And graduation again

 So the semester is officially over for me. I computed my last grades yesterday and submitted them, so that's done. No one actually *failed,* though a couple people earned Ds ("low pass," except in some cases it really isn't, it's more like Failed Light, but I think the couple people who earned Ds were in the "low pass" situation)

Today was graduation. This was the first indoor in-person graduation I've been to since the before-times. I skipped last year (didn't sign up, and I was having stomach issues, as it turned out) and begged off the December ones on the grounds of "I'm traveling to see someone older and I don't want to risk exposure". I think the last one I went to was an abbreviated, outdoor ceremony in spring 2021, where we all sat 6' apart and were asked to wear masks.

They've gone back to making it "mandatory" but you can fill out paperwork if you "need" to skip. I figured there was no reason for me to this year so I went. 

The last time I did this - spring 2021 - was shortly after Del died; I think the mourning for him was still palpable at graduation (he had been a big part of campus). And yet, at the time I remember thinking "things will ultimately be OK"

I guess I feel that again. I saw a lot of our students graduate, many of them people whose college careers had been interrupted in 2020 and who struggled through the slow return to something like normal (we're pretty much there now, though I am MUCH more insistent if "you don't feel well e-mail me and I will excuse you, and I will be generous about allowing late work or make ups")

It was long. I forgot how long it was. There seemed to be a lot of clapping for lots of groups of people, not just the honors students. We had to stand up so people could clap for us. 

It was also ALL the undergraduates graduating - all three schools. So it was a lot of people. I don't know how many, maybe 2-300? Not everyone graduating came; one of my soils students came and thanked me for the classes of mine he took but said "I guess this is the last I'll see you" and yes, he wasn't at graduation. (He's a non-trad student and has a long commute and I think he's employed at least part-time where he lives - I know he has kids, too)

But it did also feel good; it felt normal again. It was the first graduation for my new colleague M., despite her having been here since fall 2021! Last year she was on maternity leave and before that there weren't  graduations....so we had to help her arrange her regalia. 

And then, after it was over - walking out into the warm humid early-summer day to my car, and putting away my regalia for (probably) another seven months.  I did some yard work - mainly mowing the lawn. I did some cleanup around the edges, and cleared out some thatch and my plan was to mow both the front and the back but the dewpoint was in the 60s for the first time this year and my asthma just said "no," so I only got the front yard done, which is the one people see anyway.

I then decided to go get the first snow-cone of the summer for me. There's a trailer that sets up in the parking lot at Pruett's and they're pretty reliably open (except when it's storming). I did almost give myself heatstroke waiting there in line - I find I tolerate full sun increasingly poorly and I probably should have gotten a hat. I wound up in line between a couple of little girls who couldn't make up their minds. But finally, I got my favorite - the combo they call Wonder Woman (because of the colors. It's blue coconut, pineapple, and cherry):

 

My mom already got her mother's day gift (a gift certificate to the local small garden center she likes) and she talked about going out next week to use it, so I guess she liked it. I also figured out a birthday gift for her unless I find something preferable - I had ordered some stuff from Blue Q and had got a pair of socks that say "I dig in the dirt" (and that has flowers and cartoony earthworms on it) and a woven tea towel that says "made from scratch" and has a cat - I ordered them for me but when I opened the box I realized they were both things she would like, too - and I probably have enough tea towels and socks. (Still, if I do get up to Chickasaw and they have a nice t-shirt or something, I will get that for her)