A Graduation

I am proud to note that one of my "kids" graduated from Hollins University on Sunday. I got to go to the ceremony. It was like being at Mount Holyoke, only smaller and more southern. The senior class president's address included a remark along the lines of, Don't tell a Hollins woman she can't move a mountain because she'll just move two to make a point. But let's get down to the good stuff: the clothes. On the gents, I counted four bow ties, three seersucker suits, and one pair of kelly green trousers. The latter, alas worn by a handsome 20-something with bow tie. . . and flip flops. Dude! Put on some shoes. The seersucker-wearers had white bucks or saddle shoes. Most of the young women wore Lilly Pulitzer-type dresses. Also, a real Japanese kimono and obi on one mother, and a Chinese-style navy jacket on another. The graduate who's a Hawaii native sported amazing leis.

On Saturday, I picked up a sub at Coppola's on my way out of town, so that on the way I could have a picnic lunch at Natural Bridge. My initial response upon seeing it?: "holy cow!" The bright blue sky beyond, the slightly skewed, yet nearly squared, shape. The soaring heights. Oh, hell, have Jefferson's words, instead: "the most sublime of nature's works." Foolishly, I brought a bird book and not a wildflower field guide. I saw things in the violet family, columbine, some kind of sorrel, may apple, and lots of flowers I couldn't memorize enough details of to look up at home. There were pigeons (rock doves) on ledges on the walls of the bridge, and some cardinals in the woods.

Monday Monday
Today, back to school. The clinic at B Elementary gives kids a tiny plastic tooth-shaped box if they lose a tooth in school. Two kids came to the clinic to ask me to pull their teeth ("as if") and three had a tooth in hand when they walked in the door. Neat-o.

Is it possible I haven't seen this Simpsons episode before? Or since first release, anyway? Mr. Burns "adopts" Bart. The near drowning, the time Bart spends at Burns' house, the deprogamming: nothing's familiar. I do recall the dogs that spit bees - but maybe that was excerpted, later.

Capital City weather: 95 and mostly clear, outside; inside, the temperature is finally dropping, thanks to a loaner window A/C unit from my neighbor.
At the Byrd: Big Fish