Dear Diary,

Today I went to the University to pick up books from the library. It had been a long time since my last visit to the campus and the road driving in is still bumpy. The new apartment building called 30UC is complete, with inviting fresh pavement and benches near the entry. The Canada geese that were on campus last time I went have moved on. Instead, construction crews are busy rebuilding the stairs near the student centre.

In the gloomy interior of Elizabeth Dafoe, the book locker gleamed in other-worldly white. It was the first time I ever swiped my card as instructed, heard the click and witnessed the springing-open of a rectangular door where my books waited in a mauve glow of interior-lighting. Is there really an interior light? That’s how I remember it, a little startled by this futuristic interaction.

With my books under one arm, I loitered a little, looking through the glass to the darkened library. It felt a little ghostly, completely barren as it was, lines of yellow caution-tape running through.

Outside, it was sunny. Students walked here and there, purposefully, with backpacks on their shoulders. The campus is partially alive… it was a strange feeling.