A September Hodgepodge

Hi to my blogger and Facebook friends!  Here are the questions, courtesy of Joyce, to ponder on this September 11th.

1. Are you ready for some football?  Are you a fan?  If you are not a fan, what do you do while the rest of America watches Saturday, Sunday, Monday night, and now Thursday night?

I LOVE football!  It's my favorite sport to watch and I always look forward to this time of year when the college and pro seasons start.  I grew up in a huge football-loving state, Ohio, which even has the Pro Football Hall of Fame.   I learned the rules of the game early on.  As a member of my high school marching band I went to all the games, home and away.   Later, when I was in college in Baltimore I worked for a season in the pressbox for the Colts (yes, they were STILL in Baltimore then.) 

Once my daughters got into high school we went to all the Sparta High School games at home and even some away.  We were lucky to be there when the team won the state championship (played in the Giants stadium at the Meadowlands). It was VERY exciting! 

I continued to follow teams and loved watching, and THEN  my oldest daughter got to the University of South Carolina and I became a HUGE Gamecock fan!  It didn't hurt that the tailgating was so, so fun and that the weather is great for football in the south.   I also love the "good natured" rivalries between Carolina and Clemson, and with the other SEC teams. 

I still follow the NY Jets and Giants - and now support the Carolina Panthers. 

So, yes, I love football, college and pro... it's a good time of year!!

2. What's something I'll always find in your closet?

I'm a bit confused by this question.   Which closet?  In my linen closet you will find towels and sheets.  In my own clothes closet you will find clothes, shoes, handbags, etc.    I don't think I keep anything "unusual".   Sorry.

3.  Share one of your earliest memories.

This is an interesting question because sometimes actually remembering, or looking at an old picture, or being told by an older relative what happened, can get mixed up.   I don't think I actually remember when I was a toddler.  Maybe it would be when I first went to kindergarten and I remember that my mother bought a little rug for me, to keep in class for "rest time".  We kids would lay out our little rugs and the teacher would turn off the lights in the classroom (it wasn't pitch dark) and we had "rest time" for ten minutes or so.  I can picture that rug in my head...so I know it's a memory.  There are no pictures of it.

4. What circus act best describes your week so far?

Ok, the "easy" answers are a three ring circus, or a juggling act, or something like that.  But, not really.  I haven't had any lions to tame, or had to fly in the air without a net!  It's been an un-circus like week so far.

5. What's a food you disliked as a child but you love now?

I know there were some green veggies I tried to hide on my plate thinking if I put my glass in front of it, and covered it with my spoon and fork then my mom would not notice! ha!!  I love most green vegetables today.  I don't think we had asparagus (Dad only liked the "basic" veggies...peas, green beans - so that's what mom prepared) and I love it now!

6. Describe your summer in three words.

enjoyable - eventful - thankful

7. Where were you on Sept. 11, 2001?  Will you do something special to mark te day this year?

I wrote a blog post about it last night because I realized the anniversay date was approaching.  So, I guess that is how I have "marked" the day this year...with the blog post.  Feel free to read it.  As I wrote in the post, I was living in a town in New Jersey only an hour outside of New York City.  The events of that day effected me greatly.   What I did not write about is how we went into the city 3 days later because we had Broadway show tickets. It was Friday, and the theatres reopened that night and the mayor was encouraging everyone to come back into the city. So, we did.  When we drove to the Lincoln Tunnel we saw the black smoke still billowing upwards where the towers had stood.  The city was still quite empty.  It was eerie.  We stayed in the theatre district that night - we didn't head south and I doubt we could have gotten down close  anyway.  This was when family & friends were still searching for loved ones and hanging pictures everywhere. I remember the actors coming out after the performance thanking everyone for attending and we all stood together and sang "God Bless America." 

8. Random thought.

It's hard to have a random thought after remembering that day.   I guess my thought is that we people are resilient.  It's best to remember how people came together afterwards and helped each other. How after the worst thing happened, the best in people also showed up.