The Mind’s Eye group left the Finger Lakes Region behind and headed east to Troy on the Hudson River. They chose to take secondary roads rather than the freeway. Their route passed in the vicinity of several state forest preserves, where the group stopped to hike and view wildlife. After visits to Beaver Creek, Skinner Hill, and Mallet Pond, they arrived at their ultimate destination. Named after the famous city from Homer’s Iliad, Troy was founded in the late eighteenth century. Today it has a population of around 50,000.
After checking into their lodging, the group visited the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute campus for a walkabout. At the campus-area bar where Laetitia went for her post-tour libation, she overheard a conversation among some parents whose progeny were soon to be freshmen and had assembled on campus for orientation. They were complaining about Jake, a friend of their children who was a bad influence. He became the subject of the limerick of the day.
‘Twas his duty, Jake thought, to annoy
All adults from the city of Troy
Be they teachers or preachers
Or fans in the bleachers
Who encountered this rowdy teen boy.