Homecoming 2005
This year's homecoming was really fun. It's the first year I ran into alumni I knew, instead of the downtown events only seeming like a reason for undergrads to get drunk and party.
Over the weekend I was at a picnic, parade, hayride and bonfire, and banquet.
We had a small picnic during the parade. The burgers were huge. The parade was really great. Afterwards I read that it was considerably shorter than previous years, just under two hours, but it seemed about the same to me.
Circumstances were such that I ended up holding the pastor's three year old daughter on my shoulders during the entire parade, with only a few short breaks. Early on, she came up to me while I was sitting finishing up my supper. She couldn't find her father. I reassured her that he was nearby, only about 20 feet away taking pictures of the passing floats. She was still quite concerned, and I offered to pick her up so she could see over the crowd. I was a bit surprised that she agreed. While I'm not a stranger to her, I've only talked to her in passing, never really conversing with her. I thought she might get fidgety and want down within a few minutes, but she seemed quite happy with her perch for watching the parade. About half way through the parade, she wanted to visit someone else, so I put her down, only to find her return to me within two minutes. She couldn't see the parade, and wanted back up on my shoulders. Ah, the curse of being tall. In many respects, interacting with her really made my night. Maybe one day I'll have kids of my own. Or maybe I'll just decide it's easier to have friends with kids... I can always send them back to their parents when the need arises. I suppose that's why people say it's easier to be a grandparent than a parent.
The group had a float in the parade with a huge three-tier cake. While no one ended up walking along with the float or riding on it, I think it still was a nice addition to the parade. The cake was papier mache on a wire mesh with wooden supports underneath. It was entirely covered with a blue and silver diamond pattern of mylar. Christmas lights were strung mid-air on diagonals from the wagon corners to the top of the cake and along the wagon and cake perimeters. It looked really nice. The cake was removed from the wagon after the parade and it met it's demise the following night on a bonfire. It's shape served as a huge flue, and provided a very impressive show.
The hayride and bonfire was the night after the parade. The hayride was loads of fun, with the expected pranks one can do in a huge pile of straw. The view of the stars was awesome, only diminished by a little city light. We even caught a few falling stars. The bonfire afterwards included a thrilling burning of the float. Once that excitement was over, we sat around the fire with hot chocolate and talked late into the evening.
On Sunday, there was a charismatic guest speaker at the church service. Afterwards, there was a banquet to celebrate Wesley's 85th anniversary at PSU. The food was simply outstanding, and I got a chance to catch up with some old friends. I helped clean up all the dirty dishes in the kitchen and found an empty room when I exited the kitchen. I also found that someone had done me a favor. I'm still trying to figure out who that person is. If it's you, own up to it!
Comments
I agree. . Being tall can be a curse and Heylie (sp?) is a lot of fun to interact with.
Posted by: Craig | November 5, 2005 01:16 PM