Much to our surprise Gaelen’s High School in Greenfield Massachusetts held an actual graduation ceremony. It was limited to immediate family with a Zoom link for extended family and friends. We drove to Greenfield on Sunday Afternoon and met up with Gaelen, Molly and Phoenix an hour before the ceremony for a social distancing picnic. It was good to see him; last time for me was AK but it was a bit longer for the girls.
The ceremony was held outside on the school grounds. It was a beautiful evening with the sun setting. We were assigned chairs withing 10′ x 10′ squares and the graduates all sat 6′ apart off to our right.
The graduates, 34 in all, were called up on stage in groups of 8, all carried their own chairs and sat while the student advisors called upon individuals to stand while they read a testimonial about their time at Four Rivers Charter School. Thus we got to learn a bit about each of Gaelen’s classmates and what their plans for next year were.
Social distancing was maintained and everyone wore masks
The graduates gathered in a circle for the ceremonial cap toss.
After the ceremony we just said goodbye and went home as the traditional dinner was not happening. We made plans to gather for a dinner in the fall if conditions allow. Gaelen’s post high school plans are in flux as the community college he wants to attend is only doing on-line classes in the fall which is something G is not excited about. Seems like a good time for a Gap Year.
On the homefront
Summer time is here. It feels so different this year with all the yearly events wiped off the calendar. Days are open and seem timeless, adryft in the cycle of the year. We are getting our wood in before October, playing lots of sunset badminton; Ambiana & Jakobi have gotten really good, hitting backhands and spikes, dropping in soft shots just over the net and we have some epic volleys. The years of playing have paid off.
Piano
Ambiana asked the other day for a piano and I said ok as we have had one sitting at the FTY Hub where I work for years but when I went to inquire about it found it had been gone for months so I looked on Craigslist and was surprised at how may Free Pianos there were. I found one for free in Stowe on FaceBook Marketplace that came with a husband to help load so I jumped on it and we drove out Friday evening and loaded it in the back of the pick up.
Pianos are frickkin heavy and the plan was to rally a crew and hoist it up to the Long House but the crew never materialized and it sat in the pick up bed all weekend even making a trip with me into Burlington where I met a Craiglister to pick up (for $30) a 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound System for the Long House Cinema and to shop at Trader Joe’s (They limit the store to 30 customers at a time and boy was that nice having been there when it is PACKED. It was worth waiting in line 15 minutes to enter such an empty store)
I backed the truck up to the basement door and set some heavy boards from the tailgate to the threshold and as the piano was on wheels it was relatively easy (compared to loading it in the truck) to get the piano into the basement until we can come up with a plan and organize a crew to move it up the hill to the Long House.
Construction Update: tiling
I completed the 8th and final Ring Tile and mortared them to the bathroom wall within the orange tiles. Only need to remove 2 of the orange tiles to make the last piece of the Ring fit. I also had to remake the 3 turtle tile (1 o’clock position in the above picture and tile # 8 below) as it was the first one I made and I made it out of cement. All the others were made with mortar and have metal lath sandwiched inside for structural support. It was just a fraction to big when the pieces were placed on the wall so I chiseled out the shells and remade it smaller with the mortar and lath. All the shells and stones in the ring tiles were collected by me over the past 30 years or so. Lots from Hawai’i and Ke’hena Beach.
Construction Update: Tree-House
I spent a portion of Monday planking the upstairs SW corner of the Tree-House rocking out to Prince. So nice to be able to take this project slow and work until I don’t feel like working anymore then go jump in the waterfall pool and feel refreshed and productive.
While in Massachusetts for Gaelen’s graduation I made a slight detour to Southampton for another Craigslist purchase. This time it was for a Empire 10,000 BTU heater for the tree house. Dusty & Rusty but Unused and only $30!!! This unit lists new for $750+! And I sold one of the 3 interior doors ($20) as we decided we did not need doors on our bedrooms. They would only get slammed and shut people out and we like the openness and inter-connectedness of our upstairs. The girls can have doors if they like in their own places when they move out though the people who bought the door said we might re-consider having doors when the grand kids come to visit
