It’s early Saturday morning, but my day is already booked. Planned. Scheduled. Arranged. Spoken for. Pick your phrase.
I want to work out and practice piano. Beyond that, which takes much of the morning, Earl is eager to head to South Bend and the Notre Dame campus where we have tickets to see the ND football team play Purdue University. The game itself doesn’t start until 3:30 PM, compliments of national TV scheduling, but Earl wants to get there in time to stroll the campus, munch a hot dog, and maybe visit the bookstore. Me? I’d be for showing up at half-time, giving a few cheers, and leaving before the fourth quarter.
Still, I’ve agreed to be ready by noon and realize that this will be a long day, as I doubt Earl will leave the stadium before the last quarter clock counts down to zero. By then, I will probably have read a good portion of the book I’m bringing and also exhausted the battery on my iPod. I might have endured some other fans’ snide remarks too.
As we leave the stadium, we can anticipate the gridlock in the parking lot as a gazillion fans head for their cars. There’s also gridlock on the local roads as those fans head home. And, if Notre Dame is victorious, there’ll be gridlock in the local restaurants because stadium food is great during the game but doesn’t last long when it’s over. That’s why we have several contingency plans for dinner after the game.
Truthfully I believe I’ll have a better time than I’ve possibly portrayed here, because that is how outings with Earl go. I went to two football games last year at Notre Dame with the same dreading and ended up having a wonderful time at each. Maybe I just have to groan about it first, get it out of my system, and relax.
I will say, however, that a nice dinner at the end of the day helps.
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