Congratulations, Andrea!

On Sunday, we wakened early and left the house around 6:20 a.m. to drive to Santa Barbara. Our niece, Andrea, was graduating at 9:00 a.m. on Father's Day, from UCSB with a degree in Communications. (We discovered over lunch that she did not have to take a single public speaking course! So much for a world-class education!) We are proud of 'Drea. The picture is of 'Drea after receiving her diploma. Way to go, girl! Woohoo!

It was an overcast morning, the infamous Southern California June Gloom. But the temperature was pleasant, and not one was scorched in the two hour ceremony. Aunts and Uncles came up from Van Nuys, and dad Dave and sister Lauren came down from the Bay Area. We had a pleasant lunch afterwards. Driving north from South Pasadena that early on a Sunday morning reminded us of what engineers dreamed freeways would be: open, uncrowded, quick.

The next picture is of the South Pasadena Stochls, after the ceremony, standing by The Lagoon. How does anyone at schools like UCSB get anything done with the beach right there?

I expected that the ceremony would degenerate into Bush bashing, a popular sport on college campuses. (Hey, I did my share of bashing Carter and Reagan when I was in college, so I understand the impulse.) There were some criticisms, though somewhat veiled, and the commencement speakers by and large did a fine job exhorting the Class of 2006 to make a difference in the world. And vote Democratic!

On the way home, Mark drove. Part of his 50 hours of practice before he takes the behind the wheel test in August. He did a fine job, though the freeways were much more crowded at 3:00 p.m. than they had 9 hours earlier. He seems to like the Botts Dots on the right side of his lane a bit too much, though. Still, driving the Odyssey is tougher than driving the Accord. You go, too, son!