Bee's Buzz around the World

Bee's graduation from Long Island University/Global College(LIU) was this past Thursday. It was a glorious sunny day. The morning ceremony was the pomp and circumstance portion of the day. In the afternoon all 20 students from Global College presented aspects of their senior thesis, to their friends and family. It is amazing what these 20 young people have done already in their short lives.

For her graduation I made the quilt in this photo. It is titled "Bee's Buzz Around the World". The color of the background represents the saffron color of the monks' robes. The peace flags are the 5 countries she studied in. The picture is of her at a meditation retreat with Burma in the background. The world picture has the logos from the two colleges that she attended, appliquéd on the picture of the world. The pewter bees are from Danforth pewter, a Vermont company. The elephant is a print from a linoleum block that Bee made in girl scouts in 5th grade. Elephants have been a theme in her life forever. I recently learned how to make a block print, and on the back of the quilt are two blackbirds. Blackbirds are the mascot of LIU.


It was a cathartic exercise to design her wallhanging in the weeks before her graduation. The time flew by and she packed a lot into 4 years. She made some lifelong friends at both Hampshire and Global College. She grew academically and personally. She learned to be more flexible, and she confirmed what it is she will contribute to the world. She buzzed the world, and spent the last five months in Brooklyn finishing her BA, while learning to navigate the NYC area.

Her internship was at a Friends agency in Newark, which focuses on immigrants' rights.

Stay tuned as she lives out her values in whatever she chooses to do. I am one proud mama.
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Isn't a Silver Medal still very very good?

We watched that hockey game in the loft of Coniston. M brought a projection system, and we got a rabbit ears signal from Plattsburgh NY. It was a very exciting game to watch with many family members. A variety of Adirondack chairs, camp chairs, and dining room chairs gathered around the TV.

I was obviously disappointed that our boys did not win, but my overwhelming feeling was, "They still did pretty good, silver is a good medal to get." Brother M disagreed. Second place is just not good, nothing to brag about. Really? Only gold medals have bragging rights, second place does not rate at all?

I am not sure whether this is an indication of competitiveness, or cooperation or gender or what. I do know that I have come in second place before and been slightly disappointed but still proud to have second place.

None of the US hockey players were smiling or looked even happy to have second place and a silver medal. OMG, they scored on the Canadians with 24 seconds to go. Wasn't that a feat and something to be proud of? They held them off from scoring a third goal for most of 2 periods. Isn't that something to be proud of?

I guess only gold medals and first place positions have bragging rights. Sad face, and disappointment from Sally.

Just to be perfectly clear

I have the best kids in the world. You guys can all try to argue otherwise, but your arguments will fall on deaf ears. I suspect that all mothers feel the same way "That they have the best kids", but for me mine are the best.

There is nothing that creates this kind of joy to see your kids launched and happy and different than you, but the same as well.

I now have 2 mother's day cards that will be on my bulletin board above my desk/sewing table, one from each kid. If I ever doubt that I am a good mother I just need to look there.

Got my fix today

Today we left the house at 7:30am to drive to South Hadley to watch B compete in a horse show. We have not seen her compete since last May. I really miss seeing her on top of a horse. At one time in our lives, we drove together 5-6 times a week to the barn. For only 1 year the barn was 10 minutes away. For the other 7 years it was 30 minutes away. Then she started driving herself, and I had to detach gradually from watching her. At the time, I really missed it, A LOT. Kind of like when Crick stopped playing baseball. I pine for those days, every time I drive by a baseball field.

So, yes we are crazy. We drive 90 minutes and sat for 6 hours, inside a big barn, with a breeze blowing through us. We did get up to stretch the legs a few times. I am always nervous when she jumps, but today she was perfect during her jump class. It was also great watching her as the co-captain of the team. Helping the newer members get more comfortable. Urging them on when they were obviously nervous. Helping them mount. The first time the trainer said who wants to help Susanna get on, B jumped up and went with them. Is she going to give her a leg up? No, I think she was holding the horse while Susanna mounted. Mara was giving the leg up. I suppose she could give a leg up to some riders but at her barely 5", is is nearly impossible for some of the taller horses.

So many memories came back today of really early (4:30am) wake ups to drive to shows and sitting and watching and waiting. It does force you to slow down and just appreciate what is going on around you. It is magical the relationship between the rider and the horse.

At Bethany's first horse show with Autumn, just before she went into the ring she said "What right do I have being on top of a 1200 pound animal, and thinking I can control him?" The answer is that she has worked really really really hard to establish that relationship and now competing at the collegiate level, she rides a different horse each show, and usually one she has never ridden before. She did really well today in her flat class, with a pony who gave other riders a bit of trouble.

I could go on for a while, but I will stop now. It was a great day and for now my need to see her ride has been satisfied.