The End of an Era

Today was our youngest child's last cross country meet, so this was officially our last sports event David and I attended as parents of a participant.  It is beginning to feel like a countdown at this point as we head towards "empty-nesting!"

We're super proud of Caleb for his efforts at cross country over these last four years!!

Today's race was the sub-section race up at Angel's Camp (aka "Frogtown".)  Here is Caleb before the race.  His school arrived quite early, so they once again (thanks to Caleb) laid claim to the gazebo as their "base."

At the starting line:

The pack at the beginning of a hot and dusty race!

Partway through - at a spot that was a little less dusty and much more scenic!

Caleb bringin' it home!

Happy post-race face!

The line above his ankle shows how dusty the race was (and this isn't a tan line, as he is a barefoot runner when not in an official event).

It was good to get up to the hill country.  I hadn't had a chance yet this semester to get out of town - so thanks for the good excuse Caleb!!!  I needed this!

Bye Froggie!

The best part of the day was practicing Messiah together on the drive home - three parts: me on alto, Caleb bass, and David tenor - GOOD TIMES!!  (Official practice begins tomorrow - 'tis the season!)

Your Place

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things. Mary Oliver (b. 1935)

This, too, was a gift

The Uses Of Sorrow

(In my sleep I dreamed this poem)

Someone I loved once gave me

a box full of darkness.

It took me years to understand

that this, too, was a gift.

― Mary Oliver, Thirst

LOVE!

Anthony proved he would go the ends of the earth for the woman he loves.  He did it!  He flew to New Zealand to surprise and propose to the amazing and beautiful Brianna Mulder!  The picture below is of them skyping us today to give us the news officially and tell us the stories!!

 In pictures here's a bit of how it played out  .  .  .

Later addition - I just grabbed this photo off of the facebook page of the woman who helped set this up.  Brianna's friends had her believing she was creating a music video for Anthony that day, so she was being filmed singing to him across the ocean.  Little did she know he had flown across that ocean to propose and was at that moment walking towards her!!

And later yet  .  .  .  prayers of friends:

L' Chaim

"  .  .  .  I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms."

Henry David Thoreau

Strange Illusion

"We have a strange illusion that mere time cancels sin. I have heard others, and I have heard myself, recounting cruelties and falsehoods committed in boyhood as if they were no concern of the present speaker’s, and even with laughter. But mere time does nothing either to the fact or to the guilt of a sin. The guilt is washed out not by time but by repentance and the blood of Christ."

~C. S. Lewis

Life

"Life is now a battle and a journey.  As Eugene Peterson reminds us, `We must fight the forces that oppose our becoming whole, we must find our way through difficult and unfamiliar territory to our true home.'

"Life is not a game of striving and indulgence.  It is not a long march and of duty and obligation.  It is not, as Henry Ford once said, 'one damn thing after another.'  Life is a desperate quest through dangerous territory to a destination that is, beyond all our wildest hopes, indescribably good.  Only by conceiving of our days in this manner can we find our way safely through.  You see, different roads lead different places.  To find the Land of Desire you must take the journey of desire.  You can't get there by any other means.  If we are to take up the trail and get on with our quest, we've got to get our hearts back, which means getting our desires back."

(from "The Journey of Desire" by John Eldredge) 

O

Last week we took a family trip to Eugene, Oregon to check out the university where Anthony will begin his grad work this fall.  It seems like a particularly good fit for Anthony, especially given that Eugene is known as "Track Town USA."

The closer we got to Eugene, the more ubiquitous the letter O became!

Fenton Hall - home of the math department:

Just down the path from Fenton is Deady ("dee-dee"), another math building, which is where Anthony's office will be.  It's a very old building - built between 1873 and 1876, and it does not have air-conditioning, so it's really awesome that Anthony's office will be in the basement!

I found a picture online of the campus from 1894 (looks like a football game - GO DUCKS!) with Deady Hall in the background (the tall, narrow building in the middle).  Clearly it's got quite some history!  This makes me wonder if it's haunted!  Do ghosts haunt schools, or do they stay away?

My favorite spot in Deady Hall was the 'reading room' for undergrads, which was named 'Hilbert Space.'  It has an attached closet full of board games, which is exactly as it should be!

Some other points of interest (to me!) on campus were this sculpture of Einstein sticking out his tongue, which I thought was a pretty classy building adornment!

And the office of physicist Richard Taylor, since I'm an unabashed mathematician and physicist groupie I sought out his office hoping to find him in.   Alas, he was out  .  .  .

Common Core

I was so please at an editorial I read today about Common Core (incoming educational standards in the USA).  The reason I was so pleased is that this editorial was so well balanced.  There is a lot of controversy surrounding Common Core, and it seems that those on both sides, pro and con, are just shouting past each other, not considering the same issues as they evaluate these standards.

The author of this editorial, Nan Austin, wrote it as a response after having watched "Stop Common Core."  Ms. Austin seems to feel positively towards Common Core, but the majority of her editorial presented the genuine concerns that people have about it and did so very fairly.  I loved her final take on things:

"Overall, I found myself alternating between sharing concerns and utter frustration as issues took on political overtones and veered away from classroom reality.  There are good reasons to be on watch as Common Core rolls out in our neighborhood schools, but I'm not convinced that the naysayers are looking at what matters."

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The full editorial can be found at this link.

Anthony's Graduation

On Saturday, May 24, 2014, Anthony graduated from Calvin College with a double major: Mathematics and Philosophy.  He heads to University of Oregon in the fall to pursue a Ph.D. in mathematics.

 Calvin College Arena packed out for the ceremony:

Anthony being congratulated by President Michael Le Roy:

Each department has up a poster of all its grads.  Here are the posters from the philosophy and mathematics departments:

Lots of hugs and congratulations from family and friends:

Celebrating together with a very special friend, Brianna:

A sampling of pictures with some of his profs - first picture is of his research team from his freshman year (and since Professor Bolt has an Erdos Number of 8, Anthony and Rebekah now have Erdos Number 9, which is way cool!).

Good-bye to good old North Hall, home of Calvin's math department:

Leaving campus as an alumnus: