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Veve Cottage

Soon after the road exploration incident, my father moved us way into the
interior of the college, up in the hills, close to the college’s dairy farm. I do
not know when exactly we moved to the new house, but it must have been
before I was three years of age. I am sure that my stroll out on the highway
was a significant motivator for this move. Maybe the move was not entirely
because of the incident, but, rather, because it demonstrated what could
happen to two young ones that would not stay put! The San Germán to
Mayagüez highway ran just outside our farm. At our new house, we were far
away from any automobile traffic. Only oxcarts laden down with sugarcane
came by.

The college prided itself in providing housing for its faculty and
administrators. It was a very nice benefit for the faculty since there was a
shortage of good, affordable housing in the town. Throughout the campus,
there were houses, apartments and dorms. Our new house was a nice-sized
bungalow with a living room, dining room and kitchen along one side and
three bedrooms and a bathroom along the other side. Right off the kitchen,
on the outside of the house, we had a patio, which we used quite often as
our dining room. It was like having a picnic every day! The only difference
between this and most any bungalow you find in the USA is that this was
made of concrete. In one way, our bungalow, “Veve Cottage”, was way ahead
of its times. It had been built along a hillside so the bedroom side was
actually built above a garage that could be entered from the bottom level
drive and was open to the elements. From the lower-level garage, a steep
concrete stairway let up to the hall between the bedrooms.

Veve cottage was a very safe place to raise a couple of kids that were prone
to exploring. Edda and I could roam around at will, which we did, with no
danger of traffic. There was a small, narrow gravel road in front of the
cottage, but it was seldom used except by the men who worked at the dairy
farm, and they most always walked. Occasionally a cart pulled by two oxen
would plod on by. They were not a danger since they moved at a glacial pace.

Just down the hill from Veve Cottage was a lake, which had been created
when the main campus road had joined the bases of two hills. Instead of
putting some drainage tubes under the road, they had used concrete and
earth, thus creating a small dam. When it rained, the water would back up

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