Dear Kid,

Aside from the coffee we stopped for on the way to see you (one part battery acid to two parts battery acid) and my slightly sun-kissed nose, yesterday was a fabulous day.

Even the unfortunate end to the football game couldn’t take the shine off the day.

OU football! OU, Oh yeah! DearKidLoveMom.com

And I am now officially a HUGE RAVING fan of the Marching 110.

…the effervescence of the 110 between plays and during TV time outs is contagious…

There is a convenience inherent in watching football on TV. The snacks are less expensive, there’s no line for the restroom, and did I mention the slight sunburn? But there is nothing like of being part of a cheering crowd. And the effervescence of the 110 between plays and during TV time outs is contagious (and unfortunately drowned out by TV commentators). The 110 has FUN. Halftime was EXCEPTIONAL!

Before the game and after brunch with you, Dad and I drove to  the “classic Appalachian town” of Nelsonville, OH, home of a very small historic town square, an opera house (closed for renovation), a cute emporium (bought a glass barrette), and Rocky Boots (want to kill something with four legs? Get outfitted here).

Nelsonville Brick

Nelsonville is famous for coal mining (which we don’t talk about) and its bricks which were often made with a star pattern and were shipped all over these here United States.

When we got back to Athens, we parked at “Event Parking $5” and walked over to the Dairy Barn and Art Gallery. I’ve seen the signs for the last two years since it isn’t that far from your apartment, but we’ve never been. Yesterday, we went.

Turns out the art gallery/museum cost $10 per human, and since we weren’t planning to enjoy $10 worth we didn’t pay. Instead I asked if I could visit the shop. Certainly, I was told. But to get to the shop you go through the gallery. I cheated and looked at the art on my way. Very cool. Not worth $10 visit fee.

The shop has much of the same art we saw in Nelsonville at the aforementioned Emporium, so we got to enjoy it a second time.

Our view during our picnic before the OU football game. DearKidLoveMom

Then a quick picnic by the car and off to the football game.

Lovely, lovely day.

Love, Mom

Dear Kid,

In the song Tradition! from Fiddler on the Roof someone asks the rabbi if there is a prayer for the Tsar. “Yes,” the rabbi replies, “May the Lord bless and keep the Tsar–far away from us.” (Video provided for your viewing enjoyment–5:55 if you want to skip right to the relevant quote.) That’s sort of how I felt before last night’s football game.
The pundits favored our opponents and unfortunately for us, they were quite correct. It was not a pretty game. On the plus side, Pi kicked her First Ever High School Field Goal, so that is pretty exciting.

I got thinking about football traditions, college football traditions to be more precise. Not surprisingly, there are lots and lots of fabulous football traditions.

There are countless examples (because I didn’t count) of touching a sign or symbol for luck before the game. Or of entering the stadium to smoke, following a cheerleader packed car, or after various mascots. There is, of course, the famous tradition of dotting the “i” in Ohio (three cheers for the sousaphone player! Did you know that there have been guest “i” dotters? Not many, but a few.).

The traditions I like the best are the ones that are a bit unexpected.

Florida State has the Sod Cemetery. Since 1962, the Seminoles have always brought back a piece of turf from their opponent’s field to be buried in the cemetery. The “Sod Games” are any game in which Florida State is considered the underdog, matchups against in-state rival Florida, conference championships, and bowl games.

At every Penn home game, Quakers fans throw toast onto the field after the end of the third quarter. The tradition was started back in the 1970s when alcohol was banned from the stadium. The fans now use it as a way to “toast” the team. Ha.

The “M” above the end zone at the Missouri stadium is made of thousands of whitewashed rocks. Every year before the first Tigers home game, incoming freshmen take part in cleaning the “M”.

Every Monday of a game week, Notre Dame’s football helmets are repainted (and the gold paint includes flecks of real gold—I wonder how much Chipotle you can buy with a gold helmet?).

A newer tradition is Hawaii’s Haka. It was introduced in 2006 and I have no words to describe it. Two videos provided in lieu of words.

See you in a couple of hours! (Yippee!) My first ever college crew regatta–double yippee!

Love, Mom