Journey to Geneva

Thursday, August 28 John and his parents got into the car and headed to Geneva, New York. The rolling hills and farmland of upstate New York brought back many memories, and it was a relatively pleasant drive. We went right to Penn Yan, where we got a room at the Vineyard Inn. Cousin Susan and Elliott drove over to lead us to a restaurant where we enjoyed good conversation and caught up some of the activities of the Williams clan.

The next day we drove to Geneva, found the campus and got in line to shake the Dean's hand and eventually obtained John's key to his dorm room. Along the way various student volunteers would come over and answer any questions we had. John signed the Book and we went on to his dorm, Hale Hall.

John had a very busy schedule Friday, Saturday and Sunday, which included some community service, also pictured above. Monday classes began! So he is going to be very busy, with school, studying, work, and service. We are very proud of him and know he will do well.

The Graduate

After the ceremony we came home for a few more photos and some Chinese food from the new restaurant on the corner. John is now ready to enjoy his summer, working part time at the Bangor Raceway as he did last year, until he leaves for Hobart in late August.

Graduation Day

With great pride and love we watched John graduate from Bangor High School. He stood head and shoulders above the crowd in more ways than one.

Spring at Last!

I left Bangor March 21st for a lengthy family holiday; they were de-icing the plane that morning! Spring had already arrived in the South, and April in High Island was perfect. There were games of croquet, washer-pitching, and horseshoes. Even the real-life adventure of having to dig up and replace some plumbing pipes out in the yard was a satisfying activity (of course I only watched Carolyn, Daddy and Paul dig). We saw the beautiful birds, the Baltimore Oriole, Indigo buntings, and Rose-breasted grosbeaks. But the Rare Norton Birds were the main attraction!

Somehow the men back in Bangor got along without me and my cooking for all those weeks. Bruce and I are proud of our three fine young men. Soon Tom will head for UT Austin where he will complete his Master's in Eastern European studies. John graduates from Bangor High School at the end of June and will be off to college in the fall. Austin will leave for Washington, DC in August, where he's been accepted into Law School. So come September, Bruce and I will be on our own, alone together for the first time in 29 years. It's all good....
Janet

Snow, snow, and more snow

Greetings from the Badgers of Bangor! Here it is the end of February and it just keeps on snowing! I don't get out as much as I used to, but Bruce pitches in with the grocery shopping and Tom has cooked a few excellent meals from his Indian cookbook. And I have been busy in the art studio, working on my Musicians of Bangor series.

A few weeks ago John, Austin and I (Tom was in Texas) attended the Democratic Caucus here in Maine. It was a chance to be registered and cast our votes all on the same day. We stood in line together at the Civic Center for an hour and a half, grateful that most of the time we were indoors as it was snowing outside. Governor Baldacci made his way through our crowd and shook my hand, and then a little while later John Kerry shook my hand also. I was sorry there were no loudspeakers in our anteroom so we could hear the speeches while we waited to register.

But the important thing was, we did get registered, and we went to our Precinct Room, and were counted...we three voted for Barack Obama. For the first time in decades I felt an excitement about the political process, and that my vote counted. These are exciting times.