alexandriacardinals

[We did not know when we arrived on Thursday night that the game was between the #1 (Alex) and #2 (Detroit Lakes) ranked teams in our section.  We’d been gone for a while (see previous post) and lost track of stuff.  We knew we beat DL handily at their place earlier in the season, so I guess we were expecting an easy game.  Apparently so did the Cardinals – it just never works out that way.  But it happens in every sport at every level.  DL (and their rowdy fans) seemed to want the game more than we did.  Fortunately, talent won out.  🙂 ]

[The Cards lined up for player introductions.  Can you identify them all yet?]

[Oh, and here’s the rest of them.]

[We learned pre-game from another Super Fan, Ted Justice, that the Cards will have a new assistant coach for a while.  That’s Little Rev on the bench in the helmet.  She apparently was hurt in the previous game and may not be back during the regular season.   They obviously will play it safe and wait for all the necessary medical clearances.  But I think not having her on the ice (she’s become a quarterback out there with 3 assists in the Pequot game) was likely a factor in our inconsistent play for much of the game.]

[Karina.  Sorry, her photo from front was fuzzy.  Apologies to Karina.  It happens, as you will soon notice . . .]

[Apologies to Nicole.]

[Apologies to Kaila.]

[Apologies to Mel.]

[Micaela, not that bad?]

[And apologies to Amy, who got lost in the crowd?]

[Now that we’re all here, Mari can knock the National Anthem out of the arena!  😉  ]

[As an interim assistant coach, Little Rev was wondering if she gets travel and per diem?]

[Did McKenna lose her hat?]

[Or was it another Kim Kardashian sighting?]

[Students with instruments were there!  🙂  ]

[And they’re off, as the puck dribbles behind Mel.]

[Restart?  Wait, this is the 2nd period?  I must have taken a nap.  Well, it was 0 – 0 after 1.]

[Captain Ellingson, now on defense.]

[Captain Drown]

[Mel jousts with a Laker.]

[Nicole, I already can’t remember . . .]

[If she played offense or defense (with Little Rev out) in this game?]

[Sam Klimek (with Nicole) chases down a Laker.  Sam scored the only goal in the 3rd period of the JV game, a beautiful length of the ice rush and then put a wrist shot over the goalie’s shoulder.  The scoreboard said the score was 7 – 0 when she scored, the scoreboard still said 7 – 0 at the end of the game?  Other reports had us winning 11 – 0.  I believe they’re forming a congressional committee to determine the correct outcome.]

[Nicole is outnumbered and looking for a friendly jersey.]

[Well, here comes Taylor . . .]

[To the rescue.]

[There’s Mel near then net with Micaela out front and likely Kaila hiding behind the Lakers’ No. 7.]

[We’re pressing . . .]

[If you notice the goal scrums, Mel is always there.  Explains why she’s such a good scorer.]

[But no goal . . .]

[Keeping hitting it!]

[Lakers come to the aid of their besieged goalie.]

[Nada]

[Still nada.]

[Nada, nada, nada.  Gotta give their goalie some credit.]

[The Laker shoestring tackle was not only unsuccessful, the guy in stripes has raised his arm indicating a penalty.]

[Mel chases the puck in the corner.]

[Mel must have got it – down there in the area of students with instruments.]

[Is that Kaila taking a rip at one?]

[Now Lauren comes in on her backhand.]

[There’s Mel in front of the net again . . . surely we’ll score this time?]

[Nicole flips one on goal.]

[That’s probably Hanah working on her double-arm takedown.]

[Yup, it was Hanah and here she is with Mari storming the net.]

[Now Kaila and Micaela are in on goal.]

[Nicole with almost the identical shot she had about 5 photos up?]

[Hanah and Mari mucking it up in the goal crease again . . .]

[But despite all this nice chances, it was still nada-nada after two.] 

[This is Jerry Prettyman.  He’s attempting the puck shoot between the 2nd and 3rd periods . . .]

[Jerry is also Sue Justice’s father, and thus, by extension, the father-in-law of the aforementioned Ted.  Sue was at the game, too . . . as was her daughter, Danielle.  Danielle just returned from a year and a half adventure in New Zealand and Malaysia.  Earlier this week we saw Abby and Ashley at a game.  So, in the last week we have seen 3 of the 4 all-state seniors from the 2008 championship team.  Know we just need Del to show up!  😉  I told Danielle as I’ve told the others that I blame her, and her teammates, for making us continue to go out on blizzard winter nights to watch girls’ hockey when I could be home in my La-Z-Boy, chugging down Coke Zero with chips and queso, while watching re-runs of “Family Guy.”]

[Jerry just missed – hitting the board between the $100 and the $25.  😦  ]

[The 3rd period begins with Kaila in search of a rebound.]

[Time for a line change as Kaila heads for the bench.]

[Well, let’s see how Amy’s doing at the other end?]

[She has her fan club with her behind the glass.]

[Oh, oh boys, here comes Vinnie!  😉  ]

[We scored!  GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL!]

[Kaila scored, tapping the puck in as it lay by the goal line.  We had a perfect view on it – except for the camera.]

[Well, let’s see if we can make that one-goal lead stand up.  Mel is there for a backhand.]

[Nicole has a 1-on-3 advantage.  😉  ]

[Laker goalie with another stop.]

[At some point around here, we had a 5-on-4 power play.  Then we took a penalty to make it 4-on-4 and shortly thereafter the Lakers scored to tie the game!]

[Then with a little over a minute and 40 seconds left in the game, Mel gained the puck in her own zone and I had a feeling . . .]

[She passed off the boards to herself to get by her first defender and the just sped around the defense in the Laker zone to give herself a clear shot at the goal.  She beat the goalie with a nice wrist shot and the Cards had a 2 – 1 lead.]

[The Lakers pulled their goalie as soon as they could, of course . . . ]

[And Micaela scored an empty-nester for the final score.]

[Let’s be ready for them in the sections. ]

Curmudgeon quote of the post:  It’s a finny thing that when a man hasn’t anything on earth to worry about, he goes off and gets married.  ~  Robert Frost

While in Indiana, Grandpa Ed and I, Grandpa Tom, would go on walks together to places such as Potter’s Bridge, above.  Among the things we discussed on these walks was our pride in our grandson.  And the reason for that pride would be his parents.  His parents are such that they would Christmas gift to Grandpa Tom, A Curmudgeon’s Garden of Love.  For in my agedness I take great pride in my curmudgeoness.  I expect to quote often from this tome.  Curmudgeon, as noted in the book, once meant a crusty, ill-tempered, churlish old man.  Well, I have my moments.  But the modern meaning is anyone who hates hypocrisy and pretense and has the temerity to say so; anyone with the habit of pointing out unpleasant facts in an engaging and humorous manner.  I can only hope.

Because this started mainly as a sports blog, I think it appropriate that I begin with Lewis Grizzard’s response, from the book, regarding the main difference between men and women:

Women have absolutely no idea, no ‘comprehension,’ of the infield fly rule.  The infield fly rule is one of the reasons that the planet keeps turning.  If you didn’t have the infield fly rule and you hit a pop-up, the runners on first and second wouldn’t know whether to run or not, and the infielder could screw around and not catch it on purpose . . . it would be chaos!  When I try tot explain the infield fly rule to women, they look up at me and say, ‘The what?’

I will admit that here in hockeyland, women seem to catch on pretty fast about icing.  But let us begin . . .

[Regarding the covered bridge above.]

[The White River – this is the river responsible for the great flood of 1913 in Indianapolis.  And it has also flooded in this area shortly before we arrived in Indiana.]

[A sycamore tree – so famous in Indiana that it is the nickname for Indiana State University (as the supervisor says, “they are the Fighting Trees”!).

[Grandpa Ed signals a howdy-do!]

[As does Grandpa Tom.]

[Evidence of the recent flood on the walking trail.]

[If the river is at its normal level here, you can see the flood must have raised the river at least 20 feet based on the debris level on the trees and bushes.]

[The bench was totally under water.]

[A big ole tree.]

[Next stop – Las Vegas.  I know, it happens like magic sometimes, doesn’t it?]

[This was New Year’s Eve Eve.  We flew from Indianapolis to San Diego, with a stop and change of planes, in Vegas.  We wanted to be in San Diego for Rita’s birthday on New Year’s Eve and the supervisor’s birthday on New Year’s Day.]

[It had been at least 30 years since my last visit to Vegas.  It is a great place to fly into though because of the natural wonders within a relatively small circumference of the city.]

[Looks a lot different from the last time I was here.]

[As we flew away . . .]

[I tried to see if I recognized anything?]

[The last time I was here, Caesar’s Palace was at the end of “the strip.”  It’s probably lost among the skyscrapers now.]

[Doesn’t take long to hit “the surrounding wilderness.”]

[Miles from nowhere . . .]

[Ooops, the ‘burbs are spreading out here.  What they’re going to do for water, I have no idea?]

[Interstate 15.  I forgot my “cub reporter hat” on the flight from Indy to Vegas.  Would have got some great shots of the snow-capped Rockies.]

[If you had a car breakdown out here, the vultures would begin circling immediately!]

[That looks like a dry lake in the distance – there are several of them in SE California.]

[I was thinking it looked like we were coming upon Area 51 in New Mexico?]

[Whatever these were, the were rotating and incredibly bright.  A communication system with the moon?  An NSA site?  The supervisor, with her Air Force career background, told me she know what it was but if she told me . . . well, you know!  😉  ]

[Another dry lake bed?]

[Interstate 40 – on the moon?  How did we know?  The supervisor was tracking our flight on her tablet.  A month later, however, I may be guessing wrong?]

[Twentynine Palms (and not much of anything else!)]

[State Highway 62, on the north side of Joshua Tree National Park.]

[Joshua Tree National Park on the left.]

[Our first glimpse of the Salton Sea.]

[See the plane?]

[More the Salton Sea.  We visited the two small towns on the Sea’s NW coast about 4 years ago. ]

[A closer-upper view of the small towns.]

[We say good-by, for now, to the Salton Sea.  On the return trip, we get to see the whole thing!  🙂  ]

[Borrego Springs, another place we visited on our previous trip.  We had hoped to return – buy hey, there are only 24 hours in a day.]

[A Borrego Springs, addition?]

[All of Borrego Springs.]

[Leaving Borrego Springs.  Why interest here?  It’s totally isolated from anyplace else . . . and it was kind of a neat little town.]

[An inkling we’re finally leaving the desert.  Looks like green stuff on the left!]

[Outliers of San Diego.]

[The Gompers?  Only Basketball Dan would know for sure.]

[San Diego]

[San Diego.  Our only time spent downtown was this, driving away from the airport.]

[Arriving at De-niece’s and De-nephew’s in San Diego .  The supervisor was delighted to see the progress their front yard garden had made since our last visit.

[Nephew Chris and sister-in-law Rita at the entry to the front yard patio.]

[A nice par-tay area.]

[A half hour driving later, we (The Biddies and I) arrived at Rita’s rental house in San Marcos.]

[The supervisor looks out onto Lake San Marcos from out guest bedroom.  We’ll take it!]

[The kitchen table, where we spent most of our in-house time.  It doubled as my office for processing the daily photos.  And I could keep an eye on the hummingbirds from here.]

[The TV/napping room, where I seldom had control of the remote.]

[When it’s 75 degrees everyday, this is where The Biddies spent the bulk of their at-home time – catching rays.  I’m of the opinion the sun makes you wrinkly.]

[“Our” lake and, yes, “our” pontoon.]

[“Our” house]

[“Our” hot tub]

[“Our” view]

Let the adventure begin!

Up next:  The adventure.

Editor’s Note:  It snowed again this Monday morning.  We have been home for five days and have shoveled three times.  Many outside our fair state are probably unaware that there is a little known article in the Minnesota state constitution that mandates snowfall not less often than every other day between the months of November and March.  And we left poor Rita all alone in San Diego, to fend for herself in an area that hasn’t seen a cloud since 1945.  (p.s.  Tuesday morning went out for the paper at 25 degrees below zero – literally more than 100 degrees colder than it was in San Diego when we left there a week ago.  And tonight it’s snowing again as we face another week of sub-zero temps.)

Good to get back in the routine.  We arrived at the RCC to discover it was senior night – that was a nice touch.  But when they introduced and did bios on each of the players, who were joined at center ice by their parents, they were backlit by the spotlight again so we couldn’t see them!  The most touching was Kalley Kragenbring’s, who came back to participate.  Her folks wrote all about her battle with concussions and announced her doctors said her brain was now totally healed as of December 19, 22 months later.  Then her teammates came out and gave her her old jersey No 10.  And here are the seniors:

 

*  OK, I’ve used the title before.  And we went in the afternoon, not at night.  But the title has a certain . . . je ne sais quoi, so I thought it appropriate to use it again.  I’ve mentioned before, we feel Indianapolis has always been an underrated city.  And though we’ve been there many times, because the supervisor’s family are Hoosiers, the kids always find some new and interesting place for us to visit.  This time it was the Indiana History Center.  A couple days after Christmas when we all wanted to get out to blow the stink off.  And now at this much later date, we can’t recall whether our midday repast at Dick’s Bodacious Bar-B-Q in downtown Indy was before or after the museum?

[The supervisor, Jami, and Danny approach to museum entrance while downtown Indy looms in the background.]

[Rounding the corner, the state capitol came into view.]

[Inside, the supervisor and Jami get all interactive, probably checking on Vigo County where Terre Haute (hometown of the Callecods) is the county seat.]

[It was just two days after Christmas.]

[Impressive atrium.]

[OK, what are we gonna see first?]

[How ’bout the Cole Porter room?]

[But first, Daaaaaa – vid Letterrrrrrrrrr – man!]

[On the way to Cole, we volunteered to be photo subjects . . . from these very folks I just made photo subjects.  😉  ]

[And here we are (or were)!]

[Cole Porter’s room – a classic American song writer (Mr. Porter, not his room).]

[Once in we met a singer who very much reminded us of Christine Rosholt.  We had the opportunity to request a couple of Cole Porter songs, and she performed them for us.  All we needed was a nice glass of wine.  😉  ]

[While Jami peruses the songs menu, the supervisor videos and Danny studies the wall photos.]

[And on to the next exhibits where you stepped into the past . . .]

[Jami cautiously approaches the portal to the past . . .]

[Followed by Danny . . .]

[Egads, they’re gone!]

[The supervisor’s next . . .]

[Unafraid . . .]

[Then she disappears into the past!]

[On “the other side” we all arrived in Charles Miner’s photographic studio in 1904 Ft. Wayne.  Cool!  🙂  ]

[Approaching the next time portal . . .]

[We’re going back to the Great Flood of 1913 . . .]

[Where, as with the previous exhibit, we got to interact with the people “of the time.”]

[Back to the atrium . . .]

[Where we walked the balcony reading the wall murals.]

[Does anybody really know what time it is?  Does anybody really care?  Well, I never liked that song anyway.]

[There are many great mysteries in life.  What is our purpose on this planet?  How did we get here?  Why doesn’t anything rhyme with “purple”?  But in Indiana, the ultimate question is . . .]

[So, as with the other great mysteries, the answer my friend is blowing in the wind.]

[Some may recall one of his relatives was part of our group for our Great Alaska Cruise of ’08.]

[While Jami ponders a great work, others may inquire . . . where’s our grandson?  Well, he’s a college kid.  For the entire week we were there, I would just be getting up – 4:00 am-ish – when Tom was getting ready to go to bed.  The exchange would be:  “Good morning, Tom!”  “Good night, Tom!”  So, he was still in bed during this episode.]

[We are now at great heights.]

[This top level consists mainly of photo murals.]

[Well, it was winter.  While we were in Indiana, there were hints of earlier snowfalls but mostly the ground was bare.  While we were in California, Noblesville had a 12″ snowfall which set all kinds of records!]

[Ski beautiful Indianapolis?]

[The supervisor provides perspective for . . .]

[The Christmas lights on the 284′-tall Indiana Soldiers and Sailors Monument in the center of Indianapolis.]

[We have reason to believe the woman on the right is the supervisor’s sister, Rita?]

[This was in the museum lobby – in fact it contained the entire living room from “A Christmas Story,” which you’ll recall takes place in Indiana.  We saw the play at the AAAA in Alex before we left Minnesota.  While in Indy, the evening entertainment cycle centered around new seasons of “Dr. Who” (Jami received a 14-long Dr. Who scarf for Christmas – I some how missed that photo op?) and some old British soap opera, “Downtown Abyss (?).”  I lasted about a half-hour during the latter when I realized the only interest I had in the thing was also a preference to be referred to as “milord” while in my own castle.]

Next:  “California here we come!” (or maybe hockey?)