And so another week goes by. Are we getting close to our family members? Have the younger kids no longer wonder why Daddy is still at home? This is really getting old. One day we are “Sheltering in Place,” and the next minute we’re seeing folks out on the beach having fun.
Remember when school was over and all those kids took off for a weekend of fun before life gets in the way again? The “experts” were telling them of the doom they were facing by being all together at the beach. However, now it seems the “experts” have been forced to change their minds.
There are no massive crowds of young folks suffering. In fact, they now say to go outside because fresh air is an enemy of the virus. A further fact: Florida, where most of those proletariat kids were flaunting the wishes of the ruling class, is one of the states with the lowest infection rate of the virus. We see politicians acting as though they know what is good for us, forcing nursing homes to admit the infected seniors and the death rate went through the roof. I have to stop telling you how bad our government has been treating us. You are probably tired of it too.
A good story should always come after I have told you the horror some folks are suffering. I had mentioned, about 20 times, that I had graduated college this last semester. Well, if you didn’t know, it’s true, I did. I was, as were all graduates, of the class of 2020 and the fall class of 2019, were supposed to wear our caps and gowns and walk across a stage where we would be presented our diplomas.
I know it doesn’t sound like a lot when I say it, but it was important to me and I suppose a lot of folks. After all, the parents had shelled out all the money to get their kids a higher education and the kids were getting up to their necks with student loans. I’m sure the parents wanted to see the results of all their sacrifices.
In any case, the local California State University of Monterey Bay canceled the ceremony and had a celebration by computer. I had given up and didn’t even buy a cap and gown. (Yeah, you have to buy them for one day.) I wasn’t so interested in a sham ceremony. I wasn’t angry, just disappointed.
So the other day I’m out in the backyard putzing around trying to make watermelons grow, and my personal nurse walked out holding a box with a mysterious smile on her face. I noticed her and softly asked what might be contained in the mysterious enclosure she held. I think that’s what I said, but I think it came out like, “What’s in the box, babe?” Her smile got radiant then, like it did when she said she would marry me.
I was watching closely as she put her hand down the side of the box. (You can never be too careful.) Then, she pulled out a cap and gown for the graduation. I have to admit I was kind of touched that she would have done that.
So I asked, “Why in the world did you spend all that money on a setup I would never wear?” Again she smiled the smile that melted my heart and replied, “It wasn’t me, it was your daughter.” So I immediately thought she had sold the family jewel. (We don’t have jewels, we have a jewel.) In any case, it was quite a surprise from both my daughter and my loving wife.
I put on the mortarboard and gown and she took a couple of photos. To be honest, I truly wish my mother and father were here, but somehow I’m sure they knew. Did you ever wonder why graduates dress the way they do?
Let’s take the gown… long ago when the church was where you got higher education, the grads would sit in an unheated church for the services. It got cold and so the students started wearing heavy gowns to keep warm. The hats, or more correctly mortarboards, are flat squares with a skull cap underneath. The mortarboard was meaningful as the guys that carried a flat board for carrying mortar were the artisans of that period that built the fancy churches of the time. They were revered, so the students copied them.
The tassels have a couple of different uses, but mostly they are the school colors and worn on the left before the graduation and then switched to the right. They don’t give them away, but since my daughter bought it I’ll take it.
Since my bride took the photo, she posted it on her Facebook. That was a very humbling experience as she had about 160 people telling me congratulations. I don’t think I know 160 people, but still, it was cool that they took the time to say something nice.
I wouldn’t trade where I live for anything. I love this town and the folks that live here, in fact anyone in South County. I’ve done a lot of things in my life that I can say I am proud of, perhaps even some things I’m not proud of, but this was the icing on the cake.
I hope you wash your hands and wear your masks to make the politicians happy.
God Bless.
