orange and black

I can't begin to do justice to Mark's talk at the alumni dinner. Fortunately, John will have a video. Never expected the imitation of Dad throwing the fear of God into every student at LVCS, or the revelation of the Ed Sullivan hoax (all those assemblies where we were awed by acts that had appeared in Chicago, New York City, and on the ED SULLIVAN show). Great job, good timing, pictures from Afghanistan connected to Joe Hale and Merow Hardware and even mother's knit hats. Masterfully done.

There was some talk that we all ought to order Converse sneakers for next year. Heck, the whole alumni association might want to do a bulk order.

Managed to slip in a few non-alumni related activities. Now that the house across the street is empty, we have a clear path to the creek, and at least one neighborhood inhabitant was willing to check it out.

The repair on the Adirondack chair took 8 screws, some wood glue, and one can of cherry red spray paint (total cost still under $20). And we certainly managed to eat and spend a fair amount of time aiming the digital cameras at each other. We became the amusement for people having brunch at the tables outside Dina's. I liked the suggestion from one woman that we slip in someone we didn't know, so that years from now we could puzzle over just who that woman was. Cousin Sue? Aunt Irma?

LVCS

It's June, and if you think back far enough, you might be able to remember the total emotional mess you were sitting on that stage in the high school auditorium, in a cap and gown, worried about tripping on the way to take the diploma with one hand and shake the principal's hand with the other. And now it's a whole lot of years later, and I'm the old lady in trifocals and sensible shoes, but I can still remember that the man at the podium—and I'm betting he's wearing a tie made by mother—never gave a speech that didn't make me proud.

just how hot is it?

Pretty darn hot. Olivia and I walked late this morning, and it occurred to me, as we were about a mile away from home, that maybe taking an animal who wears a fur coat out for a walk in the middle of the day wasn't the brightest idea. The only other walkers we saw out were a couple walking their "new" black labrador, Biscuit, a rescued dog, on his second walk in two days to Starbucks. It's at least a mile and a half to the closest Starbucks.

The potluck dinner was a little heavy on beef tonight. Tom did his potroast with horseradish, and Mary Lou brought a meatloaf. Salad, deviled eggs (secret ingredient: a generous dollop of Ranch Dressing), chocolate cheesecake, and a marshmellow fruit salad. Cholesterol? Well, maybe.

I trust all you father's had a good day. Our big celebration was last weekend, so Tom celebrated today by renting a deck sander. That gave him an afternoon on the deck, right next to that thermometer, creating sawdust in the sun. Power tools. It doesn't get much better.

Garden update

We are having glorious weather, but we did too much running around this weekend to actually spend any time in the garden. At least the photo shows some progress. Last year we had a miserable crop of pumpkins. (Can you call one pumpkin a crop?) This year the squash and pumpkins are fluorishing, and the corn is filling in the rows. Bordering the path to the right are yellow coreopsis, blue spiderwort (a plant that can survive all kinds of bad treatment), day lillies, and some red yarrow. Rain gauges, thermometer, tomato stakes, the bird feeder with its anti-squirrel baffle—we've got lots of totem poles.

Tonight we celebrated Father's Day with Cullen in Bethesda, starting with Al Gore's movie. The theater was almost sold out, and at the end there was actual real full-audience applause. One woman behind me was adamant. "We need to apologize to the whole world for electing that Bush!"

Only one bargain this weekend. It was the stenciling that convinced me.