Dads and Grads

What a terrific weekend this Memorial Day weekend was. I caught up with my best friend and his family in Berkeley for a couple of days before heading north to California State University, Chico to see my son, Winston, take the walk and grab his diploma for a Computer Science Graphic Arts degree. Or, something close to that in any event.

In Berkeley, it was summer days and nights I remember fondly from my college days past. The temps were low 60s in the day with a pleasant overcast, and a breezy chilled low 50s at night. Heaven. Got over to San Francisco for a nice walk to North Beach and a cup of espresso at Cafe Trieste. Walked past a lot of old haunts through the various districts we covered. The City, UC Berkeley and my friends always make me feel young. Thanks.

I drove in the very wee hours from the Bay to Chico taking Interstate 80 east to Vacaville, and headed north on the 505, which ultimately merges into Interstate 5. Had no idea Genentech's corporate office and campus was situated off that highway just north of Vacaville. No one was on the road. I felt like a kid again on the open highway. In my morning fuzz brain it could have been 1973 on the open road with the tunes ratcheted up and no one to bug you. The only thing missing from those days was the herbal inhaler treatment I remember enjoying.

I made Chico in a little over two hours time. I was about three hours from the ceremony opening. I scraped some bugs off the windshield, added some gasoline into the Beamer and smoked a few cigarettes while downing some highway-stop coffee and a bottled water. Those rice paddies up around Williams and Orland pack a lot morning bugs onto a passing car at dawn.

I hooked up with Winston at his communal living quarters promptly at 7AM. Knocking on the old door did not do the trick, but the reliable cellular phone call from the porch got the job done. We chatted with his room-mates for a bit before heading off to the school stadium for the event.

I had gone to Patrick's graduation three years ago in Sacramento, at the California State University there. It was a nice event but did not prepare me for the Chico State gathering. By 8:30AM all the stands were packed. The field, and the track circling it, were also heavily crowded with the mad mixtures of family members at all age levels taking in the ceremony. The music was early Twentieth Century classical fare, the last blast from the final giants of the form from England and America- Copeland, Holst, Elgar and Williams. Very pastoral to fit the campus surroundings, but not enough of that big back-beat for most of the people ready to celebrate and party under the trees and in them.

I had a lot of misgivings about Winston going to Chico State. Party school was the deserved reputation. In my former life of employ, Tower Records had two stores in the small college town. Tower knew where to put stores where people partied for many years. At the end of day, Chico was the perfect place for my youngest to explore life and courses. He got a really good education at an affordable cost and goes into the world of commerce armed with great life experiences. Congratulations, young man. Thanks, California State University, Chico.