{"id":14654,"date":"2023-09-28T22:53:39","date_gmt":"2023-09-29T03:53:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yogisden.us\/?p=14654"},"modified":"2023-09-28T22:54:42","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T03:54:42","slug":"skywatch-friday-50th-high-school-reunion-take-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogisden.us\/?p=14654","title":{"rendered":"Skywatch Friday – 50th High School Reunion: Take Two"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After my family reunion in South Dakota, I loaded up the car again and headed back out west to Albuquerque, New Mexico for my second 50th high school reunion this summer. The first was in Eagar, Arizona with the class I would have graduated from if my family had stayed there but we moved to Albuquerque in the middle of my sophomore year. But I had maintained connections with several of the Arizona bunch and they invited me to their celebration and off I went. Hey how could I miss riding on a trailer with my classmates in the city 4th of July parade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
The big sky of New Mexico in Tucumcari. <\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The High School in Arizona was small but close knit, maybe like 30 something people of whom maybe 25 showed up. Enough to see everyone. In Albuquerque I was one of 760 some graduates most of whom I didn’t know. I remember that for graduation they seated us in alphabetical order and I could swear that I had never seen the people on either side of me . I think about 150 of my fellow graduates showed up. They had several events over the weekend. No sitting on hay bales in a parade though. I went anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
Albuquerque Sky from the parking lot of my hotel parking lot.<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I know that going to two reunions in the same year is a little extravagant but you know it’s not like there was going to be a makeup session next summer for those losers who couldn’t go this summer. My wife, Heather was very understanding about the situation and I appreciated her generosity. I am not a pick an A or B kind of guy. Sometimes I want A and B, and then sometimes C, D, through Z and all covered up with chocolate syrup and yes, supersize the fries<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
The Sandia Mountains from the windows of my old high school in Albuquerque. How is anybody supposed to study with that view? The Sandias are a constant in Albuquerque life. They loom over the city everywhere.<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So I went to the Albuquerque events and I enjoyed them although most of my peeps either didn’t show up or were honored on the “In Memoriam” board with a candle burning alongside, but I had a good time visiting with the people I did know and more than a few that I had no remembrances of way back when.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
Looking west toward the West Mesa in Albuquerque. Great skies are everywhere.<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Interesting thing was that we got to visit the old high school but the whole school except for the gym had been razed and a new school built with half the capacity. The other thing is that the neighborhoods that fed the school had transitioned from middle class to working class in the fifty years and the school had changed the way they did things. They spent a lot of time, money, and effort addressing the issues of why kids from poor families don’t go to school. It was very interesting and the professional educators in our class loved what they were doing. One interesting thing was they were discouraging homework and really encouraging the kids to get their assignments done during the school day. (I did very well in school but hated homework, to me it was just busy work.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
My class reunion photograph. Can you find me? I stole the photo of a classmates facebook post.<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\"Sandia<\/a>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From the photo above, one could step thirty feet and view this view of the Sandias. I had no idea how much I missed them until I came back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the Albuquerque event was much different than the Arizona event but both were great. But it was time to head back home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"<\/a>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I was on a constrained time schedule so I didn’t have much time for other adventures but I did stop and check out some of the old obsolete grain elevators alongside interstate 40 in the Texas panhandle. I think these old structures are beautiful and we’ll be losing them over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"<\/a>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I love old obsolete infrastructure. Why? I don’t know, I just do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\t\t\t\t