Picto Diary - 28 to 31 May 2025 - Carden Graduation

Above: Nostalgia Pic. Grrr, Drums, and Z. Circa 2015.

Above: Roy, at home, Salt Lake City, UT. 28 May 2025.
2nd place ribbon for girls' mile run at Carden School.

Above: Carden School. Salt Lake City, UT. 29 May 2025.
Z and Grrr. Graduation. 8th grade and final year at Carden. Outstanding Christian oriented private school where both boys thrived academically. They studied Latin for crying out loud! TIMDT and Mwah (sic) very proud. Boys start 9th grade at SLC's Skyline HS next school year. Note: Grrr sports academic award chords. Z's award-winning essay follows.

Above: Lincoln Memorial. Washington, D.C. File image.

Following is Z's essay about his May 2025 visit to the Lincoln Memorial with his Carden School eighth grade class. Z awarded best class DC trip essay.

My Favorite Part of the Trip

Before I went to D.C. I didn't expect much from the Lincoln Memorial. I just thought it would just be another old monument, but my perspective completely changed when I got there.

It was much bigger than I expected and it was super cool that it was facing the Washington Monument. Mr. Moffat told us to count the steps from the pond to the monument. So we did and we found that there were eighty-seven or four scores and seven. That made me realize that the people that built the memorial really cared about what they were doing. I feel like people today would not put in that much effort and work into something like that. So that was pretty cool.

After that, my perspective had already changed but it changed more when I looked up and saw the massive pillars. They looked much bigger than they did in the movies. I was also surprised by the size of Lincoln’s statue. It was gigantic and way more detailed than I imagined. The folds in his clothes, the serious look on his face, and even the texture of the chair he was sitting in. It all felt really real, almost like he could stand up at any moment. It made me think about how important Lincoln was and why so many people still admire him today. He freed the slaves and won the Civil War. I can see why they would make such a breathtaking memorial for him.

Reading the quotes on the wall was another moment that stuck with me. The words felt so thoughtful and so serious. I’m not going to remember what the words said exactly but I’ll always remember how I felt when I was reading them. It wasn’t just something we had to memorize for a test. It was something that helped shape our country.

As we walked back down the steps, I kept turning around to look at the memorial again. It made me appreciate how history is all around us and how it can affect you in ways you don’t expect.

I went in thinking it would just be another tourist stop, but I left feeling inspired and thoughtful. It’s definitely something I’ll remember for a long time.

Zach Taylor

Above: Members of the Three Jack's Book Club. Iron Canyon, Park City, UT. 29 May 2025.
Book under discussion: "Washington's Crossing," David Hackett Fischer.

Above: Red Winged Blackbird. North Forty. Park City, UT. 30 May 2025.
LSDM Walkers.

Above: Prom Goers. Iron Canyon. Park City, UT. 31 May 2025.

Granddaughter Mynduveroan (green dress) and friends. Kids were joined by parents at the home of Mynduveroan parents, B1b and FeeBee. Mwah (sic) and TIMDT were also in attendance at the pre-prom event.

TIMDT and Mwah (sic) went to dinner at Hearth and Hill Restaurant, in Redstone, after the pre-prom event. We noted a bevy of prom goers pre prom dining at Hearth and Hill and other, nearby Redstone restaurants. A few of the diners were groups of girls, no boys. We didn't see any all boy groups. There were several double and triple date boy/girl groups dining. This latter would be what I would call a conventional group of prom goers.

The next day, I asked Mynduveroan's college student brother Drums about the girls without boy dates prom goers. He said it was a regular thing. He added that boys without girl dates at the prom would be considered losers. It just never happened. All girls groups were OK and common though. I asked Drums, who took a date to the prom last year, why more boys didn't ask girls to go to the prom with them. "Grandpa," he replied. "Today is not like it was when you were growing up. You didn't have social media. A boy's life can be ruined by a viral post where he is dissed by his date. Boys just don't want to take the risk of asking a girl to the prom."

Somewhere in the above statement by Drums are societal implications. It seems that girls dominate in the social climate at school. Drums' comment seems to me to also be related to the fact that 60% of college students today are female. Could the putative social media risk for boys dating correlate to the fact that rate of family formations and birthrates are at their lowest in history? I recently watched a Jordan Peterson twenty second Tik Tok wherein Peterson said 25% of American women would never give birth to a child. He posited a lonely old age for those childless women. What's going on here?

In any case, prom night for the pictured kids was reportedly very successful. Drums chauffeured the kids to Loma Restaurant in downtown Park City. After dinner, Drums ferried the kids to Park City High School to the prom. After the prom the youngsters went to the home of one of the parents for a post prom do. In the case of Mynduveroan and her friends, it looked to me like a good time was had by all in a conventional girl/boy date prom set-up not unlike our experience sixty years ago. Also, parental involvement pre and post prom was a nice touch. Well parented kids. Questions linger, however about boy/girl social disparities in high school and college.

Addendum:

Steve and Margaret:
I remember that day and your wedding reception well. Lots of excitement on 1400 East. A lot of water under the bridge since then (in many ways)!
Congratulations!

Bling,
Albuquerque, NM

 

Happy Anniversary to you two lovebirds!

Kate and Ken,
Salt Lake City, UT

Happy returns.

Best wishes for many more!

Panama & Mariko,

Los Angeles,
CA

Thank you for sharing . . super . . .
Mano,

San Jose, CA

Congratulations to you and Margaret on your 56th! Linda and I will be celebrating our 55th in September.
Fred and Linda,
Orlando, FL