Life of Wry

Jim and I did our traditional thing: Jim set out early to procure a parade-side table at Crepeville, I arrived about 90 minutes later, and we watched the parade go by, peering over the heads of people we wished would sit on the curb instead of stand in the street. But it was fine. There are few surprises anymore.. mostly the same ol’ same ol’.

Here’s something new this year: the city showed off its new ladder fire truck! Jim’s been kvetching about this for awhile as an unnecessary expenditure. Here it is.. quite impressive (it was a few parade entries behind the University’s ladder truck, which is always in the parade).

Best of show right here… I took this picture because Welsh Corgis are Peter’s favorite dog. (Speaking of Peter, see note below!)

We returned home after the parade. A bit later I took a walk around campus to check things out. Rounding the corner at A and Russell, I saw this scene in front of the Sigma Nu fraternity:

Resting, sunning or passed out?

Campus was abuzz with picnickers, food trucks and a raucous rock band.. it was a nice vibe:

Battle of the Bands took place on the north side of Mrak Hall… lovely shady spot for gathering. It was dense with folks and numerous marching bands from universities all over the state. Also great energy.

All was not well in town, however. Literally minutes before I took the above photo, there’d been a shooting up at Community Park. Unbeknownst to Picnic Day revelers on campus, somebody opened fire at a band concert in the park, injuries were reported and police and ambulances — sirens blaring — were dispatched to the scene.. followed by a helicopter directing folks to evacuate immediately. Lots of hysteria ensued, a stampede formed, there was at least one injury from that… all the while, Picnic Day continued on a picture perfect afternoon, blissfully consuming folks on campus who were oblivious to the drama just a mile away.

I’m sure we’ll find out in the coming days what all happened up there.

For our part, we hunkered down, made a great dinner, Janet came over and we just talked politics and kids.

~~

Speaking of kids.

I’d texted the Corgi photo to Maya and Peter earlier in the day. Maya responded a bit later with the news that she’d just dropped Peter off at the Detroit airport for his flight to Italy. We were flabbergasted. Backing up: A few months back, Peter had been accepted to participate in a one-week program organized by a prominent fluids professor/researcher (from Zurich). It would be a week of collaborative problem solving among a small group of fluids doctoral candidates from around the world… a rare and fantastic opportunity to mix with some of the best in the field. We were flabbergasted because, one, we hadn’t realized the Italy trip was so soon.. we knew it was in April, but thought it was later in the month. Two, we were dubious that Peter’d actually be able to go as he’d run into a passport snag. His passport was due to expire within six months of his departure, requiring him to get a new one (weird rule). He’d applied for a replacement, albeit late, and the application was further delayed due to a missing signature (yikes). As of last week, he was still passportless. It was looking very dicey. Jim and I chose to keep our anxiety about this to ourselves and to let the cards fall where they may. Consequences, you know. If Peter was anxious about it, he didn’t share that with us. As a result, we were sweating it out on our own, keeping our parental handwringing to ourselves, and committing never to mention the not-to-be Italy trip ever again. So imagine our over the moon-ness! The passport arrived and Peter was on his way to a castle in Tuscany to rub elbows with 13 others scholars from around the world (Peter’s one of two from the US), learn new stuff, do math, cook, see the country side… I mean. We’d have hated for him to miss out on the experience. But now he won’t miss out. Super happy parents. I fully expect that no matter what happens, it’ll be a trip to remember. (And as of this writing, he’s arrived safely in Italy, so texted about an hour ago.)

Oh my goodness.