Bullets and Patriots

There are sports teams I really don't like. Sometimes it ever borders on a form of hatred, though thats pushing it a bit. Some for a good reason, some for not. Fan allegiance is a strange thing and we find ourselves loving and hating teams for lots of different reasons. Like the way we feel about certain people, some biases make no sense.

Here are my sports prejudices, along with the reason.

Chicago Cubs - Obvious
Duke - Most obnoxious fans in the world and Daughter1 hates them
Drury College - Rival of my Alma mater
KU - Of course. Cheaters. jayhawkers.
Boston Patriots - Cheated to steal Super Bowl from Rams
Boston Red Sox - swept Cardinals in WS
Florida Marlins - won the Series after only four years as a team. that's not illegal but should be. ( i have a vivid memory of some lady screaming into a camera "weve waited so long for this!" really? talk to a cubs fan about waiting)
San Diego Chargers - no explanation, just never liked them, always want them to lose
Washington Bullets - for changing their name to the wizards
Toronto Blue Jays - dont like the bird, dont like the logo, like the country
Marquette - because my Son hates them
TCU - because Daughter2 hates them

Baby it's cold outside, sorta

While temperature is a measurable certainty, the longer I live in Minnesota the more I appreciate the psychological side and how it affects how cold or hot we feel. Today is a good example.

Driving in to work the temp outside was -7. If it were November this would be terrible and depressing. It would be dark as I drive in and a crust of ice would be rapidly forming on the lakes. Even worse would be the looming sense that things are only going to get worse.

But it is February. When I get out of my car I can tell it really is below zero. I feel the cold sidewalk through the bottom of my shoes. The tiny bits of moisture in my pants and overcoat freeze and make a swishing sound as I walk. It feels like I'm wearing a thin layer of cardboard. When I get back in my car this afternoon, it will hurt to hold the steering wheel. I may wear gloves and ear muffs inside the car for the first ten minutes or so of the drive home.

But it is February. March is a week away. The sun is in the sky at 7am, not buried below the horizon as in November. The ice houses are coming off the lakes. When I step out of my car the day feels cheery. (And i'm not a cheery day kind of guy). There is the knowledge that warmth is coming, even if it is not here yet. Winter was fun but we're ready for a change.

If you close your eyes, that snowmobile you hear in the distance sounds like a lawnmower.

Valentines Day Luncheon

Unlike elementary school, today there is no thought over the number of cards I will get, or whether the cards I send will be as nice as the ones from the rich kids. No delving into the meanings behind those little candy hearts... "does she really mean 'be mine'?"

Just one card from the only person I want to remember me.

Lunch was one turkey sandwich from the store downstairs, apple juice and a bag of MMs that my valentine included with the card. Sweet.

Winter wanes

It is mid Feb now and spring is still weeks away. Yet, there is a sense here that the most brutal days of winter have passed on. A few weeks ago, on a day when the high was -4, Mr Winter came as deep into our lives as this cycle of the sun would allow. Now when we spot him, as during yesterdays snow, he has his back to us, heading North, temporarily defeated.

We saw a bald eagle yesterday, near where this photo was taken. I was in my 30s before I saw my first one, while trout fishing in North Arkansas. This winter they have been a weekly sight.