| June started off with a bang, quite
literally. Will, a friend of his, Brie, her friend from RPI,
Wunyin, and Dave went to the range with a trio of watermellons. On
the seven yard range. Meaning you could pretty much spit and hit them.
Where apon everyone missed, dropped the melons and broke them open; or
had other mishaps that left us with one real watermellon explosion.
Brie shot the AR-15, Black Cat, and S&W Model 41 handgun (over two
sessions). The boys tried everything. |
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| Below... other random events... |
Will and girlfriend Diana Du
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Dinner in Boston with Eric Haines |
A shot of one of Kate's day lillies that I really thought was
spectacular |
Brie in her natural habitat... the Natick Mall |
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| On July 21st, Kate, Will and I went to Student Orientation at RPI in
preparation for Will starting his freshman year. It was a bit of a
repeat from Brie's student
orientation, but Kate didn't make that one, so it was all new to
her. The biggest difference was that they wisely moved the parent
sessions (students and parents are split up immediately on arrival and
only see each other at the end of the orientation) to the
EMPAC instead of the Darin Communication Center; the seats in the DCC
are the same hard yellow plastic seats I used as a freshman at RPI. |
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| I still find it entertaining that the EMPAC, one
of the most beautiful buildings I've seen, all curves and glass and wood
and avant-garde panache, sits next to the Folsom library, which is
perhaps not beautiful, but is certainly visually distinctive in it's
square, squat , gray concrete and industrial strength durability way.
It reminds me of the Apple commercials, the young hipster and the middle
aged suit standing side by side, as different as you can get. |
The amazing disappearing EMPAC. It's invisibility shields are
up but failing. |
The Folsom Library
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| The California Trip (Aug 3-10) |
The Mercedes-Benz SUV we rented outside Bill and Janet's house
(the SUV was a bit of a disappointment). We've been at the
house so many times in the past 20 years it's almost iconic for
us, representing the best of SoCal. |
Ditto with the living room.
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Anne, Kate, and Liz |
Dinner with the Garbers and Kralls |
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Kate with her best friend from High School, Janice, and an
ex-boyfriend, Mark
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A visit to CA would not be complete without a dinner at Paco's
Tacos, with Rich and Terri Boyle, Liz, Bill and Janet |
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| It was, quite literally, a fairy tale wedding, with expansive
seashore vistas, ancient artifacts of enormous symbolic power,
pirates, fantastic outfits, magic wands and a fire breathing dragon that
burned people's skin a deep pink. Well, OK, that was the sun, so
maybe not completely literally. But still, the marriage of Kate's
step sister, Lisa, to the Groom, Bruce, was an unsual wedding that was
both touching and a lot of fun. |
The view from Serra Cross Park,
where the wedding was held (the Serra Cross is the ancient artifact, by
the way) |
Bill Garber giving away his Daughter, Lisa
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The Groom, Bruce, and the best man (his son) in formal Pirate
garb |
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Bruce and Lisa, husband and wife (Lisa is holding the magic wand) |
Dave and Kate |
Bll and Janet |
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From left to right, Nick Krall, Anne Krall, Dave Garber, Craig Garber
(hidden) Dorothy Garber, (hidden) Chuck Garber, Bill Garber (at the
end), Janet Garber, Dave, Kate, Matt Garber, Lulu Garber, Cindy Garber |
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| And then... it's empty nest time.
Saturday, the 20th of August, we took two vehichles (the Sequoia and the
Rav) to RPI to drop off Will and Brie for their Freshman and Junior
years respectively. Patric and Tasha came with us (staying in
Brie's apartment), along with Will's long-time girlfriend and better half,
Diana Du. |
Two trucks packed to the gills ... the Rav, which stays with Brie and
Will at RPI, and the monster Sequoia. It was a close thing getting Will's stuff
into a suitcase. It was a close thing getting Brie's stuff
in the rest of the space available. |
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We brought the dogs with us this time; they stayed in Brie's apartment
while we stayed at 74 State Street. Below, Diana Du tagged along
as well, helping Will check in and hanging out with Brie,getting a tour
of the RPI athletic facilities / "ECAV" (East Campus Athletic Village)
and meeting the RPI women's tennis coach, Erica |
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Kate works on getting Will's clothes and other necessities
unpacked... Will works on getting his desktop set up for some
extreme gaming. Given his subwoofer rattles teeth, it will
be interesting to see if his roommates think it's cool or not.
But, given the attention he was getting waveboarding (think "two
wheel skateboard") down the dorm hallway, it will probably
be "cool." |
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Kate also helps Brie move 10 pounds of ... stuff ... into a 5 pound
sock, i.e. her room at her new apartment. Brie gets to hang for a
week before classes start, while Will does "Navigating Renessalear and
beyond," which appears to be a weeklong party. |
Our final dinner before becoming empty nesters at 74 State Street...
Will, Diana, Brie, Kate and I |
Diana entertains with "stupid human tiricks" then poses for a
photo with Will... but after a tour of the campus, they might be
classmates when she goes to college next year! |
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