The Class of 2009

Well, here I am at my Mom’s in Pennsylvania. I arrived this afternoon to attend tonight’s Downingtown High School’s class of 2009. Each year the graduating class invites the class celebrating their 50th anniversary as guests to their graduation. I am a member of the DHS Class of 1959 of fifty long years ago. It is a cliche but it hardly seems like fifty years. I know that all of the members of tonight’s graduating class don’t realize how fast the next fifty years will fly by. They will find out, oh will they ever.

I wasn’t sure how to dress for tonight’s occasion. So I wore tan Docker pants and a yellow Eddie Bauer shirt. I considered a suit but thought that would be too much clothing on a summer night. Oh was I ever wrong. First of all, tonight was overcast (thank goodness it didn’t rain because we were sitting outside in a football stadium) and chilly. The temperature hovered around 58 degrees. Five members of my class also attended tonight’s ceremonies and were dressed in suits. I told them I was retired and I don’t wear suits or ties anymore. Still, I felt underdressed. Which is a shame because people do judge and react to you on appearance and I do look so good in a suit and a tie.

I took many pictures and a few videos of the occasion which I will post on future blogs, Facebook and You Tube. I can’t post one of my original pictures on this blob posting because I’m at my Mom’s computer and she doesn’t have my camera’s software for downloading my pictures.

As members of the 50th anniversary class we wore ribboned sashes. Yes, I have a picture of two of me in a sash. That is one thing I never had draped over me before, a beauty queen type sash. There is always time for a first, even at this late stage of my life.

I must say that we were treated very kindly and with respect for the organizers of the event, especially the superintendent of schools. She corrected the program that had my name as "Walter Tipton" (where did they get that?) instead of my name "Ronald Walter Tipton." She wanted to correct my name because she would be announcing it at the ceremony which she did. I was very proud to stand up when she called my name (along with the other members of our small contingent of the DHS Class of 1959.) I thought we might be shunted aside like some old relic but they actually did treat us with some deference. They even supplied us with a bus from the cafeteria where the reception was to the football field, the site of the graduation ceremonies. We really didn’t need a bus. It was only a little over a block away. But, it was a nice gesture.

Tonight’s graduation ceremony was for Downingtown West Campus. I was also invited to the graduation ceremony for the Downingtown East Campus (held tomorrow night at the same location) but I think I’ll pass on that one. While tonight’s ceremony was fun and interesting, once is enough. I have no desire to sit through another two hours valedictorian speeches and of award and diploma presentations.

After the graduation diplomas were all handed out and the mortar board caps were tossed in the air with a mighty cheer, we 50th anniversary Old Folk exited the field first through an honor guard of students of this year’s graduating class. Passing all those young faces that bore nary a wrinkle I couldn’t help myself when I said to one astonished redheaded young man "See you in fifty years!" Upon hearing that his face broke into the broadest smile I’ve ever seen. Oh young man if you only knew what you’re in for. He doesn’t know that the next fifty years will go by so much faster than the last twelve. But he will find out then he will be standing in the spot I stood in tonight. Perhaps he will remember me and then understand what I meant when I said "See you in fifty years!"

Ah One and Ah Two!

My resident bluebirds have begun their second batch. Yesterday the first egg was laid. This morning another pastel blue egg was added to their neat nest. By the time I get back Thursday I expect to see two more additional eggs in their nest.

Tomorrow I'm going to Pennsylvania to visit my Mom and attend the graduation ceremonies for the DHS Class of 2009 as a 50th anniversary guest. In a way I really don't want to go because I love my home here in Delaware so much I hate to miss even one day. But I do have some business to take care of in Pennsylvania and I would like to attend that graduation ceremony. There is only one time that I have the opportunity to be a 50th anniversary guest (DHS Class of 1959) and I don't want to pass up the opportunity. I'll take pictures and maybe even a video or two. We'll see. I just hope this isn't a bust and I'm viewed as some ancient fossil. Actually, I don't care if I am. I just think it will be interesting. Of course I'll probably be the only member of my class who attends.

This morning I found a new plant place. It's called the Sandy Hill Greenhouse and it's on Sand Hill road, about ten miles from where I live. I loved it. This nursery is my new plant center. Mark the owner was talking to me and he said this is his second year in the retail business. Prior to this he was in the wholesale business but decided to make a go of it in the retail trade. He said so far this year business has been slow but I predict he will do very well. He has a big nursery with a large selection and all his plants are healthy and vibrant. I told him his business will build by word of mouth. When we Plant People find a good place we put the Word out. I was advised by my friend MJ in Milton to check out this garden center. Thank you MJ!

I took the drive this morning to see if my check engine light came on again. It did. In fact it was on the whole time I went up and came back. When I got home I called my garage and told them of the problem. They told me to bring the car down. I go out to my car, turn it on and the check engine light isn't on now. This is going to drive me crazy. So I called The Garage (yes folks, that is the name of my garage) and told them that the check engine light wasn't on now. Hmmm.

There always seems to be some little nagging thing like this to get on my nerves. I'm going to have to put this out of my mind and enjoy my trip to PA tomorrow. What's good about my trips to PA is that I always come back here, my beautiful home in Delaware. To me each day I spend here is like a vacation day. I love it!

Check Engine

The actual picture of the message on my dashboard




Right after I gassed up at the Wawa in Milford, I turned the ignition to my 98 Subaru Forester on and I immediately noticed something new on my car’s display behind the steering wheel. Two letter in orange glow that said “Check Engine.” Gee, I wonder what that means. Actually, I know what that means. That means I’ll probably have to put out some more bucks on my faithful Subaru. I guess I should count by blessings because I have over 113,000 miles on my car. This is the absolute first time I’ve seen that message. To be honest, it’s a message that I didn’t want to see.

Reading my Subaru handbook, it tells me there are two possible reasons for the “Check Engine” message. One is the emission controller is shot (catalytic converter.) The other is that I didn’t put my gas cap on correctly and that the “Check Engine” message will go away all by itself after a few more drives. I’m hoping for the second reason. I don’t need any more problems right now and I definitely don’t need to put out more bucks for car repairs. A few months ago I spent over $1,700 to a new air pump, rear window shield motor and some other motor parts that were starting to wear out. My old buggy has been riding smooth since then. I was sort of hoping to get at least 250,000 miles out of this car.

So, I will take my friend out for a couple of rides tomorrow and hope the “Check Engine” light goes out by its self. One thing in my favor, the light came on immediately after I put the gas cap on it. I remember that I didn’t tighten it up all the way. That was before I saw the “Check Engine” light. But then, about a month ago I lost my gas cap and the “Check Engine” light didn’t come on. Maybe it has something to do with the way I tightened it. I hope so. I was planning on going to Pennsylvania on Monday (or Tuesday) to visit my Mother and to attend two graduation ceremonies of the Downingtown High School Class of 2009 as a class 50th anniversary guest. But I can’t see myself driving the 125 miles to PA with my “Check Engine” light on. I’ll be looking at it all the way up to PA.

Thoughts on a Late Spring Night

Ronald Walter Tipton, Downingtown High School Class of 1959



After a good day at work, things fell apart at home this evening. Bill came in from mowing the lawn (which has to do every three days with the weather we're having down here on the Delmarva peninsula) and I told him he was "stinking." I guess I could of been more diplomatic (you think?) but I apparently wasn't thinking. Why Bill got mad was that he had just taken a shower but apparently was wearing the same shirt that we was wearing when he mowed the lawn. He wasn't really "stinking" but did smell of sweat. As I age I am losing some of my faculties but one that I have not lost is my sense of smell, much to Bill's displeasure. I apologized to Bill but he's mad and probably won't speak to me for a while. That's how he deals with his anger. I sometimes lose my temper but I quickly get over it. Bill is different. I hurt his feelings and it will take him a while to get over it.

This episode tonight just shows you how fast things can go awry after a good day. I was working today filling in for a co-worker who had other plans. I am not scheduled to go back to work until the Fourth of July weekend at which time I'll be working three days in a row. Normally I work every Monday night but another co-worker wants the Fourth of July weekend off so she can be at her son's graduation from infantry school and see him one more time before he ships out to Iraq. This means I have the next three weeks off.

Next week I was planning on going to Pennsylvania to see my Mom and attend the Downingtown High School Class of 2009 as a special guest. Each year the Downingtown High School invites members of the 50th anniversary class of Downingtown High School as guests to their graduation ceremonies. It doesn't seem like that long ago that I graduated but it has been half a century. Hard to believe. I'm not sure that if the kids of today's graduating class is even interested in seeing old fogies like us but I'll go anyway. It will be interesting for me. The picture on this blog is of yours truly 50 years ago when I graduated from Downingtown High School. My Mom took the picture. I was the first person in my family to graduate from high school (also the first to graduate from college.) This is the only picture of me at my graduation. So young and innocent. So much ahead of me. So fast the time has went by. And now I'm here, checking the weather forecast for next week because I don't want to make the 2 1/2 drive to Downingtown, Pennsylvania in the rain.

A few years ago I decided I don't like to drive in the dark. Now I avoid driving in the rain. I doubt if any of the members of the Downingtown High School graduating class has even given one moment's thought to those self-imposed driving restrictions. If anyone asks me to speak, I'll tell them this is just one of the "benefits" they can look forward too when they are guests at the DHS graduation of 2059. One thing is for sure, I won't be there.