dry creek canyon

The creek in Dry Creek Canyon is indeed dry, but the canyon is beautifully green. Got this shot on Friday's lunch hour ride.

proud papa x 2

It's not everyday you have child graduate from college, but in the last couple of weeks I've enjoyed a double dose of proud parenthood with a daughter graduating from BYU and a son graduating from the the U of U.

The Provo celebrations on April 26 included an honor's graduate luncheon, watching and listening to the Dick Cheney speech on radio and TV and then attending the alternate commencement and hearing from Pete Ashdown, Jack Healey and Ralph Nader. Oh, and Nader applauding "the BYU 25"--which included a certain young woman who shares my last name.

Then on May 4 we were back in Salt Lake for the University of Utah commencement with Thomas S. Monson (glance backward, reach outward, press forward), a brief break to walk around the Huntsman Center and then back inside for the Engineering convocation. Yes, it was great to hear from all these famous folks, but for parents (and probably most of the graduates) it's more about the walk than the talk. Great, earned, hard fought, well celebrated, long suffered, patient, enduring, passionate, purposeful, peaceful walking of the walk of the new college graduate.

So we're three down with two more to go with the college grad program. Their school choices are as different as their personalities--a pediatric nurse, a software engineer, a writer of memoir and feminist studies. We'll have to wait a few years for the other two which may involve business, language, art, medicine--or perhaps none of the above.