I had orientation for new students in our department yesterday, which was a first-time effort. It went well. I think it is a good idea. I left after lunch. The afternoon session was about doing library research, and then there was a dinner, and to be honest, I didn't feel like devoting any more than half a day.

Afterwards, we went to Albany Rural and St. Agnes Cemeteries (they are really one big cemetery with a fence dividing the Catholic part from the rest of the cemetery). They are so big that they have offices to look up graves and tell you where they are. Unfortunately the Albany Rural office is only open 9-12 on Saturday and the St. Agnes office is only open weekdays so I will have to go back. I hoped to visit Myrtle McSpirit's grave in Albany Rural and also see if Mimmie's brother Lawrence is buried in St. Agnes. 

So we drove around in both -- they are huge, especially the Albany Rural side. I'd been to St. Agnes twice before when the family members of friends died but I'd never been to Albany Rural before. We thought we would try to find President Chester Arthur's grave and maybe the Cherry Hill Van Rensselaers too. We couldn't find the Van Rensselaers but we did manage to locate Chester Arthur, since that one has signs directing you. It is really an amazing cemetery -- not only enormous but the monuments are incredible. From St. Agnes you can see the Hudson River. 

Afterwards I treated Bob to dinner etc. on Lark Street. There was a pub crawl going on for an adult kickball team. I didn't know adults played kickball (brings a shiver to my spine). The planned bar hopping seemed so contrived but the attendees seemed to enjoy it. Bob tried to convince me to get matching tattoos of a Beagle. I said no, of course. Twenty years ago I would have said yes -- and actually I probably would have been the one sales pitching him. Afterwards he said if he comes up with an idea like that again in the future, to get him some food, stat (he's been dieting). 

He had a chuckle this morning -- as we were leaving for church he noted his white shirt and dress pants and my tie dyed tee shirt and wrinkled cotton capris and said we are reminiscent of Darma and Greg (not that we ever watched the show, but we both understand the premise). As a result, I decided that it was best not to flash a peace sign to folks too far away to easily shake hands during Mass, as I probably would have if I was dressed less like a hippie. 

Today we took the dogs for a walk in Mountain View cemetery behind our house (I saw a deer in the old part) and are catching up on household tasks that get neglected when we go to Samsonville for several weekends in a row. Where does all that paper come from? Seems to spontaneously generate. May as well put a recycling bin right under the mail slot. I watered the garden and flowers and picked produce. Tomorrow I will finalize the plan for Tuesday's and Thursday's classes. Wednesday we will go to Dolly's funeral.  So sad. Hard to not dwell on the tragedy.