damont

So today is the last day of classes at W&M, the semester having been cut short one day due to Queen Elizabeth II's visit to the campus tomorrow. The Wren Bell is ringing (far and near? no wait, that's the students' voices doing that, according to the Alma Mater) all day long as graduating students celebrate their last day of classes. I have asked, over in

william_mary, that those who read it ring the Wren Bell one extra time in memory of Rise (Cait for those who knew her in the SCA).

Rise/Cait and I weren't close but we did always try to find a minute or two to do more than just say hello. I think that having known each other in college was part of that; she graduated two years ahead of me. We would find each other accidentally in places where one wouldn't expect, say "Fancy meeting you here!" and catch up just a bit. I'm sorry she won't get to be with her kids as they finish growing up; more sorry for her kids who won't have her around through the possibly messy years of adolescence and twentysomething yet to come; and for potential grandkids down the line, who won't have the chance to meet her. (My own mother is a breast cancer survivor, and her family far prefers to have her still around, thanks.)

My best friend from college, who started as a freshman the same time as Rise did, said to me: "I've always lusted after her hair, and admired and been slightly awed by her range of interests and the amount she put into and got out of each (many of which I shared, but was never as productive or active at). Even though I haven't even walked past her at an event in years, the world was a brighter place just knowing she was out there... and now she's not."

So today is a bit subdued after hearing last night of her passing.

In other news... the You Can't Get There From Here highway project starts in earnest this coming Saturday; they've been putting up new signs and rearranging existing signs for a couple of weeks, and the actual destruction starts in about 42 hours. More about that later.

Happy belated birthday to

ladypeyton!

Welcome to

martelvonc and

devreux, and also to CT7!

Last night at Stierbach's barony meeting, the seneschal was doing Atlantian trivia, with the rest of us divided up into two teams (one on each side of the room). The team I wan't on was heard to complain "but *they* have *Evan*!" (At which point I tried to find a place to hide, with no success.)

Hug your loved ones today. A bit more than you usually do.