Studying.

This is what happens when I have no time.. I post my assignments for all to read. :) I actually had fun writing this one, you had to write a descriptive piece on somewhere you had never been before, and I went to the Shakespeare garden on campus- a very quiet and refreshing place. I definitely will go back..

Sandwiched between Northwestern University’s Technological Institute and the Ford Center, there lies a small corner, surprisingly incongruous with the surrounding buildings: Shakespeare’s Garden. Outside, the grey buildings accentuate the dullness of everyday life, but after climbing the concrete stairs into the garden, the world realigns itself into shades of bright green.
 
Tall blades of grass blown flat by the wind surround the path of stone steps that replaces the concrete. Sitting on one of the old, wooden benches, an observer would be tickled by cat tails growing up from behind, while tall, old trees stare solemnly down. It is a sad note to our time that the ground around the benches is littered with cigarette butts and that a blue Northwestern Emergency Light is planted firmly in the middle of the sidewalk.

Following the path around a corner, one comes across a monument erected in honor of William Shakespeare. Three worn, weathered steps lead up to a stand featuring a portrait of Shakespeare and lines from his plays “A Winter’s Tale,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and “As You Like It.” Turning around, one is immediately confronted by a multitude of colorful flowers, growing with a wild abandon down a line of neatly trimmed grass.

Pinks, magentas, lavenders and greens all wave in the wind as a leaf flutters to the ground from a berry-laden tree. Tall white flowers shade small, soft red ones and pink roses look up to purple lilacs. In the midst of the wild arrangement, stands a sundial, wildflowers growing around its base. A twittering, red-breasted bird flies up into a tree as the sun sets and the wind picks up.

Taking two steps up and several more forward, the magic of Shakespeare’s Garden is left behind for the stark reality of the harsh, gray-green wall of Tech and a half-full parking lot.