Graduation II.

6-14-16 SHORT HILLS: We’re back in NJ after Lily’s graduation from Dartmouth. Graduation day, Sunday, was cool and breezy but comfortable enough for almost everybody dressed appropriately.

The party for her friends was held the evening before in Thetford. It rained most of that afternoon with strong, gusty winds. In the evening the rain let up and cold fog settled down on us. The weather kept us inside, so we moved the bar and food into the house instead of setting up outside in the garden.

All the graduating friends arrived with one or more parents, one or more sibs, some grandparents, some aunts and uncles. There was something north of 60 people. Everyone seemed to have a good time. The left-overs went to the Haven in White River Junction. There were a lot of hands for the set up and cleanup. Thanks and snaps to all the organizers and helpers, specifically, Alison, Dan, Gardner, Anna, Zoe, Lisa, Judy, me, Sam, Lily, Janet, Bill, Andy.


Graduation on the green in Hanover, NH.

Lily's posse at Dartmouth, all seem pleased with the new diplomas.

Back in Short Hills we had 5/8 of an inch of rain while we were away. Along with that rain here there was a lot of wind because the yard is littered with leaves and branches. The afternoon before we left for graduation, the wind had just started to gust and it broke a big branch on an ash by the garage.

The branch stayed hanging on the tree, but it was leaning on an apple, dogwood and magnolia. Frank’s Tree again came to the rescue and removed the broken limb while we went to Vermont. The threatened small trees escaped with minimal damage, and they removed most of the debris. I did find an additional bunch of branches to clean up after the cleanup.

Yesterday I planted a catalpa tree here, Catalpa bignonioides ‘Aurea’, a very small one that we brought to NJ in the car, along with the dogs and bags of recyclables. Judy called Browns Nursery when we were in VT to ask if they had any, and the answer was, ‘yes’. None of several nurseries in NJ that we had called had one, dismissing catalpas as weed trees.

I think it’s an interesting tree with white flowers, big heart shaped leaves and long, brown bean pods in the fall. The one I planted has a trunk diameter of a half an inch and is almost four feet tall, we also got a larger one for the VT yard.

New blooms: hummingbird summersweet.


Back in NJ with Hummingbird Summersweet in bloom.

Summersweet smiling for the close-up.