Commencement/graduation addendum

Forgot to mention: Rained like the chickens during the graduation ceremony. Even though we're in the Pacific N.W., no one that morning thought "Hey! Very cloudy: put awning up over the orchestra." So we had music for the first fifteen minutes, and then they all bailed. (Literally: large buckets.)

So, wet, cold, and squishy -- the stadium is just off a large lake, so lovely wind chill factor. But, very memorable.


The other funny thing was when we first processed in, the stands erupted in proud parents and families waving their arms and jumping up and down, to attract their kid's attention. Which of course didn't work, 'cause every family looked just like every other family waving their arms and jumping up and down.

Similarly, when we all got seated, five thousand cell phoned whipped out and five thousand graduates waved at the stands: "Hey mom, can you see me? I'm the one in the graduation costume, waving -- holding the cell phone!"


It kept raining all through the ceremony, sometimes more emphatically than other times, so most people bailed early. The Ph.D. folks went across the stage first, then Master's, then Bachelors -- so by the time the Bachelors went across, most of the graduate students had left. Out of maybe four hundred doctoral students that graduated, I was one of maybe twenty that stuck around until the end. Seemed rude to do otherwise. Plus, I'd thought to bring my big, wide-brimmed hat, so I was only soaked from the abdomen down.


--GG