March 22: "Legs!''

Well, I’ve been back in school for a couple of days now.

In my previous post, I noted what I had done to occupy my spring break.

Based on my observations of the past two days, I am confident in saying that I know what most of the MSU co-eds did on their break – they spent a considerable amount of time sunning themselves.

The weather has been sunny and warm this week. What that means on a college campus is shorts. And that means legs: long, lean, toned, tanned legs.

It is helpful to remind myself that these co-eds are my roughly my children’s ages. This prompts me to have a more wholesome attitude. Even so. Legs, legs, legs. Everywhere you look.

This afternoon, I got a letter from Moses, my new pen-pal from prison.

I won’t betray his confidence by revealing the contents of the letter, but I will say that it stirred one particular memory that I can share. Moses’ letter was written on white legal-pad paper. And in true convict form, he wrote on both the front and back of the pages. There is a purpose for this, of course. Writing paper is a limited commodity in prison, so you learn to use it efficiently.

When I was in prison, I was always even more economical in the use of writing paper than Moses. For one thing, I wrote much smaller. Second, I filled up all the available space. In his letter to me, Moses wrote on the front and back of one page, but ended the letter mid-way down the second page.

I always filled up the pages. Of course, I’ve always had the ability to blather on just about any topic.

I didn’t think this week would be very stressful, but today (Tuesday) I got a surprise in my Public Speaking class. My outline for my next speech is due on Thursday, which means I probably, should pick a topic, like, yesterday.

On top of that, Thursday is also the deadline for our paper critiquing a speech we supposed to have attended at some point this semester. The assignment was made at the beginning of the term and I had neglected to note the deadline.

I’m not alone in neglecting this assignment. My friend, Raj Banerjee, who is from India, is in the same boat. After class, we went to the Student Union and inquired if anybody would be speaking there on Tuesday or Wednesday. No luck.

On the way home, I picked up a paper and it featured a story about a visiting professor who will speak at the MSU Library on Wednesday afternoon. The topic: “Sick and Tired: Race and Health Care in Mississippi during Civil Rights Era.’’

Of course, at this point, the topic could have been “The History of Mildew’’ and I would have been excited.

I called Raj immediately. “I found us a speech!’ I told him. He was as relieved as I was.

So I’ll attend the lecture and write my paper tomorrow evening. Whew!

So Tuesday was sort of frantic. It looks like things will work out fine, though.

For all my complaining, I am happy that classes have resumed.

I had an early dinner at the MSU cafeteria on Monday and afterward, I sat on a bench and watched the students pass by. It was a warm, beautiful evening with a gentle breeze out of the south.

I was positioned between the cafeteria and the student union, so there is always a lot of foot traffic there.

You know, there is something about being around young people that I find very soothing. Maybe it’s their confidence, their optimism. They are generally too young to have been beaten up by life. When you are on a college campus, everything seems young and fresh and hopeful. Well, I am not young, but I am fresher than I should be and more hopeful than I’ve been in several years.

As I was sitting there, the clock in the big bell tower at the Chapel of Memories struck 6 o’clock and the chimes echoed the MSU Fight Song from one end of campus to the other. A couple of co-eds were passing by at that moment and they began to sing along with great enthusiasm: “Hail, dear old State...’’

And yes, they were wearing shorts.