1968 was my Junior year of high school. It was a turbulent time with the Vietnam War’s Tet Offensive, riots in Washington, DC, the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1968, and heightened social unrest over the Vietnam War, values, and race. I seemed to be oblivious about all of this, focused instead on the social aspects of school. My prom date for that year got married just out of high school but her husband passed away in 1973. She was one of the top students in our class and her mother worked with my dad. I took a few minutes to do a search this morning, but I wonder what ever happened to her? She is not reported as deceased on our class website. My other high school prom date was a year younger and we have exchanged a  few messages through the years. 

We are going on a pontoon adventure this afternoon with Captain Bruce. It’s something we have done with several of our former house guests in search of dolphins and manatees. The weather should be great with temperatures in the 80s. We will then drive them to the Tampa Airport and prepare for our next group of visitors. I am back in my home office this morning, having given up the space to my son-in-law, who was still working during their one-week stay. Our schnauzer Tally was able to sit in the chair that she prefers, acting as his co-worker, while I used the dining room table for my monkey business. We went out to eat last night at the Venice Art Café that turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. The good news was that there was no one else there, so I didn’t have to fight the noise to hear our conversation. 

I’ll be back in Tampa next Friday to drop my wife off at the airport for her trip to San Francisco/Oakland to be with her two daughters, one of which is here this week. At the same time, I’ll also pick-up my hometown high school friends that we left behind in Oregon for what I thought was going to be Spring Training at the neighborhood Braves Park. The owner’s strike has squashed that plan. We’ll certainly find other things to do like concerts, pickleball, and drinking in the sun. It will be a fun time of indoor camping with just the boys.