You Know It's Fall...

Last Friday afternoon, my husband announced he was in the mood for a high school football game. Immediately, my son and I pounced. We'd wanted to go see Zack...my nephew... play but Zack plays for a small town team. The field is beside the town park, and over the years houses have been built almost to the fence. Needless to say, parking is a nightmare so I wouldn't even attempt the trip. But, if my husband, storm trooper driver, was willing to drive, we wanted to see Zack play.

My husband balked. He didn't want to say it, but Zack plays for the team which has been the rival team for his old high school. For decades (lots of them) he's cheeered against this team. Did I really want him to go and watch them play...seriously?

Well, yes.

We bundled up and got in the car and drove to the field an hour before the game just to be sure we got a parking space. Believe it or not, we just barely found one. I pity the people who thought arriving fifty minutes before the game was early enough. LOL

Now, to sort of add fuel to my husband's not-quite-happy-fire, it was also homecoming. Before the start of the game we were introduced to quite a long line of homecoming queen contenders. I didn't mind. Mikie spent most of the time at the concession stand and looking for other "cousins" who'd come to watch Zack play. But my husband sighed a lot and kept looking at his watch. He's not much on seeing the latest fashions in eveningwear for high school students. LOL (Luckily, I am.)

Finally, finally, the game started. At first it appeared the other team might beat Zack's undefeated team. For those five or ten minutes that the other team strutted their stuff our stomachs clenched. So when Zack's team got the ball, we couldn't help cheering for them. Even my husband rose to his feet to cheer for his high school's rivals. I saw him sort of twitch afterward. But he wasn't cheering for the high school as much as he was cheering for family. LOL

Zack had some great plays. It really is fun to go to a high school football game and see someone you love do so well. And even my husband enjoyed the game.

It's also fun to see cousins in the refreshment stand, cousins walking around the field, nieces and nephews with new boyfriends and girlfriends...and even a younger cousin in the band.

The small town in which most of my family lives is nearly perfect. And when I say perfect I don't mean perfect in the sense that they do no wrong. But perfect in the sense that they have two competing grocery stores so there are sometimes price wars. They have used car dealers run by guys they actually trust. And wonderful restaurants with homecooking that give the one and only McDonalds a real run for its money. They have a Main Street with a genuine volunteer fire department, where volunteers sit on their off hours like guardians. Ready in case someone needs them.

Old houses aren't demolished. They're remodeled and become some of the prettiest properties in the town. Flower gardens abound. People actually grow their own tomatoes and share zucchini recipes. In the morning, kids in raincoats stand along the street on the sidewalk waiting for the bus.

And everybody goes to the football game! Which is why it's hard to find a seat, harder still to find a parking place. LOL

But what great fun!

susan