Saturday, March 21, 2009

Proof of spring

The pear trees are in bloom in front of Gaines Hall again.

Among the first trees to bloom in spring, and last to lose its bronze-red autumn leaves, the Bradford Pear (Pyrus calleryana) might be a superior tree except for two weaknesses: the smell of the blossoms is unpleasant (!), and the crotched trunk is brittle -- prone to snapping in high winds. (We lost two in one night, north of here, during the inland winds of Hurricane Isabel.) This set may be protected by its proximity to the building's walls.

Gaines Hall is a residence for upperclassmen at Washington and Lee, completed in 1988 in the "suite" dormitory fashion. I received many demurs to my (rather tongue-in-cheek) assertion that residents of Graham-Lees were "living in style." So -- how are things at Gaines Hall?

6 comments:

B SQUARED said...

Virginia is so beautiful this time of the year.

Anonymous said...

Gaines is a "less preferred" dormitory option among students. I lived in it as a freshman (only about 40 of us did and felt somewhat separated from the rest of our class in the BDG quad and GL) and most upperclassmen opt to live in Greek housing or Woods Creek (which has a kitchen in every "apartment" but is older" or in off-campus houses. Gaines itself is, however, much nicer than the other dorms, and for freshmen, is the only dorm with AC!

Fredrik said...

Lovely house. I like the way the pear trees frame it!

crocrodyl said...

Beautiful! I like this building! Great photo!

Anonymous said...

I lived in Gaines my sophomore year, along with a bunch of classmates. It was not the preferred place to live, but it was nice. Much more modern than Graham-Lee's. Some suites are two levels with a small spiral staircase and a loft bedroom upstairs. Those are the best of the lot.

Very nice photo.

Hilda said...

Unpleasant smell? Eek. I'd have a hard time sleeping if I could smell it from my room. Looks pretty anyway. And that's a gorgeous student dorm!