Waterman Ladies

Set back from the roadside       
    Beyond the lawn and path           
There’s a tall-roofed gabled house,
    With kitchen and a hearth.
Carpets in the living room,           
    A wide cozy divan,                   
A home amongst the college halls
    They call it “Waterman”.

The residents are ladies,
    Hillsdale colleagues all,
Who take pride as they entertain
    When others come to call;
Patriotic damsels, virtuous and true
    Diligent supporters
Of the white and blue.               

Should you on Tuesday evenings,       
    Drop in by chance you’ll see
The denizens and visitors
    Enjoying a cup of tea.
Young men from Delts might be there,
    Mu Alphans and Phi Mus
They take a break away from work
    To air their news and views

It is now a tradition
    Among that active throng,
To nurture arts of hearth and home   
    While yet they labor long.
In the wee hours of the morning
    When others have gone to bed,
The lights are on in Waterman
    They’re working late instead.


For my daughter Maran who, enjoying the company of its residents, applied for and has succeeded in making Waterman her college domicile.

    Dr Neil Stewart McLeod - January 2013

Hillsdale College - Cookies with Audrey

Waterman Residence - Hillsdale College

Cookies with Audrey
Audry Gray and my daughter Maran are friends at Hillsdale College in Michigan. 
Nancy and I visited the School for Parents Weekend in 2012 and sat up late in 
Waterman Residence as the girls baked us cookies to go with our tea.

The moonlight fell on Waterman
Through limbs with thinning leaves,
And from the student’s living room
A glow shone out through the trees.
Within we both sat waiting
Defying the hour so late,
And the pot on the hob was starting to bob
And the cookies were starting to bake.

What a night it had been, where we dined
Olivia’s Chop House showed it’s charms,
Then a classical concert in Sage on the stage
With Dvorak, Mozart and Brahms.
For an hour we watched the kids swinging
As the Hillcats played Howard Hall,
And the leaves from the trees danced and fell in the breeze
Now summer had changed into Fall.

Out into the dark we retreated
Not wanting the reveling to end,
So we crossed the campus and Galloway Drive
To Waterman with Maran’s friend.
And there in the night we sat waiting
Ensconced on the long soft settee,
For a chance of a bite of a cookie at night
Served by Maran and Audrey with tea.

Neil Stewart McLeod 10/26/2012

Fall Colors on Campus- Abigail Wood, Audrey Gray and Maran