I attended graduation ceremonies on Saturday and Sunday. They both went well this year. The graduate ceremony has been nice every time I've been. The undergraduate ceremony is more problematic. The first year I went, it was so bad I doubted I'd ever want to attend again. Since then, they've made a number of changes that make the ceremony run better. It was very nice this year and it was fun to see many of the students I've worked with going through graduation.

This afternoon, I took a good, long bike ride. I rode to the end of the bike trail and then took to the roads. I road to Orchard, which turns to Hulst and connects to Bay Road. I stopped at Atkins and got an apple and a diet soda. I rode on to Hadley and turned north on 47 and followed it back up to the bike trail. I followed the bike trail back home. It was a pleasant ride: 22 miles at 9.36mph.

In the evening, Lucy and the boys and I too Plato for a walk up to the manure pile -- one of his favorite destinations. When we got there, we noticed someone playing the bagpipes across the field. There was something ironic about standing downwind of the manure pile and listening to the bagpipes. On the way home, we met a neighbor whom we invited to stop over for a drink. We sat out at at the picnic table and drank margaritas. Amherst is wonderful after graduation.


StevenBrewer