I drove down south today toward Mount Rainier, to attend my high school reunion. The mountain was beautiful this evening and only got prettier as the the night went on. We had about 120 attendees, not bad for a class of 440 original students. Thank goodness for the name tags with our yearbook photos, I would have had a hard time recognizing anyone without them!
Not everyone welcomed a chat with me. I think maybe it was because of the questionnaire, which asked for political and religious views. I proudly declared myself as having democratic values and atheistic/agnostic world view. I can see who read my alumni profile - and they're the once who avoided me. Oh well. The word atheist still evokes fear in some. I'm not used to that in my usual little bubble.
My biggest problem with re-unions is that the women all have a different last name now. They are hard to keep up with.
We were at least a step ahead on that, where our name tags had the names we had in school and our current names. And we had our photos our name tags which really helped.
Nice pictures.
I attended my 50-year reunion last year. Fortunately, religion and politics were a non-issue. I knew many of the people who attended and enjoyed the evening.
Many years ago I read a comment about reunions that said as the years grow, those who attend are generally happy with their lives. That was true for my group of classmates. The only not-so-great things were a couple of people with health issues, but other than that all good.
I am glad you enjoyed your trip. My 50th class reunion is next year in Arkansas. It is a very religious and red state. I'll have to keep my beliefs to myself to fit in. I went to the 10 year reunion and hardly knew anyone.
I'm still processing my feelings about the reunion part of my trip. I was a wall flower 50+ years ago in school, and feel I've grown more confident, poised and outgoing. So, I guess I wanted to gauge how well I fit in now.... But being back with the same clique type separations, plus the political climate, I felt just as awkward as I did back then, in some ways. Just makes me happy to be back to my current life.
Someone just posted a video of our class singing our "fight song" after I left the picnic, and whether someone typed in the words, or some sort of automated program added the captions, where we used the end the song with "Chief Sealth High" the captions say "Jesus Christ" -- Ack! It rhymes, but that's not how we used to sing it!
Lovely photos. As for the attendees, they aren’t friends IRL, so who gives a damn? What people think about you is on them.
I just meant that the fact that we knew ahead of time which political side are on, and religion, affected some of us from even chatting to see what we DO have in common. Point being it would have been smarter not to answer those questions. I like to think there are some good and admirable qualities in everyone - but having preconceived notions kept me from finding out.
I did have a nice chat with several classmates, and I still didn't know which way they lean politically and religious wise. The not knowing allowed the interaction - where the knowing prevented some from interacting at all.
These are wonderful pics, Julie. Overall I hope you had a good time and didn't let them get to you. Politics is a funny thing. Yesterday I was in a waiting line with a couple and current politics came up. I was told that "they" are going to do whatever "they" want to anyway. The man said he is not even going to vote. I had to remind them that even a dictator makes his people vote for him. This is so he can claim his election was legitimate. We must also remember that We The People means all of us. Now they might vote.
I think you are doing well and you should seek out others who believe as you do. I try but I'm beginning to think I hate people. OK, not everyone.
I hope they didn't ruin your visit and that you're still glad you went? I'm a little surprised that they even asked those questions unless they intended to group similar people together? Or perhaps the organizers were small-minded themselves. On the other hand, it saved you from wasting your time with people who would have ultimately not added anything good to your life. I used to believe I could get along with most anyone by being open and polite, but this past decade has certainly made me question the benefit of that.
A lot of people left those questions blank - that was smart - so nobody had preconceived notions - and were open to getting re-acquainted. I discovered in conversation which way people leaned of course, but at least we were able to talk with each other.
Lots of people spent a lot of time talking about their church activities and complaining about our light rail transportation options, and crime and drugs everywhere, which apparently is blamed on the political party in charge, as long as it's different from their own personal political leanings. I didn't speak up to say I have used the light rail to get from the airport to my destination and thought it was wonderful!
Meeting more people today from older and younger class years - at the all class reunion picnic. One is an old boyfriend who I already know is super right wing now. He had friended me on Facebook and I unfriended him when I saw the hateful things he was posting. It's amazing what a divide the politics and religious views make, to people just wanting to reconnect with people we knew 50+ years ago.
Might have been smarter for me not to answer the questions asked - but I can't help trying to seek out others who think like me.
Interesting as I would think people in this area were more open minded and democratic. We are a heavily blue area in a blue state (despite protestations from those in the Eastern part).
At my only HS reunion (the 30th) from Federal Way HS I found I knew very few. I was there only my senior year and had one friend (who is still a close friend) and only a few Acquaintances. Unfortunately, there was a room with a lot of our classes (the reunion included the following year of which my brother was in) which was dedicated to those that fell during the Vietnam war. The reunion was held in Tacoma since Federal Way is closer to Tacoma than Seattle.
Also interesting as Chief Sealth HS is just blocks from my former home in W. Seattle. I watched the old school being torn down and the new school, which was combined with the Middle School, being built. You must have been surprised at the size of the new place.
I haven't seen the new school yet. Today is a picnic at Lincoln Park, so I might take a drive and view the school, the house where I grew up, and the old Alki cruising strip, along with other sights and memories from my old days.
@Betty I'm back home on Kauai now, but this morning before heading to the airport, I wanted to go shoe shopping, so I went to Federal Way, where I worked and lived for several years. I needed GPS to navigate to where the shopping was. A lot has changed in the past 50 years. I didn't recognize the main drag. It was completely different from how I remembered it. -- There is no going back - only memories of how it used to be!
@Julie808 Imagine how I would feel. We live there from 1965 to 67. Now there are two HS's in the area. I once had a plan to buy 2 lots and put in a manufactured home next to a lake - Star Lake. The military intervened and years later I went back to that area. The lake had shrunk, there were many trailer homes and it looked even seedier than before.
Looks like the sort of day I had back in 1973 when I flew into Sea-Tac for the first time. The pilot did a fly around so both sides of the plane got see the mountain.
I knew flying in I was not going back to NJ. I have never gone back for any of my HS reunions. Too many republicans and catholics/religious classmates.
I glad you got to go and I'm sure you had a wonderful time. Seattle sure has changed and I miss living over there.
Flying around Mt. Rainier was often a joyful scare. Often the plane would skirt the mountain for everyone to admire. However, this also meant wind conditions that created a lot of buffeting of the plane. Flying into Seattle at night was also a treat as, with the mountains, water and layout of the city it was not like flying into every other city I'd been to. One interesting item was that often one saw sparkling lights. The houses were on hillsides and in woods which hid the views but then the lights would be seen on and off as they shone through the trees. The city center was right along Elliot Bay and with the dark bay and the lights of the many boats and even Ferry the city really earned the name "Emerald City.' [thoughtco.com] Sometimes I miss it, sometimes I don't.
In 1979 I hiked up to Camp Muir with a couple of friends. We lugged our downhill skis and ski boots up, and skied back down. Camp Muir is just below the ice falls on the south-southeast side of Mt. Rainier, at around 10,000 feet elevation.
It was on this hike that I learned how reflective of sunlight snow is. (About 90% of the solar radiation that hits snow bounces off of it. Only 10% is absorbed. Which is why the melting of Arctic Ocean sea ice is such a big deal. But that is another story.)
We started our hike at 4:00 am, dressed warm for the cold. By the time we got to Camp Muir the sun was high in the sky and I had shed my wool pants and was down to a T-shirt and cotton briefs.
By the time we were back at the car I knew I had gotten a little too much sun on that area which never gets any sun, between my short pants tan line and my briefs.
By the time we were back in Tacoma, the blisters were up. My butt peeled and peeled for weeks before it finally healed.
Julie, at least, had the decency to post pix.
Tenderness above the underwear
A deep shade of red as if you care
The sun ain't gonna shine anymore
The moon ain't gonna rise and say hi
The years are always going on by
With or without pants. Maybe.
@Polemicist I think that is what is meant by the term "deep cut."
@Polemicist Nah, I'm good without seeing pictures of a blistered butt!
I remember decades ago, hiking in the Cascade Mountains in my bikini, snow all around, but it was so hot! Crazy times, haha!
@Julie808
"The once who avoided me", and "hiking in my bikini, snow all around, but it was so hot" indicates you have an entertaining way with wirtz.
@Polemicist The Rat Pack meets the Brady Bunch
@Julie808 I have a picture around here somewhere...but it's not of my butt
@Polemicist Oops! I really need to proofread my posts and comments better. Once should be ones, but yes they also once avoided me. Hot should perhaps be warm, though I do wish I still had my 25 year old body!
@Julie808 Don't we all!
Fuck ‘em if they still believe in sky daddies and right wing politics. You didn’t miss anything with their avoidance. Who wants that conversation? Not me.