#maggievacation - Visiting My Dogma Mater

Hi Everyone.  It's Maggie again. Grandma and Grandpa said I did such a good job on my first blog that I could do another one. So, I decided to take them to my dogma mater - Yale University. Now, I know what you bipeds are thinking, how could a canine be a graduate from Yale. Well, its true. I have the certificate to prove it.  Here is a photo of mommy and me just after I received my certificate from the Canine Cognition Center at Yale. How cool is that!

We started our day with Grandpa making coffee for Grandma. Then we took a walk around the neighborhood so I could take care of my business. I don't know what it is about this coffee stuff, but no sooner did we start our walk than Grandma and Grandpa had to stop at a cafe and get more coffee. After breakfast, it was time to head toward campus. Here is Grandma and me outside one of the many brick buildings on campus.

In case you were wondering, Yale is big. There are over 11,000 students from all fifty states and 108 countries. The 3,200-member faculty is a diverse group of men and women who are leaders in their respective fields just like my Mommy. The central campus covers 310 acres and has over 260 buildings. Here, Grandpa and I are standing outside the really old science building where Mommy works.

We walked all the way through campus to the New Haven Green. Now there are a couple of really cool things you need to know about the Green.  First, it was once a cemetery.  The bodies are still there.  During Hurricane Sandy a big old oak tree feel over and there was a human skeleton inside the roots, probably from colonial times.  Second, cool fact - the Green is privately owned. A self-electing group of individuals called the "Committee of the Proprietors of Common and Undivided Lands at New Haven," maintain ownership of the green. This five-member committee oversees the large, main portion of the green. The proprietors are drawn from the ranks of prominent city residents. Members are appointed for life, and when one dies the four remaining members convene to select a replacement. Talk about old school. Here, Grandma and I are trying to see dead people.

Being a tour guide is hard work. You get hungry and thirsty.  It took a while to find a restaurant where we could all have lunch together. Humans and their silly laws about no dogs inside. Like, what do you think we're going to do, pee or something? Silly humans.

Here, Grandma is looking over the menu on the patio at Kelly's Restaurant & Bar.

When lunch finally arrived, I was so excited. It smelled so good.  Grandpa got a small plate and loaded it up and then put it on the ground for me. <Happy Dance, Happy Dance> Boy was I disappointed when the only thing on my plate was the kibble that Mommy always gives me. I thought for sure Grandpa and Grandma would share.  However, I was right there when Grandpa dropped a piece of a polenta fry. It wasn't that good after all.  My kibble was better.  I guess Mom knows best.  After lunch, it was back through campus, only this time we changed the route up a little bit to see more buildings.  Here is the great sage of Sage Hall. (Get it?) College kids can be so silly sometime.

One of the last places we stopped at was the Yale Farm.  A lush and productive academic farm that produces dozens of varieties of vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowers, and is home to free-range laying hens and honeybees. I didn't see any of the chickens, but if I did, I would have chased them.

Grandpa has to stop and take a picture of the pretty flowers.  Flowers are okay, but I would have preferred chickens.

On the walk home, I had to settle for a stick.  This is my favorite prize stick.  I first found it when we took our walk last Saturday morning, and every time we walk this way, I find it again and chew it some more.

I hope I didn't get Grandma and Grandpa too tired from all the walking this morning.  I still want to go to the dog park this afternoon. Bye for now.  I hope I get a chance to do another blog.  Make sure you tell Grandma and Grandpa if you think I did a good job and maybe they will let me blog again.