Scones and Leaves

I love Waddick's.

Waddick's is the cafe located in O'Shaughnessy Hall, the home of the College of Arts and Letters at ND. It isn't fancy schmancy or anything; it's just a quaint little space with three booths, a few more wobbly tables and narrow counters that  materialized the stereotypical college image I had in my head before I ever stepped foot onto a university campus: flyers adorn the walls, thick books are cracked open on the tables that are strewn with papers and the presence of caffeine pulses through the air.  The scent of Waddick's lingers through the first floor hallway even when the cafe isn't open: a mixture of good coffee, tea, baked goods, breakfast sandwiches and old books. Heavenly and so stress relieving. 

I can't even count the amount of days when my empty stomach would threaten it would distract me during the whole next class so I would calculate if I had enough time to grab something from Waddick's to tide me over. The verdict was normally a determined yes so I would rush to O'Shag, take my place in the line that snakes out of the cafe between every class and then buy the cheapest thing on the menu. I liked to save my points for finals and then I would splurge and buy whatever I wanted (turkey croissant sandwiches, breakfast sandwich with sausage on a croissant) so I could find some comfort in those dreary times. Luckily for me, my budgeting (cheapness) led me to one of my favorite things to eat at ND - the cherry almond scone. 

The scone is a little lopsided triangle of modest indulgence for me, and it got me through many a boring class and many a long paper. A few weeks ago, Ryan and I were going to campus before we ran errands, and it seemed like the crisp fall air was urging me to go to Waddick's, "Go get a scone!" So I took my place in that snake of a line of students who wore bookbags while I wore my baby. "Just a scone, please," I told the cashier as I handed over my cash instead of a student ID. Then I walked my baby outside to a spot where you had to squint to see grass and let him rustle the leaves while I savored the familiar mix of fluffy inside, golden crunchy outside, chewy cherries and a hint of almond tying it all together. It was great. 

Scones and papers might have been good, but I think a scone, a baby and rustling leaves can give them a run for their money...just always keep Waddick's involved.  

The next day, they had bulldozed on the leaves into a barricade like ring around God Quad, we witnessed a girl crash  into the wall of leaves with her bike while yelling, "Ahh! What should I do!" right before she fell over. I guess the fall only bruised her pride and not her spirit because after a good laugh she jumped into the leaves with her friends. That's the spirit!