Monday, July 20, 2009

"Class" Reunion

This past Saturday was an amazing day, encompassing the full spectrum of human experience...ok maybe that is overstating it but it was a blast.

I had the chance to attend a "what's the next thing now that you're done teaching high school band" party for an amazing guy, John Riggle.
Two hundred or so folks showed up to the picnic and for close to a full day celebrated this man's influence on our lives. As the sun started to set there were a number of folks who were not quite ready to be finished so for 40 or so folk the party moved to a local burgery.

Finally, having closed the place down, the last few of us started to wander out to out cars.

I got in behind the wheel, closed the door and heard this wierd kind of slithering, crunching sound behind me. Looking back over my shoulder I saw the shattered remains of the back passenger window. My brain didn't instantly process what I was seeing. My first though was, "Wow, someone must have accidentally thrown a rock through my window."
Of course, it was probably not a rock and certainly not an accident.

Parked in a well lit parking lot, directly under a light, someone had seen my bags on the back seat and decided they needed them more than I did. Which means I "donated":

1 Commuter/transition bag back pack containing:
1 Canon digital camera + 2 lenses + 100 or so pictures from the day + pictures of my Nieces dedication
1 ATT tilt cell phone + ALL the phone numbers of anyone I know
1 key to my car back on Colorado (the ONLY key I have mind you)

1 Champion carry-on duffle containing:
1 old favorite Disney baseball cap
1 pair of running shoes
1 full set of work out clothing
2 favorites shirts
1 favorite pair of shorts
1 set of business meeting clothes for Monday
Sundry toiletries and underwear

Fortunately my laptop, Bose headphones and ipod were on the floor of the front seat and escaped notice.

Sunday was a full day hassle of trying to get rental cars managed, computer power back, cell phones handled, teeth brushed, and clean clothed...but here's the thing:

Had you told me when I left that I would have a great day followed by a HUGE hassle...I'd still do it all over again.

If you weren't in band in high school, or some similar organization, then you can't possibly understand what it is to "live" with a group of folks for most of your high school years.
Other than thinking of band people as geeks you wouldn't get the notion of competing in something that is physical, mental, and artistic all at the same time.
If you've not been back to a reunion with those folks then you wouldn't understand how the connection, and the stories last and...you certainly wouldn't realize the depth of influence that someone like a John Riggle can have on so many people.

So band peeps? It was AWESOME...I hope to stay in closer touch with many of you having reconnected.
Mr. Riggle? Thanks for al you poured into us
Ed? Thanks for all your work on an amazing shindig
Elaine? Thanks for letting me use your cell phone to call the cops. :)
Kate, Denise, and Joel? Thanks for hanging out until he was done dusting for prints.

Sunnyvale High School Marching Jets?
Thank you for a truly "Class" Reunion...

...and send me pics. Mine are inside a camera that someone will no doubt get really cheap at the flea market next weekend.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Another one bites the dust

It was my birthday yesterday... 48, I think...I don't keep as close track as I used to.
Thanks to everyone who sent along their well wishes!!

Although this particular number is not a birthday of any special significance I did get the one gift I was specifically hoping to receive.
I got a book.

Not just any book mind you.
THIS book has been out of print for years.
There are still copies around ranging in price from fifty to well over three hundred dollars.

Is it some ancient tome containing the wisdom of the ages?
The collected works of some obscure philosophical author?
Some erudite historical commentary?

Nope.

The book, for which I had been hoping, is Sir MacHinery by Tom McGowan published in 1970.

It is right around 150 pages, probably a fourth or fifth grade reading level, and one of my favorite books of all time.
I can trace my love of Authurian lore, my penchant for all things Tolkien, my fascination with fantasy and science fiction, all of them... back to the original reading of this one book as a kid.
(It even fueled, no doubt, my admiration and obsession with all things Scottish!!)

It was an amazing juxtaposition to find myself back in those pages last night. Transported back to Strathgow and the castle atop Auld Clootie. To be reading at 48 what I first read at 9 or 10 with the same fascination and anticipation.

No flimsy paperback, dime store novel this but a well bound, hard backed, built to last companion. Pages yellowed with age but no less crisp then when the book was first bound. Reading slowly through the first five or six chapters was like a reunion with a long lost friend. (MANY thanks to my wife who found a copy that is in GREAT shape.)

What stories have impacted you over the years?
What are the tales that have become milestones or directional guides along the road?
When was the last time you revisited one of them?

Takes it from the voice of experience, from one who has seen yet another year "bite the dust", it is well worth unpacking one of those auld stories, putting youself back in the mindset of discovery and younger days, and sitting down to revisit an old friend.