Saturday, April 1, 2023

Saturday, April 1, 2023

We are in West Lafayette, trying to get organized after a crazy trip back east. We spent about ten days bopping between Philadelphia and Lewes, Delaware.

We went for Molly’s PhD defense at Temple. Which was great. Time to brag. Molly is the youngest PhD candidate her advisor has ever had. One committee member said Molly’s presentation was the best PhD presentation she has ever seen. After the presentation Molly met with her committee for a two-hour, closed-door session. After the session it took her committee less than five minutes of deliberation to accept her thesis. She had just sat down in her lab manager’s office to wait the outcome when she heard her advisor in the hallway calling, “Dr. Schools, Dr. Schools”. Those are words that have never been heard together before,

Dr. Schools.

Every parent wants to see their children succeed. Success is situational and can be measured in many ways. In some situations, success is staying alive to adulthood. We are lucky that Molly has been in an environment where she could flourish. I fully expect her to go further. As her advisor said, “She has a great future before her”.  Molly has a two-year post-Doc lined up at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. She will be doing genetic work on lemurs and going to Madagascar. She and Mitchell will be moving there in a few weeks.

Which means we have likely made out last trip to Philly. Without Molly and Mitchell there as an anchor, it’s doubtful we will be going back. I’m a bit disappointed. Our trips there have usually been only a few days long and busy. I never had time to do much photography while visiting.

I am going to miss Philadelphia. I grew up about a hundred miles east of Philly. As a kid I was taught that Philly was an evil bad place. No good could come of you in Philly. You’re sure to get mugged and drinking the water will probably make you sterile. Some of my siblings still feel that way. Philly has had some rough times in the past, but things are different now. At least the City Center and the historical areas I’m familiar with. If you can’t have a good time, there you can’t anywhere.

Is Philly perfect? Hell no. No city is. Any time you put a lot of people in a small area you’re asking for problems. Molly had a locked bicycle stolen off the street in Philly. But, I had a chained up bike stolen on the campus of Michigan State University. I’m sure there are some bad areas in Philly. But Philly is coming back and coming back strong. I would rather live there than a lot of other places I have been. If you have the chance to go, go. And make sure you try the chicken at Federal Donut.

Philly skyline from the roof of our AirBNB.

City Center apartment building. I liked the pattern.