Grad-it-Tude

Last night, we experienced the most awesome thunder and lightning storm I have ever seen (and heard). It made the Southern California storms pale in contrast to the magnitude and intensity.

What made it all the more intense was the fact that Don and I were watching the end of our rental DVD of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button".
Now I do not wish to give away anything about the film for those who have yet to see it, however, I can safely say that there is a recurring piece about lighting striking one of the characters and it got to be that every time the film referred to that character being struck by lighting, the lighting hit outside our window. And then as the film story culminated in Hurricane Katrina arriving, it was matched by our own freak storm in Chico. A bit of freak-i-tude as the thunder cracked hard, the sky lit up and the power went down.

Belle was already skittish when the storm began to break loose. I quickly put Rescue Remedy in her water in hopes she would emerge out from under the bed to drink it. We had already turned off the lights and I threw in some new batteries in the bedside flashlight. Don and I crawled into bed to listen and watch. I admit that at the height of the thunder it so caught me off-guard that I audibly gasped. We left the bedroom door open in case Belle wanted to join us and we soon fell asleep as the sounds moved east.

It was an amazing experience of natural power and beauty that I hope to experience again. While at work today, I wished the storm had not arrived so late or I might have chosen to drive back to work and watch the 'show' from the big window over the lake at the church site. I would have been reluctant to get in the car at a time like that but my students today told me that being in a car is one of the safest places one can be because of the rubber tires. Whoda thunk?

Today was a lovely, cool day. After a full day at work and some catch-up e-mails, it was almost 9:00 p.m. before Don and I got around to taking our walk. Soon after leaving the house we could hear crowd sounds and cheering. At first, I thought it must be a Friday night football game. Wait a minute---it's not football season and nor is it Friday night. Instantly, I ascertained that I was hearing the sound of names being called out and it must be a graduation ceremony at nearby P V High School!

I was excited and intrigued and steered Don in that direction. While walking, we could clearly hear as each students name was called and the guests cheered. Once we arrived, we walked onto the high school field with the lights ablaze. Hundreds of kids and adults seated on the field, in the bleachers and hanging around the field. I was entranced because for one thing, I had never seen a nighttime graduation and for another, every other graduation I have been to--my own included-- you had to have an invitation to attend. Here we were just moseying onto the field like we belonged there and no one seemed to care who were were or where we stood.

We walked to the back of the center of the field and stopped to listen and watch the students walk the stage as their names were called. I felt exhilarated by the significance of the event. I had never been on a field at night and it was creating a unique visceral feeling in me that I could not identify. This was a big night. Lives were changing. Bittersweet, nostalgic and transformational feelings were rife everywhere--especially, within me.

Four or five names were called and I felt like applauding. Then I heard the name, Shelby Joy Marolla and I began to cheer and applaud heartily. Don clearly thought that I had completely lost it. Au contraire. Shelby is the young girl who is one of our nursery workers at church;the daughter of our bookkeeper and the granddaughter of the founding minister! Whoda thunk?! It was a classic example of Chico synchronicity that we would have chosen to take our walk at just that time of night and chosen to amble over to the high school and walk onto the field moments before someone we actually knew was walking the stage to graduate.

This whole thing could only be God-tude because how or why else would we have been there? I felt even more exhilarated and filled with Grad-it-tude for the opportunity to be there. And I felt like decades had vanished and I was walking the track with my handsome jock boyfriend, we were going steady and all was right with the world.

Whooooooooooa, dude--that is some 'tude.