Reunion Committee Home Visits
I just returned home after spending the evening with seven other members of the Skyline High School Class of 1987 Reunion committee members: Mark, Steve, Dave(c), Suzy, Kristi, Sue, and Kay. Once every other week, various members of the committee have been visiting homes of our fellow alumni (unannounced) and snapping pictures for the purposes of a "Then and Now" video that Dave(c) is producing. I think they have gone on 4 or 5 other "stalks" (as they call them), but this is the first that I had attended... I am the only member of the committee that lives outside the State of Utah.

Typically, the morning after a "stalk" a member of the committee (Suzy) will compose a humorous encapsulation of the previous night's activities and post it to our committee mailing list. I decided to get a jump on Suzy and post my own narrative that would serve as a foil to her comical recap, here is the beginning of my summary:

Our first stop was Garth Holmoe's house. After we knocked on his door, it was quiet and heavy with the anticipation of our first "hit". The rotary sprinkler heads in the side yard ticked the seconds away as they sprayed the bushes, grass, and weeds repetitively; having been set on an endless course by their now absent yard maintenance overlord. The Holmoe door stood motionless before us, brooding in its peeling dark brown paint, and taunting us to knock again. Instead, we sulked away. Kristi wept.

It's a good start I think.... I'll finish the rest later.

We managed to visit about 10 of my former classmates and their families. Most of them I wasn't very close to in high school and some of them were just outright unrecognizable. But it was still a lot of fun to hear the old names, see some of the old faces, meet their kids and spouses, and talk for a bit while standing on their respective porches and front lawns.

At many instances throughout the night, the environment seemed quite surreal - especially during the drives between homes (the eight of us were all piled into a single GMC Yukon). For example, during the drives the conversations often centered on events that took place in high school. I didn't have much input because the committee members that I know best (Gretchen, Dave(b), Kevin, and Chris) were all absent - so the high school experiences that were discussed were mostly those I was not a part of (parties, dances, trips, etc). The rest of the group was populated with what I would term as what was "the in crowd" during high school (the cheerleaders, the "pretty" and "popular", student body officers, etc); and no, I was definitely not part of that crowd.

And so, sometimes I felt a bit weird, perhaps even awkward. I would find myself just staring out the window and listening to the background (80s) music that was playing on the car's sound system... humming to myself or repeating the well-known lyrics in my mind. Of course, none of the high school social caste system matters one whit now (and I should be clear that I am on very friendly terms with every member of the committee). But with respect to shared experience, it still creates a shadow of the social separation that existed back then... which created this kind of surreal feeling for me. Nonetheless, it was a fun time and I am glad I had the opportunity to participate in one of the "stalks" after reading the recap of so many others.

Product Review: Rold Gold Honey Mustard Pretzels
I don't get fresh hot pretzels that often, but when I do, I will invariably dip them in a bit of mustard. Something I picked up from my brother Brent probably (Brent is renown from our youth for making and eating his signature peanut butter and mustard sandwiches or PBMs). Brent was making us some sandwiches to eat for lunch in the office break room (no, not PBMs), so I went out to the store to buy some chips and sodas.

When I saw these honey mustard pretzels in the store today I had to buy them for Brent to try (I had them once before while on another trip). They are great tasting pretzels. The tangy mustard and honey flavor is just perfect for the salty pretzel. Good to munch with a sandwich and a soda. Once you taste them you'll never buy ordinary pretzels again.