“Walking the Lawn”

Waiting for the graduation ceremony to begin.

The major buildings of the campus of the University of Virginia were designed by the founder, Thomas Jefferson. His vast lawn extends in front of the Rotunda, a building that he designed. Because Jefferson was opposed to formal graduation ceremonies (or even to granting degrees), the first ceremonial procession was held in 1829, after his death, and the tradition of “walking the lawn” has continued ever since that time. A wide aisle is left between the huge number of chairs where the families of the graduates watch the spectacle.

The procession of Arts & Sciences graduates began at around 9 AM this morning.
We had been waiting in our seats for over an hour when we finally heard “Pomp and Circumstance.”

Although solemn processional music accompanies the marchers, sometimes the 
crowds of graduates with every imaginable shape of balloon verges on chaotic.

Alice and Jacob marching in their graduation.

When all the graduates are in their seats at the far end of the lawn, the actual ceremony begins. There are traditional speeches and presentations by the University President and other leaders, including the granting of degrees to several thousand graduating students. Later in the day, additional programs are held by the individual departments and programs that are graduating students. Alice’s two majors were mathematics and computer science, so we attended those graduation ceremonies.

The Computer Science graduation was held in the basketball arena.
Around 400 undergraduate majors received their degree.

Alice walks across the stage and receives her diploma.

Blog post and all photos © 2025 mae sander.

Graduation Weekend Begins

Thursday: Fairfax, VA

School spirit: University of Virginia, Hopkins, University of Michigan.

From the Swiss Bakery: favorite rolls. Plus cheese.

Miriam working on her research papers.

Characters and creatures from the Augsburg Puppet Theater.

Friday: First Graduation Party in Charlottesville

Alice’s Graduation Ceremony is Tomorrow.

Graduating Feet (mostly)

The Graduate

Alice in front of the chairs ready for tomorrow’s ceremony. Photo by Miriam.

Earlier in the day: Lunch and Coffee

Bodo’s Bagels.

One of many Charlottesville murals.

Photos © 2025 mae sander

How new crops were established in America

Background: “Around 1870 new advances started coming led by new companies with names like Pillsbury, Heinz, Quaker Mill, Lipton. A man named Ezra Warner invented a can opener with a handle and a rotating metal blade. Glass milk bottles appeared on doorsteps, along with orange crates. The crown jewel in home cookware was a tightly lidded pot that used pressure to expedite cooking, sometimes cutting the time in half. With new inventions food became less a chore and even, at times, an experiment”

The Food Explorer by Daniel Stone is a biography of David Fairchild (1869-1954), identified as “The Food Explorer” because he spent much of his life searching throughout the world for new plants to expand the offerings of American agriculture at a time when so much was changing about the way that Americans ate and what crops they grew. 

There’s a lot in the book: in fact, far too much detail. Along with the interesting facts about the many countries that Fairchild visited and the many new foods and plants he discovered, there’s a very tedious amount of not-so-interesting biographical and botanical trivia. I also felt that there could have been more background about general trends in food history included in the narrative.

At the end of the book are a few illustrations of fruits that Fairchild discovered and introduced to American farmers.

 
In his long and active life, Fairchild alternated between intense travel and plant collecting with a mentor and wealthy sponsor named Barbour Lathrop and bureaucratic work for the US Department of Agriculture. After many international adventures, Fairchild settled down: he married the daughter of the inventor Alexander Graham Bell, which made him relatively wealthy and also very well-connected. However, he continued to work for the USDA, though laws and attitudes about introductions of new plants became more and more limiting to his goals of finding new crops. 

By the time that World War I started, Fairchild’s Agriculture Department was undergoing a lot of changes (which I don’t want to try to relate) — but I was especially impressed by the posters that were produced to encourage food economy:

This is a pretty good book, though it gets tedious in places. It’s definitely not one of my favorite food history books!

blog post © 2025 mae sander

Ordinary Days

Eating Out 

Friday lunch at the Guernsey Farms Dairy Restaurant in Novi, Michigan.
The cow mural in the entryway is so great, I have to share it with Sami’s Monday Murals.

Food and Wine hosted by our neighbors.

Birds and Flowers at the Botanical Garden

A Sandhill Crane.

Annual sale of beautiful hanging plants and patio plants at the Botanical Garden.

On our porch.

Shopping for Woodworking Tools

Shopping at Rockler Woodworking and Hardware in Novi, MI.

New Food Books

America Eats by William Woys Weaver was published in 1989. It’s full of good information about historic foodways, and also indicates a lot of possibilities for continuing research. Much has been done in the ensuing decades!

Blog post © 2025 mae sander

Texas: Birding Tour Wrap Up

 

Sunrise at the Port Arthur oil refinery, which is not far from some good birding sites.

Our guide prepares a picnic lunch on the last full day of birding.

Gymnast Bird.

Brightly painted restrooms at a National Wildlife Refuge.

Mystery creature. Maybe a Texas Bigfoot?

I don’t even know what was inside this tribute to the ancient gods.
We only went into the door that gave access to restrooms on a quick stop as we drove between birding sites.

Birder’s license plate.

No comment.

Photos © mae sander 2025

Shared with Deb's Sunday Salon, Eileen’s Critters and Sami’s Murals