas, and I don’t care to participate in rivalries between local colleges. None of the bureaucracy matters to me. All I know is I love my town.
The first couple places on my list will be the Order In Which I Love The Most, though each location or object after that will be based on whatever strikes me at the time.
My best loved thing about Kalamazoo is, typical of most students here, East Hall on WMU’s east campus. East Hall was the first building erected under the endowment to start Western State Normal School in 1905. It started its long history as the administrative building for the state school and effectively ended its stint as a functional facility earlier this year, after just over one hundred years of history, when the art faculty was asked to vacate. The art department left East Hall to go to the Park Trades Center downtown (another of my favorite places, simply because its where practically ALL the art is located (book arts society, glass society…)) but Archives and Regional History, a branch of Western’s Waldo Library, is still located there. The president of the university has claimed Archives will be relocated, as well, though they have yet to give a date or location to move the fragile materials the department warehouses (though McCracken is rumored to be a possible future site for the collection… talk about exchanging one disfunctional building for another).
East Hall sits atop the location known as Prospect Hill, which is sandwiched between Oakland Drive and Davis street and overlooks all of downtown Kalamazoo. For me, this is where most of the charm comes from. Though there are links missing from the fences where intrepid (or delinquent, not sure) explorers made holes to climb through and up the hill, there is a set of stairs on the corner of Davis and Walwood Pl (ct? I’m not sure, but it’s a small private alleyway called Walwood).
I don’t advise climbing the stairs under any of the following conditions:
1. While carrying a heavy spinning wheel in one hand, a bag slung over your shoulder, and a cell phone in the other hand
2. A cigarette in one hand, a bag slung over your shoulder, and a half empty bottle of wine in the other hand
3. Excessively, horribly drunk, barefoot, and wearing pajama pants with owls on them (with your boyfriend advising you to please go home and put on shoes)
4. In the cold, pouring rain at three in the morning after drinking far too much and chain smoking even more.
I think I see a pattern here… hmm. Regardless.
I wish I knew more of the history of this part of campus. East Campus as a whole truly is marvelous. If I remember correctly, Walwood (home to many departments, including parts of the Institute for Cistercian studies and the non profit certification program (plus many more, I’m sure, but these are things I’m familiar with)) was renovated within the last decade to bring it up to code and be turned into offices for faculty. In the 90’s (I could be wrong on this, but I believe it was 1998) when the buildings were assessed, it was said it would cost at least $80 million (actually, I think this number is really $60 or $70 million, but whats a standard deviation of about 20 million dollars in the grand scheme of Western’s notorious expenditure waste of late?) to renovate East Hall and some of the other halls on Prospect Hill. (note: I just checked wikipedia - yes, scholars, I feel the collective cringe - and 1998 is correct, though the dollar amount is actually 60).
Like I said, East Hall is, almost certainly, my favorite place in all of Kalamazoo, minus the competition of one specific spot (the subject of Things I Love segment 2). The first time I visited East Hall was over four years ago, before I moved to Kalamazoo, when my ex was showing me bits of the city. At the time, I thought it was a lovely place, though I was distracted by my anxiety over having to move to this foreign city with its hills and brick roads identical to Grand Rapids, though unfamiliar and strange. I don’t remember much of that visit. Looking back on it now, I think I never expected to invest as much into Kalamazoo as I have, so I didn’t pay as close attention those first few visits as I should have.
From the small bits of graffiti everywhere (including the political statements on the steps leading up prospect hill, the little scooter riding stencil images that were recently spray painted on the stairs of East Hall itself, and the political slogan for the campaign to Save East Hall on the side of the building) to the NO ENTRANCE signs in the window and floor-to-ceiling chain length fence just inside the door, it is obvious that East Hall is a building in conflict. Having talked to many art students who had small studios (both legit and secretive) in the building, the move out was not taken lightly. The atmosphere here is far more conducive to wanton inspiration and creativity than the location of the Park Trades Center.
I stood in the driveway of a house on Walnut the other night and looked up to see East Hall in the dark. I had never seen it from that viewpoint before and it was equally as striking, with the front columns lit up by the enormous globe lights hanging from the ceiling over the front steps. The house I was at was situated at the base of the hill in front of East Hall and if I stood in the road (again, not recommended while drunk. It seems all of my “east hall experiences” here have been while intoxicated…. I swear I do maintain sobriety most times) I was able to look directly into the almost too-cliche ethereal glow cast by the building (this actually might have been the alcohol, difficult to say). The view looking up at the building at night is beautiful, but it is not the scene that made me love that particular location. The first time (after that first-first time four years ago) I was at East Hall was at night with one of my best friends. This, honestly, is one of the only ways a person can fully experience everything the campus has to offer. The view from Prospect Hill during the day is beautiful - one is able to see every car and bicyclist passing on the streets of the Vine District below. It is especially wonderful when the leaves change color and start falling off the trees and more of the city is revealed.
The best view, however, occurs at night when the buildings are lit up and porch lights twinkle on and off until sunrise. You can hear the metallic sounds of the city groaning in unison with each passing train and car (and if you haven’t walked around the student ghetto at three in the morning and heard those sounds echoing off the heritage houses while that one drunk man misses every third or fourth step behind you and has to catch himself, definitely try it out. Especially if you’re female and walking alone. Not). I vaguely remember watching the sunrise one morning this summer while one boy lightly strummed a guitar and a few others chatted a few feet away. No matter how many people are gathered on the steps - and there always seems to be at least two or three at any given time - it never fails to provide a communal experience while at the same time feeling completely, soul searchingly solitary. It seems like the most cliche coming-of-age summer story experience to tell it, but moments like these have built up in my mind to make East Hall not only a perfectly beautiful historical landmark, but an experience that most people pass up or take for granted.
My roommate and best friend went to East Hall with me recently and said she preferred a few specific spots in Grand Rapids. The friend we were there with at the time seemed to agree - and I think a part of me agrees, as well. There are certainly more beautiful spots hidden around even this same city, though I’ve found very few of them offer the reminiscent, almost anachronistic feel that the grand old building of East Hall and surrounding acreage offer. I know the experiences I’ve accumulated at East Hall have contributed to my love of the area; however, the moment I walked down Davis and up the stairs, I felt much more attuned to this spot than any other I had been.
The Friends of East Campus are currently running (and have been for quite some time now) a campaign to educate about and save the historical buildings on East Campus. See the following links for more information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Campus_(Western_Michigan_University)
http://www.myspace.com/friendsohec
http://www.wmich.edu/foec/history.htm
