Terrace Chairs: A Love Story – The Summer Romance
It’s that time of year again… your sweaters get a little heavier, it’s dark before dinnertime and Terrace season is ending. We all know what that means: our beloved Terrace chairs are going away for the winter.
We spent an amazing summer with them, socializing with friends and munching on brats, grilled corn and those Rathskeller fries, all while perched upon a green, yellow or orange sunburst pattern. They stayed by our side when summer became fall, when we continued to overindulge, just this time with pumpkin pie-flavored Babcock ice cream. They supported us (literally) while we attempted to do schoolwork, which really just means a textbook was in the general vicinity of our efforts to soak up those final rays of sun.
Engagements, first dates, reunions… events important enough in themselves seem somehow even more special on the Terrace. The Terrace’s beauty offers a last-resort first-date conversation topic, and you’re a lot happier to see second-cousin Gary when the family reunion includes a view of Lake Mendota.
These illustrious chairs make the Terrace the place it is. Although it may appear as though our colorful friends are in infinite supply, the illusion is just that—an illusion. Each year, about 100 chairs are stolen and scattered illicitly in apartments and fraternity houses across campus, while another 25 will wear out and need to be replaced. At $335 apiece retail, these chairs ain’t cheap.
No matter the place, a Terrace chair elsewhere truly does not feel the same as when it’s at home, on the Terrace for all to enjoy. These chairs mean something different to all who have enjoyed them, but they mean something all the same.
And over the summer, as we watch our chairs disappear here and there, however gradually, it’s like a piece of the Terrace goes missing, little by little.
But of course, there comes a time each fall when we must say farewell to all the Terrace chairs.
This is the time we have to tell ourselves “it’s not goodbye, it’s see you later,” and say “see you later,” to our steadfast Terrace companions.
Where do these iconic chairs go? What happens to them? Can we visit?
Find out in the next segment of this series, Terrace Chairs: A Love Story – The Long Distance Relationship.
Want to see more of the Terrace chairs? See them in action here!
