All Smiles

Most of the Christmas decorations are down and the lights are packed away. I guess Christmas is gone and the new year has arrived. So here we go parading off into the future like we know what we are doing.

See. I’m smiling. Actually I have two smiles. Let me tell you about this one first. This is the surprise I mentioned last week.

Do you recognize this place?

Well, Korak called me last Saturday and asked if I wanted to go to the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game. Because he works for the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board he can sometimes land complementary tickets to special events. He had two tickets to each of the above. I thought about it. I’ve been to a couple Rose Parades, I knew it meant getting up at about zero dark thirty, and I knew it would be cold, very cold. But I had never been to a Rose Bowl game and even thought I didn’t really care about Stanford nor Wisconsin, I opted for the latter experience.

It turned out to be a good game and Stanford won. I guess I cheered for them. They had beaten Oregon and if they lost it would make Oregon look worse. Well, having tickets to the game and actually being there are two different things. Here’s what it takes to get there: leave the house at 11:30, drive my pickup to a commuter train station, ride a train to union station, ride another train to another station, ride a third train to close to the Rose Bowl, ride a shuttle bus to the stadium, then walk half way around the stadium to find our seats. As you can see from the picture we were on the 20 yard line and 60 rows up! Not too bad for free seats.

Korak had taken Lilly to the parade (which required the same three trains) and by the time they got back we were running late. We left the house at 11:30 and got to our seats in the stadium at 2:10 – just in time for the kick off! Count the minutes – 160 of them just to get there. Oh sure, we could have driven to the Rose Bowl, been stuck in traffic for hours and paid $40 to park. That didn’t seem like a good idea.

Now to get home. The game is over. We got out of our seats at 5:00. Twenty minutes later we were out of the stadium, looking for the end of the shuttle line. It was miiiiiilllles long. Maybe not quite that far, but it was very long. We opted to skip the shuttle and walk to the train station. I don’t know how long that took but it was a two mile walk. I was proud of myself. I kept up with Korak and made it okay. But it sure was good to sit down. Three more trains, one pickup ride and we were back home -- 8:30. Tired but happy. I got to go to a Rose Bowl game. ☺

Here is the second smile. The University of Oregon Ducks beat the Kansas State Wildcats in the Fiesta Bowl!!! That is football for the uninitiated. It was a great game and Oregon domineered all the way. They played their game, didn’t have any turnovers, made very few mistakes, and simply outplayed Kansas. They made Oregon proud. Can you guess who I was rooting for? I was elated. I was happy. I was smiling.

Later I reflected, but what if they had lost? How would I have felt? I admit I would have been bummed. That led me to wondering, “Am I too emotionally invested in the outcome of a football game?” It is just a game. In reality the results do not really effect my life at all. The outcome has no bearing on how I live. In fact, the University of Oregon could suddenly disappear from the planet and it would not effect me at all. Sure, it’s fun to have a favorite team and to root for them but I must be careful of the emotional investment.

This, then, led me to reflect… what is worth a deep emotional attachment? Good question. What would you answer? I’m sure family – at least close family – rate deep emotions with us. I’m more emotionally attached to my wife, children, and grandchildren than I am to, say, a second or third cousin (sorry cousins!). Some people are deeply attached to pets. Some to treasured heirlooms. Some to ______________ (you fill in the blank).

But what is proper? And to what degree is it proper? Then another question… do spiritual things have a place here? What things? I’m interested in your opinion. Leave me a comment.

Here’s one of the next sailors. I’m trying to indoctrinate him with a tour of the USS Midway.

I served on the Midway from March 1960 to February 1962. It is now a museum in San Diego. I toured it about 6 years ago but they have opened up so much more since then. Josiah and I were there for 4 hours and still didn’t see all of it. Note: the whole ship is NOT open to the public but they keep opening more and more each year.

I think this picture is kind of cool because this in the same mess deck where I ate. Probably the same tables, too!! I might have sat where Josiah is sitting.

I would like to put more pictures on but I am in the RV park now and I’m not even sure I will get this to upload. So, until next time. Blessings.