We arrived safely. Our hotel charges almost $25 for Internet access, so I’m doing this from a hot spot on my Touch. More later!

Last Saturday was a date day for me and Mer. We listened to a very excellent Wait Wait, although we listened separately because Mer was coming back from singing practice at church and I was at home. We did laugh about the show once Mer got home. We made some lunch, and then watched a movie (Bon Voyage) about a man in WW2-era France who was framed for murder. It had romance, intrigue, Nazis, and heavy water. What was there not to like?

After the film, we jumped in the car to go to an early supper at Olive Garden, where we had a gift certificate we could use. We were fairly surprised that when we showed up at 5:00, there was a 45-minute wait for a table! I guess restaurants on Saturdays are recession-proof. We put our names in and wandered over to Borders for 20 minutes or so. We did finally get a table and ate too much good Italian food.

When we finally left the restaurant (around 7:00 or so), we went straight to Actors’ Summit to see Nixon’s Nixon, and play about, well, Nixon. The play was a fictionalized account of the meeting between Nixon and Kissinger the night before Nixon resigned. I really liked this play. I did not know too much about either Nixon or Kissinger, and although the play was fiction, the playwright worked many real situations into the play as Kissinger and Nixon talked. There was talk about the Soviet Union, and Israel, and China. There was a fair amount of cursing going on, but we have lots of tape of Nixon swearing a lot – the director said the language was actually toned down from the White House tapes.

The actors put on just enough Nixon-esque and Kissinger-esque accents to make the roles distinctive. The actor playing Kissinger said that Kissinger is so monotone that if he had tried to play Kissinger accurately he would never be heard by the audience. The play focused on Nixon and Kissinger both trying to figure out how to protect their legacy in history books. There are many funny moments with Nixon insisting they role play some of Nixon’s greatest moments, so he has Kissinger play Mao, and the Russian premier and Golda (the president of Israel). It is a fine play, and Mer and I both like getting our history on the stage – it is most entertaining.

Last Friday, we had the joy of a half-day of school. The occasion? CVCA was once again in the Division 2 soccer state finals, and the administration wanted to give everyone a chance to go see the game.

Given the tough choice between going to see state-level soccer or staying at work, Mer and I quickly pointed the car towards Columbus. We were a little anxious when it started to sprinkle about 1/4 of the way there. We started getting worried when it started to rain 1/2 way there. We began planning contingency plans when it started pouring 3/4 of the way there.

Happily, the rain stopped as we got to Columbus. We got into the stadium and sat next to Phil and his wife, and then Dubbs and Joy came over and sat in front of us. The school had given out 500 CVCA towels as spirit and cheer things, and they came in very handy in wiping down our seats.

Things got under way around 3:30. I don’t know much about soccer, but it looked like our guys were not really sharp for most of the first half. Much of the half was played on our side of the field, and our passes were not crisp and accurate. We did score first, so that was exciting, but the other team tied it 1-1 (while I was in the bathroom, of course). End of first half – 1 to 1.

The second half opened with our guys playing much better. The field was reversed (ha!) and most of the game took place on the other team’s side of the field. They did manage to score, but then we scored about 90 seconds later. In the last three minutes, we had two balls bounce off the crossbar and out – it was really close. End of two halves – 2 to 2. (Oh – the downpour came back for much of the second half, so things were pretty wet. It seemed to take just a little speed off of the game.)

Soccer then goes into two 15-minute overtimes (if both are needed). The first overtime was played on our side of the field again (2-2 at end of 1st overtime), and then the sides switched again. A few minutes into the second overtime, we had a breakaway with an excellent pass and shot, and the ball went into the upper corner of the net. Our guys ran onto the field to celebrate the second state title in two years, and we were all going crazy. That is when people started to notice the side judge had called offsides (don’t ask me to explain what offsides is in soccer – it is a weird and complicated rule that I don’t think anyone really understands). Everyone calmed down and played the rest of the second overtime. It ended with a tie, 2-2.

Soccer then goes to perhaps the lamest way to decide a contest in all of sports – a shoot-out. 5 players from each team line up and shoot at the goal which is only defended by a goalie. The goalie basically can only guess which way the ball is going, and so jumps to the left or right when the ball is kicked. CVCA lost the shootout 4-3, so the final score was 3-2. (For those wondering, I would have the teams keep playing, but with one team missing a player for five minutes each – like a power play in hockey).

I was proud of how our students conducted themselves in the game and in receiving the runner-up medals. They never threw a fit on the field, and while downcast, they seemed gracious after the game. I heard that on one soccer discussion board, a man said that he was in a mall where the team went to eat, and he could not tell if they had won or lost because they were excited about their medals. Nice job, guys! What a great game it was.

My muse mostly knows to stay silent, but this popped into my head, based on a poem by Robert Frost.

When I see my birches bend to left and right

Across the lines of straighter higher trees,

I like to think I’ve been swinging them.

But swinging doesn’t bend them down to stay.

Ice-storms do that.

Sometimes storms bend birches to where heads touch the ground,

Where I know they cannot be repaired.

I can’t will them to stand again.

But the straighter tree speaks hope and shelter,

Lifted up so high.

It whispers that these birches have been through storms before,

And more will come. The brunt is borne.

When I see my birches bend to left and right

Across the lines of straighter higher trees,

I like to think I can fix them,

But my fixing doesn’t straighten them to stay.

Grace does that.

This last weekend was a pretty good ‘un. Friday after school, I decided I was sick of cooking, so I asked Mer and Zach if they would be open to the Cheesecake Factory for supper since we still had a gift certificate for there. Zach got in touch with Londa, and the evening was a go. Zach was good enough to drive, and we left the house just as the trick-or-treaters were hitting the streets; I was glad to get away since I had forgotten to get any candy for kids. Ooops.

The drive was pleasant, and uneventful. We chatted and laughed and had a general good time. The shocking thing came when we got to the restaurant. I have been going to the Cheesecake Factory on and off for about 12 years now, and have checked out at least three different locations. The place is always mobbed unless you show up at precisely 2:37 in the afternoon. We got there right in prime time – 7:00 on on Friday evening. I was braced for an hour wait or more. Imagine how happy all of us were when we were shown right to a booth. The restaurant was only about 3/4 full – I guess Halloween keeps folks out of the restaurants. We had a great waiter – he gave great service and was really funny. He was sarcastic without being mean, and he was friendly without compromising his performance. The food was grand, as always (I checked out a chicken sandwich), and Mer and I split our usual Factory Mud Pie for dessert. Certainly much better than cooking yet again.

We slept in late on Saturday – until 10:00, getting almost 12 hours of sleep. Needless to say, I did not go running. We puttered around, and went for a quick park outing (more on that later), before getting home at 4:00 for a 5:00 rendezvous with some of our CVCA students for the evening’s festivities. We were going to drive to Grove City College in Pennsylvania (about 90 minutes away). We ended up with three of Mer’s students, two of whom I know pretty well, in the back seat of our car. It was much fun listening to them chat and laugh. Being around younger folks helps me stay young, at least in my head, and it was an easy drive to the school.

We were going to Grove to see Shakespeare’s As You Like It. It is a wonderfully funny play. In the last few years, we have seen it now three times live and once on film, and it is always a good time. It has great characters – the Fool (Touchstone) is a typically brilliant Shakespearean fool. Jaques is very funny by being hopelessly depressed and melancholy. The really wonderful character is Rosalind. Rosalind is smart, resourceful, and funny. She has more lines than any other woman in Shakespeare, and is on stage for about 2/3 of the play.

Before the play, we met up with one of Mer’s former students, Weston, who gave us a quick campus tour. Grove has many new buildings, and they went with the can’t-go-wrong approach of red brick. The 3-year-old buildings look harmonious with the 100-year-old buildings. It is a pretty campus.

We were at Grove because the play had three CVCA students in it that we know, including Kevin, the CVCA alum who has worked with me for the last four summers when I have needed help. He is very funny, and was playing a pathetic, love-sick shepherd.

Grove’s theater program is part of the English department, not its own program, but the theater and set was still extensive. There were multiple roll-away sets, several fly-away screens for backdrops, many fake trees, and a thrust orchestra pit that could be raised and lowered for different scenes.

The actual play was excellent. The sound was clear, the sight lines were good (we were in the front seats), and the energy in the room was fantastic – I’m not sure I have ever been to a show with that many young people in the auditorium. It really added to the evening.

But what stood out was the acting. The actors were flat-out great. There were one or two performances that were less strong, but all the major roles were tremendous. Kevin did a great job with what is otherwise a small role; it is a pleasant experience to know an actor on stage. Touchstone and Jaques were top notch. Rosalind was electric – she delivered her lines naturally, her body language was near-perfect, her emotions were obvious to the audience, and she had really great comedic timing. I was deeply impressed with her, and the show in general. Apparently, I am not alone. There was a reviewer at the show that night who liked the show enough that they may get to do scenes from the play for a special showing in either New York or DC (I forget which).

As an aside, it was like a CVCA reunion at Grove – we ran into at least five different current or former CVCA students (in addition to the three on stage and the three with us). My boss and running partner was there with his family to see his son, Kevin, in the play.

The drive back was also entertaining with the three teens in back (especially the two girls talking about how hot Jaques was in the play), although I was disappointed in that I did not find a Dairy Queen on the way home. I was in the mood for a little snack. That would have been how I liked it.

The only family tradition that Mer and I have that we have observed every year is the carving of pumpkins for Halloween. We even carved pumpkins for a year or two before we were married (illegitimate pumpkins!), so we have been doing this for about 12 years.

This year Meredith once again outdid me. My pumpkin concept was cool, but exceeded my artistic grasp (that of a small child). Mer decided she wanted to carve a scary pumpkin, and she succeeded.

My pumpkin, for those needing help, is supposed to be the constellation of Orion.
Mer’s is two houses in a falling market. The eyes are two houses, the nose is falling (a “down” arrow), and the mouth is a sideways dollar sign. Kudos to Mer for being clever AND for being able to actually make it happen.