On the 19th of May we went to Mark Muradian’s Farm in Laton for the FCSS potluck picnic.  The weather was wonderful and the plants were in bloom, but we almost went meatless.  Something went astray and the roast beef didn’t get there.  Fortunately some ham was on hand and was sliced up instead.

On the 26th there was a huge gathering of clans in Bakersfield as our niece Angela was married to Tim Montano.  She is the youngest of her generation in our family, so it really represents the end of an era.  There is a generational over lap and representatives from two younger generations already exist.  At the other extreme, my mother’s generation was represented by Patricia Cousins who is a year younger than I am but is none-the-less my mother’s cousin.

The setting was beautiful as it was in an enclosed garden next to Mill Creek Park.  The whole thing was quite a cultural mix.  It was said to be a Hawaiian theme and there were seashells and frangipanis with leis etc., but Angela is actually Micronesian (from Ebeye in the Kwajalein atoll of the Marshall Islands). I guess most people wouldn’t know the difference between that and Polynesian. Polly contributed a home-made piñata just to confuse things, but it was embarrassing when the Zimbabwean walking stick I contributed to break it was broken!

John was the wedding photographer and did his usual superb job.  I hope this allays Angela’s fear when she said, “But I want a professional photographer”.  My sister Lora assured her that her cousin John (the oldest of her generation) was quite professional. The couple went off to a honeymoon in Costa Rica. 

Those of us still around met for breakfast at Hodel’s the next morning. We enjoyed having James, Emily and the grand-kids for the brief visit after the wedding and we celebrated Alice’s third birthday even though we were a bit late.

On the 5th of June, of course, we voted.  As usual in primaries, there was a disturbingly low turnout.  I hope people are more responsive in November.  Elections have changed considerably with all the mail-ins and the party crossover system.

On the 7th we heard Duke Benadom speak on southern Uganda at the FCSS.  It was a great travelogue with videos interspersed (although we didn’t need to spend quite so much time watching the water flow down the Nile where it starts at Jinja. I think we spent less time when we actually went there in 1967!)  Also, considering the few succulents and the large numbers of birds, I almost felt I’d wandered into an Audubon Society meeting.  I was, however, pleased to see that at least some of the people and wildlife of Uganda have survived the wars there.

On the 9th Polly’s sister Ginny stopped by on her way to Fresno for her birthday the next day.  We had strawberry pie at Milt’s.

Finally, on the 12th we heard J.D. Wikert speak on Haworthias.  I hope I wasn’t too intrusive with my comments on the taxonomy, but I did want to make the point that even experts are disagreeing on grouping the Haworthias.