Life as a Journey

Regular readers of this blog are accustomed to tales of Deb and my journeys around the world. This blog entry is dedicated to a trip last weekend to Berkeley and San Francisco to witness the graduation of our son Ian from a masters program at UC Berkeley. This was not so much a journey in time and space but a life journey. It was a journey that caused me to reflect on life. Many of you are fellow parents and have lived the joys and sorrows of raising our children. As parents we work out of love and do the best we are able to do for our children. From my perspective, our responsibility is to get our children to adulthood and give them the tools to survive in life. After that, it is largely up to them. Once our children become adults we don't have a lot of control on what they do. I don't think we should blame ourselves when they fail to live up to our expectations nor can we really take credit for their achievements. However, this perspective does not diminish our pain in difficult times nor our pride when our children do well. Please indulge me in a little pride on my child's recent accomplishment.



In our usual last minute fashion Deb and I jumped into the car the morning of graduation for the four hour trip to Berkeley from our home in Mt Shasta. It was a fine spring day and a beautiful drive through Northern California to the San Francisco Bay. We arrived in Berkeley with time to spare.



As we entered the campus through Sather Gate I teared up, not from nostalgia but, from the memory of being tear gassed there over 40 years ago in an anti-war demonstration.


We wandered through the campus surrounded by kids in graduation robes and their proud parents snapping endless photos of the campus, each other and their children. Our eye was drawn to the Campanile which is a 300 foot tower that looms over the campus and is visible from much of the Bay area. Incidentally, it is the third tallest clock tower in the world. Most people don't know that it is officially called Sather Tower in honor of Jane Sather who donated the funds for the tower and aforementioned gate.



As we turned the corner by South Hall, which is the only original building left on the campus, we noted several tables with umbrellas set out on the lawn. We thought, someone is going to have a nice reception here. (Remember this for later). Next our eyes were drawn to the Campanile which now loomed directly over us. We climbed the steps to the base of the tower accompanied by a trumpet trio playing some rather regal classical music. As we reached the top we saw rows of white chairs arranged along the Campanile Esplanade under knobby London plane trees bracketing the chairs. A small stage with lectern faced the chairs. We were greeted by our in-laws Steve and Barbara, and Ian's wife Tiara.






Shortly thereafter, the small faculty of the Information School (or the ischool as the students fondly refer to it) filed onto the stage and took seats to the rear of the stage. The trumpet trio broke into Pomp and Circumstance and the graduate candidates filed up the center aisle and took their seats directly in front of the stage. The Dean of the college gave a rambling introduction highlighting the achievements of the class with special reference to some of the outstanding Master's final projects. I had a flash of pride when she mentioned Ian's project as being one of the particularly notable projects. Next we listened to another rambling speech by Reid Hoffman who either started up or was an angel in start ups of seemingly half the internet companies in Silicon Valley. While his delivery was long winded it presented the grads with the idea of, "Be an Entrepreneur" in all aspects of your life.

He was followed by a pair of student speakers who attempted to answer the question in all of our minds; what is the School of Information and what do the degrees mean? It was a humorous presentation from which I gathered that Ian was getting a master's degree in Information Systems and Management. Still confused? So am I. Actually, Ian's focus was on software usability, user-centered design, and developing great software.

Next on the agenda was the presentation of the James R Chen Awards which reward innovation, creative solutions, and pragmatic applications in the area of information retrieval and management. The awards are given in three different categories. The first was for Analysis of Information Systems. The dean read off several honorable mentions and then announced that this award would go to the team of Daniel Perry and Ian McDowell. The earlier flash of pride I felt at the Dean's introduction was now a total conflagration. Deb and I were both overcome with emotion. She could barely get a picture of the presentation because she was so excited. We did not even hear the next two award presentations as we were so surprised (as was Ian which we later found out).

Ian and Daniel receive the Chen Award

Ian and his partner had developed a game called Heart Focus which is an analytical tool that employs a heart monitor to provide bio feedback to children to enable them to focus on academic tasks. If you want to know more about the game follow this link:

http://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/programs/masters/projects/2011/biofocus.



Finally, each candidate was called to the stage to receive their diploma. As the carillons in the tower bonged out 3 o'clock the dean made a few concluding remarks and invited us all to a reception on the lawn in front of South Hall. (Remember the tables and umbrellas).



We wandered over to the reception which was quite elegant with cloth draped tables, tasty appetizers and beverages including fine California wines and beer.

Steve, Barbara, Ian, Tiara, and Richard enjoying the reception

We hung out for an hour or so after which Ian gave us a tour of the School of Information in the South Hall. South Hall is a quintessential university building of brick and stone with fine and elaborate woodwork.

Ian and Tiara on the steps of South Hall

After the tour we joined the gridlock of traffic on College Avenue to head down to Doppo, an Italian restaurant in Oakland, for a celebratory dinner.

Chen Award winners Daniel and Ian and friends

Leaving campus for the last time


San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge

After spending the night at Ian and Tiara's we returned to Mt Shasta and awoke the next morning to a snow covered landscape. Ah, spring in the mountains.

Our "spring" garden

Summer in the Mountains

Wild Tiger Lily

We have the good fortune to live in one of the most beautiful places on the planet; Mount Shasta. That being said, there is no better place I'd rather be in the summer. We usually spend our summers hiking, biking, river running, and kayaking and swimming the local lakes. This year in particular has been one of the finest in my memory. We had a very late spring with lots of precipitation which set the scene for great water play and wildflowers in the high mountain meadows. We have had the leisure to visit several this year and where normally there are tons of wildflowers, there are literally carpets of flowers stretching through vibrant green meadows. On one recent hike I counted about 15 varieties in one square meter of meadow.

Most of these meadows lead up to or are found between high mountain lakes. Our county is so sparsely populated that it is not unusual to have a lake all to oneself. We have had the time to visit over 20 of these lakes this year. What makes it especially memorable and exciting for us is when we can share these experiences with friends and family.

This year we met a group of six Spaniards who were visiting Mt Shasta and took them to one of our favorite places; Gray Rocks lake. On this hike we normally visit three lakes but this year because of all the water, there were three lakes and two sizable ponds. We were early enough in the season to also have some fun in the snow.

Paco takes the plunge

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Jose Luis, Maria Angeles, Richard, Aurori, Judit, Paco and Bodhi above Gray Rocks Lake

Spaniards in the snow

Next up on our hiking agenda was a trip to Dead Fall Meadows. While the name is not particularly appealing, the meadows are outstanding. There are also five lakes to visit on this hike. We got to share this walk with Deb's cousin Doria and her husband Gordon who were on a whirlwind visit from Vermont.

Doria wades Dead Fall Creek

Doria and Gordon in the meadow at the base of Mt Eddy

Wild Columbine

The next day we visited Cliff Lakes. We stopped at three lakes on this hike.

Cliff Lake

Cliff Lake

Bridge over Cliff Creek

Later that day we went kayaking on Lake Siskiyou.

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Doria and Gordon enjoy the view of Mt Shasta

The following week, my step-son, Chris, invited Deb and I on an overnight backpacking trip to Little Crater Lake. The drive to this lake is along a rugged dirt track on the edge of a very steep slope that faces Mt. Shasta. The views of the mountain and up into Little Shasta Valley and as far north into Oregon to Mt McLaughlin made it difficult to focus on the road so I stopped several times to admire the view. Our drive was capped by an encounter with a bear at the trailhead. Our adventurous new puppy, Bodhi, decided to chase the bear away but with repeated whistles and calls returned unscathed.

This lake is hard to find and has no trail so it is a rugged overland trip that requires boulder hopping and slogging through wet meadows. Couple this with climbing up and down two drainages and you have a quintessential back country experience. While not the prettiest lake, the adventure and rugged terrain ranks high on my list of the best treks around.

View of Mt Shasta and City from the un-trail

Deb's shadow portrait

Chris and Richard pick their way through the meadow

Wild!!! flowers

Little Crater Lake

Wild dog in flowers

More Wild!!! flowers

Richard and Chris pause for a photo

Flowers weren't the only wild thing on this hike

Richard and Chris pick their way down a steep boulder strewn slope

Camp at sunset

Richard, Bodhi and Chris are dog tired

The last trip we took was to Seven Lakes Basin which, as the name suggests, is a huge basin that contains seven lakes. We were accompanied by one of our neighbors on this hike. We started early in the day to beat the heat. Our early start gave us the time to visit all seven lakes which I had not done before. Between Echo Lake and a small unnamed lake we tramped through another beautiful meadow. After six hours of steady hiking we returned to the car for the trip home.

View of Boulder Peak

One of the seven lakes

Manzanita stump

Richard and John in the meadow

The trail home

Photos of Seven Lakes Basin courtesy of John Schoening.

The Wedding

Tiara shows off her Indian wedding bangles

Being a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy, I have never been fond of formal ceremonies. Weddings are one of those ceremonies that I usually try to avoid. However, it is difficult to get through life without attending several weddings, including your own. Often these are solemn, ponderous affairs followed by receptions with rubber chicken buffets, and bad music spun up by a DJ who at some point always seems to play YMCA by the Village People and the Macarena. Yet, every so often a wedding comes along that is the exception to the norm. Followers of this blog know that the wedding we attended in India this year was one such wedding. It was a rare treat to attend that wedding; a once in a lifetime opportunity. I didn't think any wedding would ever top that one. I was wrong.

Last week I attended, or should I say participated in, the wedding of my son Ian and his new wife Tiara. Granted, it was the wedding of my son, but all subjectivity aside, I can't say I've ever had more fun at a wedding.

Saturday, August 8-W day minus one

Deb and I rushed out of the house of our dearest friends, Mark and Patsy, in the Mission District of San Francisco. Our car was jammed with candle holders, crackers (the kind you pull apart with a bang), baskets full of bubbles and various and sundry items for the wedding. It was typical San Francisco summer day; cold and cloudy. We zoomed across the bridge to Berkeley chased by blowing fog. We were off, a little behind schedule as usual, to the wedding rehearsal. After a brief stop to pick up daughter Kate and Sarah (friend of Ian) in Berkeley, we arrived at the Berkeley campus without a moment to spare.

We quickly emptied the car and with the help of Barbara, Tiara's mother, located the rest of the wedding party on the expansive green lawn of Faculty Glade. Bordered by a gurgling creek lined with 100 year old redwoods, it is a green oasis in the heart of the campus. White folding chairs, separated by an aisle, focused on a large oak tree at the bottom of the lawn defined the outdoor wedding" chapel". To the rear, the Craftsman style Faculty Club complimented the outdoor space. After a slight delay while waiting for the fog delayed minister, we got down to business. We worked out the logistics of who, what, where, when and how (we already knew why) and we were finished in less than an hour. With stomachs rumbling we zipped back across the bay for food at Zazies in San Francisco where Deb and I were hosting a post-rehearsal brunch.

My girls

The happy couple enjoy the sunshine

After rounding up the rest of the tribe in the Mission we careened through the crazy streets of San Francisco with my little car straining up the steep hills just to fly down the other side. Against all odds, we arrived right on time after the usual San Francisco parking debacle. A crowd of 30 or so people milled on the sidewalk waiting for our tables to be ready. We were soon escorted to a patio at the rear of the restaurant where the first miracle occurred; the weather gods cooperated and pulled back the fog bank bathing us in glorious sunlight. For those of you who don't know San Francisco summers, this was a miracle indeed.

YUM!

The next hour was a whirl of champagne, introductions, reacquainting, and more champagne. Anyway, I was whirling because it had been at least seven hours since breakfast and don't do well on champagne appetizers. The brunch menu was extensive and delicious. The food was excellent but after several glasses of champagne, I could have eaten anything and enjoyed it. I can highly recommend Zazies (for the champagne if nothing else). After several hours of drinking (Did I mention there was champagne?), I was a little concerned about driving but after I saw the amount on the check I was as sober as a judge.

Proud parents of the bride

Ian makes us laugh!

Sunday, August 9- W day

Wedding day, dawned.... cold and cloudy. I was starting to wish I had brought my down jacket and gloves. After a leisurely breakfast, Deb and I raced down to Glen Park to pick up Ian and head back over to Berkeley. After a quick stop at the Faculty Club to drop off still more stuff, we drove down University Blvd to our favorite Thai restaurant for lunch. We were joined by Tiara and a few other members of the wedding party. After filling up on some tasty Thai food, we rushed back to the Faculty Club to set up for the wedding.

With only two hours to go florists were bustling around setting out flowers and bartenders and busboys were busy stocking the bar on the deck of the Faculty Club. Inside, the wait staff was setting the tables while several family members and friends were rushing around setting up sound systems, a game room, and an eclectic mix of photo boards, pictures of ancestors weddings and an antique typewriter for comments. Noting the time, Deb and I slipped off to dress for the obligatory photo shoot and wedding to follow. The photographer took a seemingly endless series of photos of the bride and groom, the wedding party and every possible combination of family, wedding party, and bride and groom.

Jenny, Kathy, Harry, Val, Richard, and Kate wait for the ceremony to begin

The bride

The Groom

Our family

Finally, the signal was given for everyone to sit down; it was time for the ceremony to begin. Deb and I led the procession down the aisle followed by Steve and Barbara (Tiara's parents) to the accompaniment of some beautiful violin music played by Cindy who was a childhood friend of Tiara's.

Deb and I step off

The parents were followed by Ian and Tiara's attendants who took their place flanked by beautiful orange and gold floral arrangements beneath the towering trees. After a rather pregnant pause, (don't read anything into that phrase) everyone was anticipating the start of the wedding march but the violinist was not playing. As the minister stepped up to the microphone and proceeded to demonstrate how to play a kazoo (yes a kazoo) everyone soon realized that this was not your normal garden variety wedding. (Pardon the pun) The idea was that all of the guests would participate in the processional by playing the wedding march on.....a kazoo.

Minister Steve instructs in the art of playing kazoo

The violinist played a brief introduction to set the key and tempo then all hell broke loose as the guests started to play. A cacophony of kazoos (try and say that three times real fast) heralded the arrival of the bride and groom as they strolled down the aisle grinning and trying not to wince at the awful sound of the unpracticed "orchestra".

Ian and Tiara walk down the aisle accompanied by the kazoo "orchestra"

Ian and Tiara applaud the orchestra as they prepare to tie the knot while minister Steve chuckles.

(Teo is not reaching for a gun, he is just checking to make sure he has the rings)

The actual ceremony was short and sweet. Ian and Tiara read vows that they composed themselves. Ian vowed to always give Tiara the last strawberry. Tiara vowed to always give Ian the last piece of chocolate and to picnic and sleep in the sun with him. It all seemed to be in good fun until Ian, overcome with emotion, started to get a little teary eyed. At that point, I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. I am still getting teary eyed as I write this. After some words by the minister, rings were exchanged and they were pronounced husband and wife. Then they kissed to the clanging of cow bells.

Prelude to "the kiss"

The newlyweds walked back down the aisle through a cloud of bubbles courtesy of the guests. (We couldn't find Lawrence Welks old bubble machine so we did it the old fashioned way) The minister then invited the guests to join the couple up on the deck to be served hors d'oeuvres and cocktails and, of course, champagne.

The bubbly recessional

After an hour of noshing and imbibing a waiter circulated advising everyone to move inside as dinner would soon be served.

Dinner was served in the Great Hall of the Faculty Club. The Great Hall is renowned as one of the finest examples of Arts and Crafts architecture. The design is often credited to Julia Morgan but was in fact designed by Bernard Maybeck, one of the most prominent and innovative designers of the Craftsman structurest. The soaring ceiling of the Great Hall is an incredible tour de force of redwood beams, paneling and trim. These elements are tied together with intricate joinery which is a hallmark of the Craftsman style.

Dinner in the Great Hall

Steve and Bess enjoy the party

Are these guys happy or what?

Prior to dinner being served, I introduced the crowd to what has become a holiday tradition in our house; crackers. These are brightly wrapped tubular devices which, when pulled apart, explode with a loud pop. Inside are usually toys and paper crowns. Jokingly, I told the crowd that Ian and Tiara would like everyone to wear their crowns. It was quite a sight with over one hundred well dressed people wearing silly multi colored paper crowns.

The guests chattered excitedly as they dined on steak and salmon accompanied by fine wines followed by a dessert of, what else but, wedding cake. Ian and Tiara cut the cake in traditional style supervised by Charlie, the chocolate doll, who had accompanied the couple on their round the world trip last year. You can see him hiding discreetly in the flowers at the base of the cake if you look real hard.

Tiara and Ian cut the cake

After dinner, the newlyweds were feted with many rounds of toasts. The two most memorable toasts were by Steve, Tiara's dad, and Gary, one of Ian's attendants and high school friend. In a long and eloquent monologue, Steve toasted the new couple providing the guests with insight into the skills, character, and attributes of Ian and Tiara. Even though I know he had to be as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs he carried it off with the aplomb of a seasoned toast master. Gary's toast was hilarious (for those that could hear or understand). Gary himself made reference to his Chinese/Canadian/American accent which was even more compromised by the amount of alcohol he had consumed. Nonetheless, his speech had most of the guests laughing hysterically.

Yao-man toasts the couple

Tiara's attendants toast the couple

Next up was the inevitable dancing. The first dance, as tradition dictates, belonged to the bride and groom who had obviously practiced some very intricate moves. They danced a foxtrot danced to the classic tune of Guilty of Loving You sung by Rudy Vallee. If you want to hear the music follow the link http://www.edisondowntown.com/main.htm

First dance

Are they a classy couple or what?

The couple was soon followed onto the floor by parents, family and friends thanks to the irresistable dance mix put together by Ian's cousin Teo. For the next three hours we danced to everything that spanned the genre from Chubby Checkers to Lady Gaga. Even Tiara's ninety year old grandmother was seen swaying to the music. Way to boogie Bess!

Richard and Kate shake a leg

Janie shows Bess how to do the Jerk

It was all too soon that we found ourselves out in the cool night air savoring a night that we would remember for the rest of our lives.

Patsy, Mark, Richard and Deb had a good time

Charlie guards the cake