No, not an actual picture but the scene I am about to describe.
I went out for my morning constitutional today. Mind you, today is October 7th – the height of fall in upstate NY. I wore shorts and a tank top, not even a tee shirt. The temperature when I left my house was 66F at 7:30 in the morning. This is like August 7th, not October.
The only true feeling of fall was the immense fog and the dew. Yes, the dew was so heavy I could see it falling. It almost felt like rain.
It is fall so as I have said before, it is road trip time. This road trip came with a little mother-daughter bonding, too – just an extra plus.
I took my 20 year old daughter to her first ever big time football game. She goes to basketball and hockey all the time at her university but they do not have football. My dad has season tickets to the Syracuse Orange games and I am West Virginia alum. Off we went up Interstate 81 to the Carrier Dome to see the Orange and Mountaineers play.
First off, Syracuse – West Virginia games hold many memories for me. It use to be, when I was at WVU, that this was one of the last games of each teams\’ seasons. I would always find a ride home for Thanksgiving with a gang going up to the game. The game was always that weekend before Thanksgiving so blowing off a few days of classes wasn\’t unheard of.
Second, I was in a unique position. Games at the Dome were like home games for me – though, as a 46 year old, I have come to hate the Dome. You would think something named after a ventilation expert – Carrier – would have some circulation in it.
My daughter has different memories of the Dome. State championship football games are held there. Her senior year in high school – with her twin brother and a lot of her friends on the team – the team took the state title. She knows nothing but winning in the Dome.
Well, as long as she was with her mother yesterday, she knew winning again! Syracuse did give me a scare. They took several kick offs for long returns. They even scored on their first possession. That about sums up the game for them, though. The Orange scored 14 points – the same as they did the week before against Miami of Ohio.
Unfortunately for \’Cuse, WVU is not Miami of Ohio. The Mountaineers kept going. At half time, they were up 31 – 7. Then, after a tribute to the 1987 Orangemen who went undefeated, the Pride of West Virginia took the field – all 380 strong – and put the SU band to shame, also.
The second half was just as bad for \’Cuse, with the final score ending up 55-14. The Mountaineer faithful – because when you travel that far for a game, you stay – were there til the end. The \’Cuse fans – not even sure that is the right word but faithful would definitely only apply to a few – were leaving by the end of the third quarter. The 35,000 plus attendance was probably only about 1000 when the game ended. There were no great lines for the bus to get back to parking.
Go \’Neers!!
It is fall! \’Nuf said. I have been off apple picking! My 20 year old daughter is home for her only real visit for the fall semester. She will be home right before Thanksgiving but she is bringing a gang with her for a concert. This is she and mom time.
We went apple picking this afternoon. We had a blast. The orchard was picking Macouns, Jonagolds, Empires, and Cortlands. I was soooo excited. The two of us were only picking for about 30 minutes and we now have 48 pounds of apples here at the house.
We took pics of the trees, pics of the hills nearby, pics of each other. She will take apples back for her, apples for her twin at UB, apples will go to Syracuse with us tomorrow. In other words, all the kids will get apples.
Tomorrow is another bonding experience – although today might have had its fill since we went to the credit union to get a student loan together too. I am taking her to her first ever Division I-A football game. I will need to behave – but not too much – as my beloved Mountaineers are into the \’Cuse and should beat their butts.
Oh to be a college student again!
My oldest daughter has always been a homebody. She love college life, though, and Niagara in particular. This past summer she stayed up there for the summer working. Summer work is hard to find in our area and what she was doing up there paid more.
Anyway, she was home for three weekends all summer – one at the end of May, one in June and one in July – and six days in August. She didn’t think she would be able to get home until mid-November – a trip home for a concert just before Thanksgiving – but she surprised me.
She called a week ago. Said she was coming home this weekend. She left Niagara already – no Friday classes this semester. She should be here about 3 this afternoon and will be here until Sunday.
What a great weekend for a visit!!!
I have been the mother to many athletes. My oldest son played soccer, lacrosse, tried football. The next son was a big football player – state champions his senior year – and a huge lacrosse player, even his first year in college. His twin sister ran cross country for a couple years. The younger daughter played soccer – year round – for many years and one year in college. She also ran track – was more a field events person, played basketball and played Little League and Teener League until she was 15. Yes, with the boys! Next son dives and plays tennis. Youngest son bikes – road tours – and plays tennis.
The kids have all had their own things. Susan – the soccer player – would require an Orange Julius for breakfast on game days. I have a recipe that is close and we would all have them. Elise – the runner – didn’t like to eat before running. The boys just always ate. Ben – the diver – is a big Gatorade fan.
What about you? I actually ran yesterday. Well, more a jog and brisk walk combined but still. I never eat before exercising in the morning. Told my mother that and she reamed me out. Told me I needed to have something with some carbs in it before I go out. So today, even though she is 3000 plus miles away, I had a pumpkin muffin I made last night when I got up at 6. Figured it would be okay as I didn’t leave the house til 8:10 or so. Well, I don’t know that eating before going out is good.
What about you?
