I love this time of year, especially at northern latitudes. The long, lingering twilight makes me so happy.
Tonight I noted a storm over the Cascades east of our house.. it even had thunder, a very are occurrence here in the Pacific Northwest. It sprouted a double rainbow for while as it passed. This photo was taken sometime after 9:00pm. It is 10:20 right now and finally getting dark, though the northern horizon still holds blue light and high clouds still reflect light.
Starting tomorrow is all starts marching backwards until December, when we have darkness for most of the day. Enjoy it while it lasts!
Christopher graduated from high school tonight, June 10th 2008.
It was held at the football stadium at Arlington High School, and thankfully the rains ceased for a few hours for the event to pass. Of course as soon as it concluded, the drizzle started again. We’re all very happy.
We started the evening with a dinner at La Hacienda. Then we dropped Chris off at the school as he had to be there an hour before.
Above: Chris puts on the gown.
Above: Sue watches as the cap goes on.
The actual ceremony took place with a stadium full of parents and relatives of all the students. The parking lot was overflowed and we ended up far away. We did a poor job of logistics and ended up pretty far from Chris’ spot in the ceremony. I brought my telephoto lens and managed to pick him out of the crowd:
Above: Chris enters the stadium.
Above: Where’s Waldo?
Above: Chris hands his name to the reader.
…and walks towards the stage.
Of course my photos of him on the stage are blurry and somebody walked right in front of me right about that time as well(!)
Oh well.
There was music and of course boring speeches… it wrapped up with some youthful exuberance:
We finally found each other down on the field after it was all over and got a group shot:
Linked from a South American blog I read now & then that has been keeping me up-to-date about the Chilean volcanic eruption. Somehow I think our disaster is even worse.
No guesswork needed. One of my favorite pictures from our “ffather/son roadtrip” in the summer of 2003, this is Nicholas curled up and napping in the 65E. He was nine years old then. A lanky teenager now, he is unlikely to be able to do that anymore!
Last night Christopher & I went to the Seattle Mariner’s incredibly expensive stadium** for a welcome reception and event for new students at Evergreen State, his chosen school. There was no game going on, so it was weird to be in this giant empty stadium with just 150 or so people. We were served finger foods in the 1st base lounge on the 200 level. They had tables and chairs, and a podium set up. Chris & I grabbed a primo spot in some big comfy chairs as we were a bit early. Staff & faculty were there to speak with us. Before that happened the Dean of Admission brought nine students up to the front (as soon as I counted nine standing I figured a baseball joke was coming… and sure enough…) he announced that these students had been picked as the starting lineup for the next home game. He passed our Mariner’s caps to them all and asked if there were any left-handers, and Chris raised his hand in confirmation and was tossed a ball, and told he’d be on the mound pitching. Then he revealed the real reason why these kids were up in front of the crowd: They were the recipients of Scholarships!
Great news for a parent about to start writing big checks for an education!
Congrats Chris!
We drove home in a blinding blizzard(!) around 9pm. Visibility was so bad that I-5 was slowed to about 35 MPH. Really weird weather this “spring”… We awoke to big fat flakes falling here at home, so I decided to bow out of the Seattle Jaguar Club’s Spring Rally. I don’t know if they went ahead with it, or if it has been rescheduled. Hopefully the warm weather (it was 80°F a week ago today!) will return next week in time for the Tulip Rallye up in the Skagit Valley. I really hope so.
**(If the “naming rights” big corporation/Insurance company wants me to name them in conjunction with the stadium please have their marketing department contact me for payment details)
