Dr. Dog's House
1/6/2009 - True colors
I musta been a good guy last year, after all.
My birthday went practically unnoticed by those around me (though several of my efx2 and Vox friends remembered! Thank you!). And my wife and I had agreed among ourselves not to exchange Christmas presents this year. But a mysterious box arrived at my house on the second day of 2009. I had not ordered it. Neither had my wife. Or anyone else in the family.
It's not that I didn't know something was coming and that it had to do with the Detroit Red Wings hockey team. I had gotten a hint ... but just a hint ... from the sender. Now it had arrived. I got the scissors, opened the box, got past some airbags and a card and finally arrived at something black. And red.
Within moments, it was out of the box--and on my body. A black jacket with red sleeves and the Red Wings logo proudly in front and back. If you couldn't recognize it, "Red Wings" was spelled out under the logo on the back.
So cool. Such a nice gift. But would it fit? Only one way to find out. I picked it up, stuck an arm in the right sleeve, stuck an arm in the other sleeve, realized to my satisfaction that I was not trying to put it on upside down or inside out. I pulled it over my chest and snapped up the snaps. It fit just right.
I read the card. It was very moving. The kind of words you don't hear from everyone. I don't, anyway.
Of course, I had to get some pictures of my new prize. My wife took these shots behind the house.
How cool is that?
It came from a close friend of mine; we became friends about three years ago via our blogs. Like me, she is a devoted Detroit Red Wings fan. Unlike me, she lives in California. Unlike me, she doesn't have cable and can't watch any hockey games at home. No satellite dish, either. That's the way it is for her.
So about two years ago the lightbulb flashed on over my head: Why don't I record some of the Red Wings games I watch at home? I have a DVD recorder and it works well. I record the games, burn them onto DVDs and mail them to her from time to time. So ever since then, I have. Along the way, we became close friends. Though I think we were close friends already.
I have been a Red Wings fan since about 1978. That's the year we moved to the U.P. from Milwaukee and I got to see hockey regularly on TV for the very first time. So I tried to watch them every time they were on--even through the infamously bad "40-point season." They reached the conference finals the next year, and they have been playing high quality hockey ever since (with an occasional breakdown early in the playoffs).
When the Wings won the Stanley Cup last spring, I sent along a couple other goodies: a souvenir magazine from Sports Illustrated, a Stanley Cup T-shirt I spotted at K-Mart and a baseball cap with the Red Wings' red and white logo on it. Earlier, I sent her a DVD set of great/memorable Red Wings games from the lats 10 years or so--they have won three Stanley Cups in that time and been near the top nearly every year.
I wrote her. telling her how cool the jacket is and how overwhelmed I am. She wrote back, saying no thanks are needed: It's for all the stuff I have done for her over the last couple years.
Maybe so, but I'm amazed at my good luck anyway. The cool new jacket has to stay on the coat rack inside for a while--midwinter in the U.P. is a little too cool for it. (We had -20F this morning). But in a month or two, when the regular season nears its end and the playoffs start, it will be warmer, and I can wear my true colors.
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12/31/2008 - Auld Lang Syne
At last. We've reached the final day of 2008. There are a few exceptions, but I think most of us will be quite happy to see '08 over and done with.
Some things were good. I made some new friends, both in the blogosphere and in real life. I lost a cat but gained two more. My wife and I got over a little crisis that unexpectedly popped up a couple months ago.
In 2009 ... well, who knows? I want to visit some friends and see some new places. I always say that, don't I? Whether I make it happen this year remains to be seen. The biggest impediment is the demands that my job puts on me. And I must say, just having had another birthday, that I'm looking forward to/hoping for less work and more free time in the future. Read that however you want.
Our plans for tonight are extremely quiet. Maybe we'll watch a movie. Maybe we'll go out for supper. We'll probably watch the ball drop at Times Square (at 11 p.m. local time) and then head upstairs to end the new year right. Most likely we'll be asleep by the time 2009 actually starts.
Sooner or later they will play Auld Lang Syne, and I will get nostalgic about friends who have ... gotten away from me. Friends who are out there somewhere -- somewhere I don't know. Somewhere over the rainbow.
In many cases, it's not due to a falling out or illness or even death. It's due to efx2's ongoing problems over the last two years. Several times efx2 had seemlingly gone down for the last time--but a couple weeks later, it was back up and running (after a fashion). Backups were lost. How many times have we had to restart/reogranize our blogs here? A new efx2blogs.info was formed. Haven't heard a progress report on that for some time now.
Along the way, many gave up and either set up sites at Blogger or Vox or Facebook or elsewhere ... or else simply gave up on blogging altogether. It's understandable, if unfortunate.
So as I hear Auld Lang Syne this year, I'll be thinking of Squilla and Zarafa and Honeychild and Honeyvizer and Miss_T and grnidlady and Vampyre and a few others who don't write so often any more. I think about them as lost friends, and I wonder what they are doing and how they are doing, and I wish that, wherever they are, that they are happy.
Because they were dear to me. And I miss them.
****
We got back home from a fast trip to Oshkosh late yesterday afternoon. In all, we were gone for only 26 hours or so.
We got away much later than planned Monday afternoon, finally driving south as still another cold front blew into the area. Hardly any snow was falling, but a lot of it was blowing around and around, from west to east--crosswise, from right to left, as I drove. One section of road (which works well as a shortcut most of the time) was icy because snow had been drifting across it and was mashed down by car tires. Some places were just plain icy, and we had to cut our speeds accordingly.
For that reason, we didn't get to Oshkosh until about 6 p.m. Then things happened quickly. S, her husband and her 4-year-old grandson came to the motel, and we left for a restaurant with a big buffet selection. We ate well. Yumm.
From there, we went to the motel, changed into swimsuits and enjoyed the motel's pool for an hour or so. We started in the pool, then went to the whirlpool. (The last time we had been together, back in August, we were camping at a small farm and didn't have to bother with swimsuits.)
At first we were the only people there. Then, a big group of high school kids--30 or 40 of them--invaded. Several busloads of kids were at the motel, too. For a while, I shared the whirlpool with four or five nubile young ladies. But that was about the time we had to go back to the motel room. S, her husband and the grandchild changed clothes and left.
We rejoined them (minus the grandson) on Tuesday morning at their house, for breakfast. A nice meal--omelettes, bacon, toast and a homemade Orange Julius. We met their newest cat, who seems to be bipolar. He can be very sweet when you hold him, but he also is a little devil--very destructive, according to S. He used to be called Helen Wheels. Then they discovered she was a he, so now he's officially known as Trouble.
We exchanged some gifts. S gave us cookies and other baked treats. We gave them some blueberry muffins and poppyseed cake that my wife made. I gave S's husband a Three Stooges DVD set--we have many similar tastes, and the Stooges are one of them.
The overriding issue was the weather. I had resigned myself to facing some weather problems--yet another system was blowing through Wisconsin. It left about an inch of snow on my car overnight, but it seemed to be moving away Tuesday morning--no snow was falling as I drove to their place and no snow was falling later as we drove back north towards Green Bay and then Iron Mountain. Packerland was quiet with very light snow. It snowed harder about 40 miles north of Lambeau Field, but just for maybe a half hour--we drove out of it as we got closer to Iron Mountain. We arrived back home about 5 p.m.
At about 6:30, I called S to let them know we were back home safely. She reported they were having a blizzard back at their place.
****
To start the new year, we plan to sleep late, watch the Rose Parade from Pasadena and then the outdoor hockey game between the Red Wings and Blackhawks from Wrigley Field. That ought to be cool!
Nothing more to say this year except this: Despite everything that seems to be happening with the economy, I hope all of you have a happy new year and that 2009 will be better to you than 2008 was.
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12/28/2008 - The unplanned holiday
Well, for not having a plan, our ad-libbed holiday observance went pretty well.
For one thing, we can thank the Midwest's stormy weather for keeping my older son, Phil, around for one extra day. His original plan was to leave us Friday morning and drive back to Detroit via Chicago--he likes the improv comedy clubs in Chi-Town and was going to stay there that night.
But though he doesn't follow the weather closely, he was still aware of the big storms bearing down on the Second City. Forecasts called for much warmer than normal temperatures, bringing in very heavy rain and a good chance of flooding. That was enough to change his itinerary. As he put it, "Chicago traffic is bad enough the way it is."
So he spent much of his Friday playing games at his brother's apartment. In the evening, he, my wife and I went out for a pizza. Then he went out to meet some classmates at a local restaurant--just four, I guess. It was arranged through Facebook. He got back home, we watched some stuff for a little while, and then he went up to bed.
He left for home Saturday at about 6 a.m.--had something going down in Detroit that night involving the new Jim Carrey movie. He made it home OK--had to deal with rain and a lot of fog along the way, but he didn't have any trouble with it.
Back here, I had to do some work on the paper Saturday. Then, some shopping. Some work assignments. Chipping ice off the back porch, in preparation for the freezing rain forecast that night, just before a snowstorm. The freezing rain never developed, and the heaviest snow went east of us. It just got windy.
As for Christmas Day itself: We all got up late. Dave came over late in the morning, and we gathered in the living room to watch some stuff on TV. We had decided to do a giftless Christmas, but I had some "late birthday gifts" for the two boys.
After lunch, we drove down to see my mom at the nursing home. As luck would have it, she was having a good day, and her face positively lit up when she saw Phil again for the first time in a year. (She sees the rest of us fairly often, and I'm there to visit nearly every week.) Very happy. We visited for the better part of two hours and drove back home. That night, we watched "Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull" together.
Another adventure awaits my wife and I on Monday. We plan to drive down to visit S and her husband. Just a short visit--I'm taking them out to dinner, and then we're going to enjoy the pool at our motel. The visit has been tentative for a while due to the very iffy weather and her husband's back problems--he hurt something while shoveling snow a few weeks ago and has been out of work with back pain. S's letter on Saturday says he is doing better.
Still, I phoned her tonight to make sure. We're also keeping an eye on the forecast--more snow is forecast for Tuesday, the day we would be driving back north. Doesn't seem too bad right now. The weather has been ugly all month, anyway.
I tried to do some writing on the computer last night after my wife went to bed. But Charlie had other priorities. You should know the story by now. She invited herself into my lap to get petted and cuddled. Purr, purr, purr. This time, I was able to take a couple pictures--with one hand!--of the big, happy kitty. And here you are ...
After a while, my leg started falling asleep. I started fidgeting, and she hopped off ...
About five minutes later, I was sitting quietly again, and Charlie came back. This time, she faced the other way ...
One more thing about the cats: They seemed a little confused when the bedroom was closed during Phil's visit. That is usually Max's domain--he liked to lie down on the bed and look out the window--and they aren't used to closed doors.
So at night, Charlie and Max would camp out in front of that door for a while--since it is next to the computer room, I could keep an eye on things. Then they chase each other downstairs. Their usual exercise just before bed.
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12/24/2008 - In search of a plan
I have been wanting to write for a while, but dang it, life just keeps on getting in the way. But I've got a chance now, so I'm going for it.
The main purpose of this entry is simply to wish one and all a happy holiday season, whatever the holiday of your choosing is. May you enjoy it and may it bring you the happiness and peace that it should.
We're going to the Christmas Eve service at 10 p.m. tonight. It could be pretty cold when we get out again--it's supposed to dip to about -6F overnight. But that's just in keeping with the weather we have had lately. To condense it to so many words, this has been a brutal December over most of the U.S. Not only in terms of weather, either.
Today was also my birthday. The morning part was spent at the office, working on stories till noon, when it closed for the day. After lunch, I went out to the local football field, where I got pictures at the annual Xmas Eve Bowl, played between grads of the local high school. It was a fun game. They played for about two hours right on the varsity football field (buried under more than a foot of snow) in 20-degree weather.
Plans for the next few hours are very indefinite. I know we bought several bags of frozen ravioli last week--that's a favorite of both my older son and myself. My older son arrived back here last night about 8 p.m., driving up from the Detroit area and dealing with a lot of blowing snow along the way. He called me at the office Tuesday afternoon for an analysis of the weather still lying ahead of him. I was pleased to inform him that nearly all the bad stuff was now behind him.
Within two hours of his arrival, he managed to (A) hook up his laptop to my wireless router, (B) consume most of two pizzas (with our help), (C) made friends with the cats, (D) watched a couple Three Stooges films and then (E) went to his room to surf the net. The cats (two of whom--Charlie and Max--are spending their first Christmas with us) seemed confused--what's someone doing in that room? First time anyone has used that room since they joined the family.
The third cat, our 16-year-old cat, is named Maggie because of something she did with Phil long, long ago. When we first got Maggie, Phil would hold her in his lap, and she would suck on his T-shirt. The lightbulb ignited: In a moment of inspiration, I christened her Maggie, after the pacifier-sucking member of the Simpsons.
My friend, B, who lives in Alaska, told me that her two sons and a daughter-in-law all made it home safely--but not without some adversity. One of the sons lives in Portland, Ore., and she told me he had to walk 20 blocks--with his suitcase--to get to the train line that went to the Portland airport. About 10 inches of snow had shut down the city bus system. The other son and his wife came from New York City and had a long, long, long day at the airports. But they're home now, and that's what counts.
I hope B and her husband and the rest of their family have a happy holiday season. My friend S is having about 15 over for a nice Christmas dinner together, and I hope they have a happy time. And the same wish goes out to all of you, wherever you are, however you spend it.
As for us, we're going to visit my mom during the afternoon. Plans after that are highly indefinite. We'll come up with something. But sometimes just being together is enough.
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12/16/2008 - Bad boy
I've been bad. I know I should have written last week. But I got busy with this and that, and the week went thataway. So it goes.
I've got the blahs. Maybe the blues. Not sure. Holidays are coming. Not in the spirit. Writing short sentences. Terse. Blunt. Enigmatic.
Different kind of holiday for us. My wife and I decided not to do gifts this year--and maybe not again. We've got the things we want. Just too much hassle and not enough need. I could use a new car, but we're not in the tie-a-ribbon-around-your-wife's-new-Lexus bracket. We've gotten a couple of things for the kids, but nothing major. And we told them not to get us anything. Just bring yourself: Your presence will be our presents. We can have fun together for a few days without all the gift-related stress. Don't need stress, don't want stress.
Lately, our weather here has been awful. Awful cold for December. This morning we woke up to -17F. We would expect that in mid-January, but this is really jumping the gun. And it's been seriously cold nearly all month. (As, indeed, most of the U.S. can say. Maybe the deep freeze that our economy is in has spread to the weather, too.)
I hope Santa has Old Man Winter on his Bad Boys list. Give him a chunk of coal.
My son will be coming up for the holidays. Not sure when. I was going to call this morning to try to coax him to divulge his travel schedule. But my cell phone is in my other jacket. On Monday, I was going to switch over to my long winter jacket. (It covers my butt, for one thing.) But the zipper wouldn't work. And I had only gotten the jacket last fall from a well-known national clothing distributor. Anyway, I had transferred all my stuff in the inner pockets to the other jacket, and that's probably where the cell phone is sleeping now. So I gotta run home to get it.
OK, the call has now been made. He'll be here for two whole days (not including his travel days--it's about 11 hours of driving from here to there--10 hours the way he drives). Two days better than none. He hasn't been up here since last Christmas, and we had to deal with a funeral then.
Some time between Christmas and New Year's or else right after New Year's, I/we (she hasn't decided yet) will go down to visit S and her husband. I'll stay at a motel with a pool, take them out to dinner and then we can enjoy the pool. Just an overnight trip--the next morning, I'll drive back home. It takes advantage of an extremely rare week when nothing is happening on the local sports scene. On Jan. 5, it all starts again and goes nonstop for another two months.
About two weeks ago, I sent S a gift card from ***-Mart. (I don't like the store, but S and her husband don't have much money. ***-Mart does, and they undercut every supermarket around. Where does the 800-pound gorilla sleep?) S wrote to me and said the card helped them buy the stuff they needed for a nice Christmas dinner--15 are coming over--and get gifts for the grandkids. She wrote, "I have been praying that the Divine would make a family gathering possible this year. Proof that prayers are answered. :) "
Also, their car seems to be dying. Apparently the problem is a cracked block; it's leaking coolant, but the coolant isn't dripping below the car. When she told me about that, I thought about my mom's car, still sitting in her garage, where it has been for the last three years.
I want to get down to my mom's place this week and talk to the local garage to see if they think it can be revived well enough for them to use after three years of non-use. It's an '86 Taurus. If it works out, I'd have to drive them up north to get it; it's about 130 miles.
***
In mid-August, I mentioned in passing that I have been writing to a new female friend in Alaska. I don't think I have t mentioned her since, but we are still writing and have gotten to be pretty good friends. She has been telling me about their plans for spending the holidays with their two sons (coming up from the Lower 48), and I've been telling her about my sons visiting us for the holidays. Small world.
If I mention her in the future--and I may--she will be known as B.
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12/2/2008 - Seasonal transition
Last Friday morning, I covered the last football game of the season.
Tuesday night, I covered the first basketball game of the season. Four days later. So I guess you can see I'm not going to have too much idle time on my hands. At least for the next few months, the trips will be a lot shorter.
Facts about this trip:
--The only driving I had to do was to and from the school. From there, I rode buses down to Detroit and back.
--Hardly saw any snowflakes during the days we were gone. A few flakes on the way back, but not enough to get the road wet. Mr. Lake Effect was taking a few days off.
--Our team lost 40-0. It was expected. I won't get into everything, but they went up against a powerhouse private school. There is a basic unfairness when small public schools go against large private schools. I could say more about it.
--I road in the bus with the JV team and the cheerleaders. It was a fun time and a good experience. The kids are fun to be with.
--We stayed the first night at the Comfort Inn in Mount Pleasant. We stayed the second night at the Crown Royal Hotel in Auburn Hills, north of Detroit. The Crown Royal is a much more opulent place--but the beds at Comfort Inn were wider and the room a little larger.
--My wife stayed home--and yet I had someone else in my bed both nights! I'll let you ponder that for a minute or so.
--My older son was able to come over for Thanksgiving--he lives about 20 minutes away from the Crown Royal. We arrived about 3:30 p.m., and he came over about a half hour after I called. We had a pizza together in the hotel's bar and talked for about two hours. It was a good visit.
--On Thursday morning, the wake-up call came at 5:30 a.m. On Friday morning, it came at 4:45 a.m. We had to check out, get breakfast downstairs, get on the bus and ride to Ford Field in downtown Detroit. You will be happy to know that they had eliminated the big stink at the field left by the Detroit Lions the day before.
--There was a welcome-home celebration when the bus got back to town--at about 12:45 a.m. Saturday morning. Three police cars and two fire trucks, sirens blaring, escorted the buses back to town, and there was a crowd of about 100 welcoming the players back. From there, the bus went back to the school, where my car was parked. I got back home about 1:30 a.m. The next morning, I was back at the office, working on my story.
--I had my cell phone along, of course, and called home either twice or three times a day. My younger son spent Thanksgiving with my wife, and they watched a couple movies together.
--We had four people in our motel room: a team trainer, the athletic director, a statistician and me. I think the trainer is the youngest of the four, but not by much. One night (in Mount Pleasant) we sat around the coaches' room, enjoying pizza and beer (in most cases) and talking football. I shared the bed with the athletic director.
I'm glad I didn't have to do all that driving, even if the weather conditions were pretty good for Michigan in late November.
Anyway, I'm back now and getting into basketball season. The girls started tonight; the boys begin next week. I have to write preview articles for them--I did the girls on Sunday.
And it's nice to be back home again.
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11/24/2008 - Guess where I'm going?
All this fall, I have been wondering whether I would have a normal Thanksgiving this year.
On Saturday, I learned the answer.
The answer is yes.
Yes, I will have a normal Thanksgiving--normal for me for the last four years, at least. Each of them has been spent down to Detroit, where I went to cover state high school football championship games, played Friday morning.
For the fifth straight year, I will be doing that again. On Saturday, our team won its semifinal game 8-6. It wasn't a big win by any means, but a win's a win, and our team will make the 500-mile trip to the state title game again. Alas, so will I.
I have resigned myself to my fate for some time, realizing there was absolutely nothing I could do about it one way or the other. Would it happen again? I won't have to go down there five straight years, would I?
What a dumb question: Of course I would.
So on Sunday I worked on the article about the semifinal game. Then I start looking at maps, reminding myself where things are located relative to each other, what exits to take off the interstate, how to get from one place to the other and how to get back. I also have to make motel reservations.
Mind you, I don't mind going to Detroit when I can do it on my own terms. Like last summer, when all three of us visited my older son for a few days. But now the weather isn't so good. It's colder, and maybe there will be snow (though this week's forecast sounds pretty good).
My wife made the trip with me last year, but she will stay home this time--her training for her seasonal call center job starts Wednesday. But my younger son still wants to come along. So you don't have to worry about me not being well chaperoned throughout my trip. The chances of me slipping the leash and getting out somewhere for some fun are less than zero.
Let me say it plainly.
It. Is. Not. Fun.
I. Don't. Want. To go. Certainly not for the fifth straight year.
Especially this year. I wanted to spend part of Thanksgiving with my mom, since she is continuing to fade away. Every single bloody Thanksgiving since she went into the nursing home, I wanted to spend part of Thanksgiving with her. It hasn't happened, and it won't happen this year. God just doesn't want it to happen, I guess.
Here is a picture from Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's house back in 2001. Nothing elaborate, but we had venison and gravy, brown-and-serve rolls, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, apple pie (somewhat mashed) and (not pictured) pumpkin pie. We ate well ...
(Of course, such a Thanksgiving isn't possible any more, because my mom has been in the nursing home since late 2005. Sigh.)
Another thing about driving to Detroit for a title game is that I don't control the clock. We leave for the 11-hour trip south Wednesday morning and arrive in the Detroit area long after sundown. On Thursday, it's Thanksgiving: Everything in the States is closed. Everything in Canada is open, and I'm hoping we can cross over to Windsor (Ontario) for a little shopping and a nice dinner. That means I have to find my birth certificate.
We'll spend all of Thanksgiving with my older son. On Friday morning, my younger son and I get up really early so we can get on the freeway for Ford Field and the football game, which kicks off at 9 a.m. Central Time. This year, our team is a massive underdog, and I'm realistic about such things.
After the game, I get back on the interstate and can spend the next 11 hours thinking about what I'm going to say in my article as I drive home. We'll get home about midnight. I've got to bust my ass home right away so I have time to write about it Saturday and Sunday. The paper gets put together Monday morning, and all my work has to be done by then. I can only imagine how my neck and lower back will feel once it's all over. Maybe this year I finally call that massage therapist after it's all over.
But stop the presses: Now it appears I may have another option:
I have learned (from the coach) that I may be able to ride south with the team in their bus--and it's not a school bus, either. Right now, I am weighing the pluses and minuses.
Among the pluses: Since my younger son stays home, he can keep my wife company on Thanksgiving. I don't have to drive for some 20+ hours, with all the wear and tear on the car (and the driver). In a real rarity, I would go somewhere and not have to do 100% of the driving. I could get used to that. Don't have to book a motel room. Someone else is in charge and gets to make all the decisions.
Minuses: I'm not in charge and don't get to make the decisions. No chance of a side trip to Canada--so keep my loonies at home. Probably won't see my older son. Disappointing for my younger son--he can't come along for once. Waiting around during several football practices. And I don't get paid the mileage money--and though we only get 30 cents per mile, it's still works out to a nice profit on a 1,100-mile round trip if your car gets 35 mpg.
So now that I have been thinking about it, I am leaning quite a lot towards riding the bus. Even though I found the birth certificate. That's OK--my wife and I have been talking about applying for the new passport cards, so we can visit Canada next summer.
I have another adventure to tell you about, but I'll post that in a day or two (assuming our motel has wireless internet).
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11/13/2008 - One down, three to go
Hello, hello to one and all. This is my crazy-go-nuts week in terms of fall playoff coverage. The weather is going downhill, and I've got a lot of long drives this week. One down, three to go.
So I really didn't need to read this in the weather news this morning:
...SIGNIFICANT LAKE EFFECT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS POSSIBLE LATE FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY EVENING FOR WEST AND NORTH CENTRAL UPPER MICHIGAN...
Now it just so happens that I will be driving up to Marquette on Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon this week, to cover playoff football games. The games themselves will be played inside the Superior Dome, which you saw photos of recently, and it's all nice and dry and warm inside. But to get there, you have to drive two hours through whatever weather the U.P. is enjoying at the time. To get home again, you have to drive two hours back through whatever. If you don't know. Marquette is in the lake effect snow belt, on the south shore of Lake Superior--they can get vast quantities of snow. So it's shaping up as one of those weekends.
On Tuesday, I drove to the volleyball regional tournament. That is an 80-mile drive each way; it's a lot closer to Lake Michigan than to Lake Superior. Our team won (just barely, in five games) and advances to the regional championship match tonight. My wife is coming along to keep me company (and, oh yes, to pick up some low-cost kitty food in Iron Mountain), and we'll stop by to see my mom, too. It's fun to have someone along--nice to have company.
Last weekend, both the football teams played at home in their district championship games. One team played Friday night: It was about 40 degrees F and dry until a few raindrops fell in the final minutes. By that time they had won, so they were happy.
During the night, the rain continued, and it changed over to wet snow Saturday morning. The other team's game was at home, starting at 12:30 p.m. Remember the recent post about the game played in the rain and fog? This one had the same two teams at the same field, only it was played in daylight.
The field had taken a good soaking overnight, but the snowflakes were real pretty during the first half. and the field was in fairly good shape ...
Not that every pass was caught ...
Or that every tackle was made ...
So conditions were fairly good early in the game. But with all those football players chewing it up thoroughly over two hours of playoff football, the middle of the field got torn up and muddy and slick. Twas a muddy mess by the time it was over. The wet snow eased off during the second quarter, but some drier snow, driven by chilly winds out of the north, arrived during the second half.
As the game went on, the teams continued battling in the mire ...
Finally, the game was over. A touchdown in the first quarter was the only scoring in the game. As always, the teams shook hands when it was all over ...
I was talking to someone in the office today. Covering the game last Saturday was fun. Despite the rain and cold and mud. In fact, because of the rain and cold and mud. It was outdoors. It was real. It was genuine football.
This weekend, I may be driving two hours through snow (twice) to got photos of teams playing on a plastic carpet in warm conditions. It's just not the same. To me, the fun part of football season ended last Saturday ... regardless of what happens in the playoffs.
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11/9/2008 - A little bit prouder
For the last few days, I have been trying to write something significant and meaningful about the history America made last Tuesday. This is as good as I can come do. Life is moving on, and a new reality is setting in. It's a good thing.
In the summer of 2004, we were visiting my in-laws near Ladysmith, WI. We had visited one of my wife's sisters that night, and were driving back to my father-in-law's place, a distance of about 25 miles. We had the radio on--the Democratic National Convention was taking place, and their keynote speaker was talking. Earlier, I heard the radio hosts talking about him--that he's an amazing speaker. He had an odd name that I just couldn't remember, but I did remember he was from Illinois.
And I remembered the speech. It was a hell of a good speech. I heard about 35 minutes of it before we arrived at my FIL's place. I didn't turn on his TV to see the end of it; Democratic party conventions weren't big hits at his house, and when vacationing among the in-laws, I automatically keep my political leanings to myself.
A few days later, we got back home. I got on the internet, found the C-SPAN website and found the speech, which I then watched in its entirely. I was impressed--because the speaker was clearly intelligent and expressed himself well and seemed to rise above the petty partisan atmosphere. He seemed to have a deep belief in our country's ideals and its Constitution, in the middle of an era when those in power were ignoring or perverting them.
After he announced for president, it didn't take me long to come on board. I had thought the nominee would be Hillary Clinton or John Edwards, but I had some serious problems with Hilary. Not because of her gender or who her husband was--I was a big fan of Bill, through thick and thin. But I was feeling so angry about the stalemated political atmosphere in Washington, with firmly entrenched positions dug out by both Republicans and Democrats. Neither side was talking to the other, and bad problems were allowed to get worse: Health care, for one. The growing gap between the wealthy and poor, for another. The war in Iraq, of course, and the immense effect it was having on the U.S. budget.
Let's face it, Hilary had become a polarizing force for Republicans. So I felt if she had been elected, it would be more of the same--more stalemate, more inaction. The Republicans absolutely seemed to hate her and all she believes in (except when it became expedient for them to say nice things about her after she wasn't chosen for vice president; that's par for the course).
I liked the skinny guy, anyway. He seemed to have a positive view of the future, a positive outlook. When he talked about the problems and challenges America faces, his words made a lot of sense. He pushed the importance of compromise and unity. After years of feeling terribly depressed about where my nation was going, he made me feel more optimistic for the future. Inspired, even. I watched as many of his speeches as I could on C-SPAN.
Michigan's Legislature had, in its infinite wisdom, decided to hold a presidential primary in January 2008, even after the Democratic National Committee warned them not to. Some of the candidates who had filed asked to have their names removed from the ballot. Obama was one of them. So in a year when it seemed every state had its own primary or caucus, Michigan didn't, and I didn't get my chance to vote for him. That really bothered me.
This summer, during a mini-vacation at the in-laws, I spotted a Democratic headquarters in Ladysmith. I stepped in and asked for a bumper sticker--it was the first Democratic campaign office I had seen, and I wanted to have something to express my opinion. I put the bumper sticker in my car's rear window.
The Democratic party in my county seems to be in dunce mode. McCain signs popped up during the summer like mushrooms after a heavy rain, but Obama signs were nowhere to be seen. They never opened a local headquarters here. Never. So where do you get the friggin' signs? Hell if I know! Some started appearing in October--where they came from, I haven't the foggiest.
In the final weekend before the election, we visited Rhinelander, WI. While my wife was visiting a quilt shop, I spotted a Democratic office across the street. So I went over there. But no, they had run out of lawn signs. They offered a bumper sticker. Sorry, got one already.
I had wanted to attend one of his rallies so I could take some pictures of him. My own pictures. In the weeks before the Wisconsin primary, he had made some stops in central Wisconsin and one in Green Bay. But that was on a Monday, and I can't get away from the office on Mondays. Grrrr. He made other stops, as close as Wausau, but it was hard to find out about them in time to make the trip.
One of his forums was canceled because of a snowstorm--he returned in July to make it up. I was down there during that time. But we were there to visit S and her husband, and I put that as a higher priority to me. I was thinking at the time that he would return to Wisconsin several times during the campaign, since Wisconsin was regarded as a "swing" state, which the candidates would be battling hard to win. But before long Wisconsin stopped swinging, and the candidates focused their attention on other parts of the country.
Last Tuesday night, we watched CNN. As it became 10 p.m. Central Time and the West Coast polls closed, the networks made their declaration. My wife and I watched from the couch. No celebrating. No cheers or toasts. I just felt quiet satisfaction. That something had finally gone right. And I started feeling prouder of being an American. That we could make the change. That we could put any irrational fears behind us. And yes, I know not everyone feels that way ... and I also fear what some mental defective is capable of doing.
I prefer to think about something else. Another transforming moment. Do you remember the apartheid era in South Africa, with minority white rule and Nelson Mandela kept in a prison? He was finally released, and he led the effort of the ANC political party in the first multi-racial election in 1994. The ANC received over 60% of the vote and Mandela, as party leader, became South Africa's first black president.
Given the tense, violent history of the change to majority rule in South Africa, many feared that election would prompt a lot of racial violence. It never happened--the election was peaceful, and the world praised how South Africa made the change and found national reconciliation.
It's quite interesting to contemplate what this will mean to America's image in the world. For instance, read this article from England's Telegraph newspaper about how it could play out in Iran. Very interesting.
On Wednesday, President Bush made a statement, which said in part:
No matter how they cast their ballots, all Americans can be proud of the history that was made yesterday. Across the country, citizens voted in large numbers. They showed a watching world the vitality of America's democracy, and the strides we have made toward a more perfect union. They chose a President whose journey represents a triumph of the American story -- a testament to hard work, optimism, and faith in the enduring promise of our nation.
Many of our citizens thought they would never live to see that day. This moment is especially uplifting for a generation of Americans who witnessed the struggle for civil rights with their own eyes -- and four decades later see a dream fulfilled.
A long campaign has now ended, and we move forward as one nation. We're embarking on a period of change in Washington, yet there are some things that will not change. The United States government will stay vigilant in meeting its most important responsibility -- protecting the American people. And the world can be certain this commitment will remain steadfast under our next Commander-in-Chief.
It was a classy thing to say. I am proud of being an American. And now I am a little bit prouder.
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11/4/2008 - Change? At last?
The BIG change won't be happening for another 2 1/2 months, but it should be in motion after today. After four years of waiting, it's Election Day. Will America get it right this time?
Most of the states had some form of early voting. In Michigan, well, we're a little behind the times. Everyone votes on Election Day in Michigan unless they get an absentee ballot. After discussing it with my wife, we decided to do our voting in the mid morning, just as I was driving her to the church and the quilters' group.
Lovely weather. It's partly cloudy outside, and temperatures are in the mid 60s. Not bad for early November!
So how long did voting take? How long were we in line? It took all of 15 seconds before I got the little slip (signature, address, date of birth) that I had to fill out to get my ballot; I also had to show my driver's license. Then I went into another room with the little voting booths and filled out the ballot. Same with my wife. Studied the ballot proposals: medical marijuana, yes; fewer restrictions on stem cell research, of course. Fed the ballot into the optical scanner. (Our ballots have the ovals that you fill in with a black felt-tip pen.) The whole procedure took five minutes, if that. Then I drove my wife to the quilters and went back to work.
It was, I should mention, my first chance to vote for Obama. Ever. Many of you had the chance to take part in primaries or caucuses early this year, but Michigan held an illegal Democratic primary in January (10 months ago). Knowing the DNC wouldn't accept the results, many candidates, including Obama, took their names off the ballot. It raised a ruckus in the run-up to the convention in August. Eventually, they figured out a solution.
We have a little tradition here on Election Day: Pancake Day. The local Kiwanis Club holds its Pancake Day on Election Day, so normally we vote, and then we get pancakes. Except this time we voted earlier than normal, so I took her to the quilters--they took her to the church where Pancake Day was taking place at 11:30 a.m., and I met her there. Pancakes. Sausages. Milk. Butter. It made for a filling mid-day repast.
We had finished the winter tourism issue (final step: proofreading) this morning. Tonight (at 5 p.m.) I will be covering a district volleyball tourney; I cover one match, then go home for supper and to watch the returns come in.
The volleyball districts continue on Thursday and Friday. Meanwhile, our football teams will both be going for their district titles on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Both teams will be home. Both were home last Friday night for "sub-district" games. The weather was pretty decent: temperatures were in the 40s with no rain.
It wasn't so nice one week earlier, the final week of the regular season. The game I was at Friday night had some interesting weather. For most of the first half, it rained. Things got pretty soggy. Here's a picture of the action on the field during the rain ...
The rain eventually stopped during the second quarter, but during the second half fog started building. It went from soggy to foggy pretty quickly. Foggy conditions are hard for photography, especially action sports like football. Especially in a small, old stadium with poor lighting.
For a while, I tried using my flash like usual. But the light from the flash picks up all the water vapor in the air and you get something like this ...
Playing around with Photoshop can help some ... but it only goes so far ...
What was I to do? I finally tried turning off the flash and using available light. The trouble was, there wasn't much available light. This is what the field looked like from the sidelines with all that fog in the air ...
I wound up using one picture from during the rain and a shot of the reaction on the bench after our team earned a safety--I got the shot of the tackle in the end zone, too, but it was just too dark to use. You don't believe me?
The next day (Saturday afternoon), David and I went to the dome in Marquette for an evening game. It was just cloudy, so photography conditions were much better. Here's what the Superior Dome looks like from the outside ...
And here is what it is like inside ...
If our teams win this weekend, we'll probably by back in the Dome for the regional title games. As the playoffs move on, of course, the U.P.'s weather gets less football-friendly. We have been lucky so far, but good luck lasts only so long.
Everyone else is fine. The cats continue to adjust to each other. David came over last night--it was his birthday, so we had a favorite meal of his, and we watched some football. I bought him something he had wanted for a long time--a DVD recorder and VCR unit with a tuner. The DVD recorder doesn't have a hard drive of its own (like mine does; you just can't get them any more), but he wanted it mainly to copy some of his old videotapes, and the unit I bought will handle that with no problem (according to the box).
I know I haven't been around here much lately. What can I say? The World Seri0us captured my attention. The election, of course--I've been watching CNN and C-SPAN a lot. And I've been pretty busy with night assignments. It should start easing off fairly soon.
I've missed writing. I like to write at night, and there just hasn't been the time lately--because my wife likes it when we sit together and watch something. Or else when I'm upstairs writing, Charlie comes around. She hops up on the computer desk, walks around behind the flast-screen monitor, comes out the other side and climbs down into my lap. That's just the way she does it.
Then she's happy. Purr, purr. And I'm done with writing for a while.
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