Jake update

So how is Jake doing? (Photo above taken on a hike during pre-orientation on the Oregon beach.) Photo below Jake took with his new camera.

Well, according to his reports. The weather has not yet turned rainy and he is not yet sick of dorm food. I worry that he is not getting enough to eat, but he has little patience with my worries.

Swimming started a couple weeks ago. The workouts are double the length of what he is used to, but he likes the coach and his teammates. The team is small, but that just means that Jake gets to swim more relays. First meet is on Halloween, and the season goes until mid-February. He is playing intermural soccer and ultimate frisbee when he has the chance.

Early quizzes have gone well, Jake says. FERPA ensures that we have no idea what that means, but he has been managing his education for a while. Only his scholarship advisors get to know what his grades really are.

Jake reports getting enough food and sleep. He likes the people at Willamette and his classes. His colloquium professor and German teacher are favorites; biology and chemistry are repeats of high school stuff, but he likes the biology labs. He is using real equipment instead of proxies. Example: Instead of coffee filters and sharpies, he used a spectrophotometer on his chromatography lab.

In down time, he seems to be having plenty of fun, and campus has lots going on. He has been to the beach three times since arriving in Oregon (brat). He went to a talk by Ruth Bader Ginsburg in September; tomorrow E.J. Dionne will talk.

Maybe he will send a picture we can post soon, and if not, we will post during parent's weekend.
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Dawgs happy to see the end of a parade.

At about 11:20 this morning, the LCHS marching band turned the corner from Solano into Apodaca Park, near where Stu, Jake, and I first lived when we came to Las Cruces (nearly 18 years ago!). Quincy is on the end, but phones really do not take exemplary photographs.

Before they took off their shakos and headed for the popsicles, Drum Major Ryan Reynolds led them in a rousing chase in the sun. And they followed. Every one. (The weather, it was hot!)

That is the thing about marching bands. Get them going in a direction, and it is nearly impossible to get them to stop.

Why is it that ...

There a special place in my heart for low riders? The maroon caddy heading away from me has a mural of Mary on the trunk.
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NM: Pimp my trike

New to me... Pimped out bicycles, all chromified and snazzy. Many are three-wheelers, all are low. Is this what the high cost of gasoline has done to the younger generation of low riders?

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Pride Band of NMSU

Led by career drum major John Matthews.
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Yes, that is a giant floating chile pepper!

Fall in NM means all things chile. At the game last night the wind was blowing from the red direction (earlier in the season green is the pervasive aroma). Since there has been no soccer this year, I miss smelling the chile processing plants. Saturdays at the Farmer's Market usually provides a good whiff of green roasting, but not as much as hours of fall season soccer on bleachers near the factories.

This weekend is The Whole Enchilads Fiesta, in which LC legend Roberto Estrada will again make a ginormous enchilada. New Mexico heat is the order of the weekend, whether from the sun or the chile.
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Handlebar survey

The bumper stickers are running 5-0 Obama on my commute. I saw only one bumper sticker on 2 rides and 3 on the other. I am not great at catching every car as it drives by, but on days with a headwind, counting stickers takes my mind off the slogging, even if it raises questions.

• Is my commute populated with no McCain supporters?
  
• Are McCain supporters there but too apathetic to say so on their cars?
• Should I count every SUV that passes as a possible McCain supporter and all Pruises as Obamians?

Actually, I am surprised overall at the low numbers of stickers I see. In past years, being a battleground state has meant taking politics to the newspaper, yard signs, roadways, t-shirts, billboards, hats, bumpers, and any other space available for opining. Will keep checking in on this very important story...

Must go - the parade is coming!