Andy had to spend more time alone than usual the last few days. I’m sure he was a good boy, because Andy always is!
Yes, Thursday and Friday, I had the pleasure of a visit by Larry and Virginia, my friends from Lakewood, Ohio! Thursday, we had a tour of the Carnegie Arts Center exhibits, thanks to…
…Larry’s brother Bob, who is a resident artist there and who does classes among other things at the center. Thanks to COVID-19, both Bob and I hadn’t seen each other since the last time Larry and Virginia were in town a few years back. Getting to see him again was a side bonus to my Ohio friends’ visit!
As luck would have it, because Thanksgiving lands when we usually have it, the AHS Class of 1966 group that gets together monthly for a mini-reunion lunch had a Mexican-themed meal on Friday. Larry and Virginia attended with me and (I think!) had an enjoyable time. I know I did! Of course, Marco the Pomeranian and Tootsie the what’s-it doggy were there to greet us since we met at Donna’s home.
“Scarlet & Cream” – Larry’s dressed as a Husker fan.
My friends turned back east to attend the Nebraska game today, driving as far as Grand Island, 273 miles/ 439 km from Alliance, a solid four-and-a-half-hour drive, where they stayed Friday night.
Saturday morning, they finished the 94 mile/ 151 km drive from Grand Island to Lincoln, where we hope the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Cornhuskers play better against the University of Wisconsin-Madison Badgers than against other teams this year. Afterall, Larry and Virginia have an 843 mile/ 1362 km drive back to Ohio and it would be sad if the Huskers fumbled this game my friends travelled so far to enjoy!
=(^+^)=
The Cornhuskers are the darlings of sports in Nebraska. The average Nebraskan is a rabid Husker fan. My late brother Richard was the biggest Husker fan in coastal Northern California. He had many jackets, shirts, and other Husker wearables and collectibles. He never missed a Husker game if it was broadcast in his area, and once went to Los Angeles (741 miles/ 1193 km from where he lived!) to watch a game the Huskers played there. When my brother died, he was buried wearing a Husker shirt, jacket, and hat. The family each wore one of his Husker t-shirts. He would have loved it! Though I went to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, I am one of two people in the state who isn’t a fan of this team.
I am glad your friends were able to visit. Sounds like you all had some quality time together. That is important for health, too.
It was a short visit, but one that was thoroughly enjoyable!
Cornhusker fans are faithful if nothing else: when I lived in Minneapolis, one of the houses on a main thoroughfare flew the Nebraska scarlet and white banner on his front lawn. Since we lived in Gopher territory (University of Minnesota), I thought it was pretty gutsy of the resident to do that. Not that the Gophers were all that, frankly. In the 30 years I lived there, I don’t think they ever made it to the Big Ten championships.
(I always sound like I follow sports, but I really don’t. I dislike football, collegiate especially, but follow baseball mainly because I grew up in a baseball family—Dad played first base in high school and continued playing while interned in a camp during World War II.)
I’m glad you got to see friends in real life again! I’m doing more of the same, but no football games, not even for my alma mater, UC Davis (the Aggie school).
I enjoyed baseball playing as a kid. Oddly, even though a typical baseball game drags on and on, with the potential of endless innings to break a tie, it’s football that seems endless to me! I can watch a baseball game, no problem; football, nix!
My late brother was that way where he lived in coastal Northern California. He never lived a day that he wasn’t wearing something with a Nebraska Cornhusker connection. When he called or visited, he’d talk about them, though I wasn’t interested! LOL! I found I could listen and appreciate that the Huskers were important to him, and he was important to me. He was wonderful person, a great guest each summer, and I miss him a lot all the time.
You aren’t kidding about the loyalty of Husker fans to their team!
Well, Lakewood is closer to the Snowbelt than I am (just a little South) but we got nowehere near what Buffalo received, so hoping they returned safely. Sounds like a great reunion !
Me, too. As of this comment, I haven’t heard how the trip home went.
Their trip, I’ve since learned, was broken into two segments. The drove from Alliance to Davenport, Iowa, where they stayed the night, then drove for there to Lakewood, Ohio, where they live. That was 686 miles/ 1104 kilometers from Alliance, or almost 11 hours of driving for day 1, then 488 miles/ 785 kilometers, about 7:30 hours to home.
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I think Mr Andy understands that you need a social life besides interacting with him. I am very glad you do, Doug!
I am inclined to be a homebody so any activities outside the home are good for me.
Certainly, and Mr Andy concurs.
The Cornhuskers have had a rough year. Being a Michigan fan, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. 🙂
LOL! Not being a fan, I probably don’t have a horse in that race!
Football is a big deal where I live too, and I’m just not a fan. Oops, I said that. It makes friends happy so that’s cool. Glad you had fun with friends, Doug. Cute pic of Andy!
It has no hold on my imagination or something like that. I just never saw the point of it.
Hello to your friends, Dougs!
In friendship
Michel
They already left for Ohio! It was a short trip out here, but a very busy one for Virginia & Larry.
I am content to watch my sport on TV these days
Me, too. Especially for American football games, which are played mostly in Fall and Winter in open stadiums, fans can find themselves sitting in subzero weather for hours. There was a television news clip this week of fans making snow men in the stands and players on a deeply snow-covered playing field where the field markings, of course, couldn’t be seen. Not for me!
Nope
Glad to see you haven’t changed your allegiance in the face of overwhelming numbers. Does Andy ever show an interest in the football on TV? It looks a very lively screen with lots happening.
Football never appears on my television, so I have no idea what his reaction to it might be. I find the game boring compared with football as you know it, soccer as Americans know it. I probably exaggerated how few Nebraskans don’t follow Husker football. I bet there are three total! LOL!
I guarantee Husker football is a big deal in Nebraska. On game days, the stadium where it’s played, Memorial Stadium on the University of Nebraska-Lincon campus, is equal to the third largest city in Nebraska, after Omaha and Lincoln. To quote one source: “A series of expansions has brought the stadium’s current capacity to 85,458, but attendance numbers regularly exceed 90,000. Nebraska has sold out an NCAA-record 368 consecutive games at Memorial Stadium, a streak that dates back to 1962.”