1. I don't know if others do this, but I'm simply following my lights. I spent many years under the tutelage of and working alongside men and women who worked in service to higher education. I've reached the age now where many of the professors whose classes I took and quite a few fellow professors and instructors at the places I taught have died. They were on my mind today, starting with instructors who were my teachers at NIC. I thought a lot about professors I knew at Whitworth and the U of Oregon, where I was both a student and an instructor. I also memorialized deceased fellow instructors I worked with at LCC, both in the department and the division I worked in, and college wide.
It grieved me to think of how many of these influential people are gone. At the same time, I reached back and once again felt the happiness I experienced with so many of them, whether in the classroom or in pursuing our shared mission together of doing the best we could to be of service to our students.
My memorializing thoughts and feelings were also focused on the animals I've lost over the years. We lost both of our corgis in May, Maggie in 2019 and Charly in 2020, and I thought back to my life with Snug and also fondly remembered the many cats I've lived with, although not recently.
I saw posts yesterday on Facebook warning readers that there would be people like me, people who apparently don't know what Memorial Day observes, making posts.
I know what Memorial Day observes. I prayed thanks today for fallen soldiers, especially my uncle, William Earl Woolum, who was killed on the USS Selfridge at the Battle of Vella Lavella in October, 1943.
But, my mind also moved elsewhere, to women and men I knew in person as teachers and to animals I lived with and loved. These teachers and these dogs and cats improved and enhanced many lives, not just mine, and I enjoyed their company today, enjoyed the memories, enjoyed how grateful I felt.
2. Carol and Paul hosted a burger fry on the grill today for Christy, Everett, Zoe, Debbie, and me. We'd planned to dine outside, but rain forced us inside. We are all doing our best to keep physical distance from each other and Carol and Paul's living room is spacious enough that we could do that, but is also intimate enough that we didn't have any problem conversing. Christy brought potato salad. Debbie made a fruit salad. Zoe made home baked hamburger buns (awesome!). Christy made a rhubarb dump cake for dessert.
Debbie has made all of us face coverings for when we go out into public places. Christy asked that we all bring them to today's get together for a picture. Zoe set the timer on her (or someone's) cell phone and snapped pictures of us scattered across the living room, the bottom half of our faces covered. Carol posted the picture in black and white. Debbie cropped Carol's version a bit in a way I really like. I don't have that version of the picture just yet, but when I have it, I'll post it. It's a really good, unplanned, unchoreographed picture and sort of accidentally turned out to be awesome.
3. Back home, I returned to Bleak House. Dickens left his readers hanging by departing from the virus story line and, instead, he took us to London where a most astonishing and unusual death occurred in the building Mr. Krook owns and lives in. A hubbub followed.
After a while, I put down the book and joined Debbie in the living room where we talked for a couple of hours or so about all sorts of things, bringing a very satisfying day to a perfect end.
Today is Sally Ride Day. She was born on May 26, 1951. Stu commemorates this day with a limerick.
Sally Ride died in 2012. May she rest in peace.
Her bravery cannot be denied.
And her feat was broadcast far and wide.
With resolve on her face,
She shot up into Space.
And the nation responded with pride.
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