By Cheryl Crooks

 

The crisp, clear autumn days of the Pacific Northwest draw you outdoors to garden, hike or just take a walk, as I did one recent Sunday.  I borrowed my neighbor’s dog, Tuppie, and together we strolled down the hill and onto the campus of Western Washington University (WWU).  WWU is a beautiful setting this time of year for a leisurely walk.  It’s a long campus that stretches across 220 acres and backs up against the 620-foot hill of Sehome Arboretum this time of year, the deciduous trees of the arboretum turn a golden yellow and are stunning against the deep color of the towering evergreens.

 

The campus is full of color too as the trees there, set against the red brick and brownstone buildings, are vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows and shed their leaves to carpet the walkways through the commons.

 

I’m fortunate to live close to campus so that on weekends when the campus is quiet and crowd-free, I can take a relaxing walk through it.  The university is home to one of the finest college contemporary outdoor sculpture collections in the United States.  Founded in 1960, the collection has grown to include at least 37 public sculptures in large part due to funding from the state’s one percent for art program the National Endowment for the Arts and through the generosity of the Virginia Wright Fund.

 

Read full blog post here!