Hockey Game, Homecoming, and Going For It

I made what I thought to be a big blunder, but like many things in life, my mistake morphed into serendipity. Just goes to show you that life is wonderfully unpredictable, as it should be, and rather than shy away from it in fear, we should embrace its whims.

But enough of my pontification. We had been talking about going to see a Dartmouth women's hockey game, and never seemed to get around to it. I finally resolved to do it, and there was an early evening game on Friday. Perfect.

The plan was to go to story hour, grab a quick bite to eat, and head over to the game. It was all complicated, of course, by the fact that there were other things going on. There was a local Halloween party, which I'd never been to, as well as the fact that the kids like to play well after story hour has ended, so it was going to be a bit of a wrestling match to get them to comply.

Also, I learned later that it was homecoming weekend at the college, which meant oceans of people, which also meant really bad traffic, the kind that reminds of living in that hell on earth known as Los Angeles. I was ready to change our plans, but at some point realized that things get too crazy when you try to explore every possible option. Just deal with it.

Besides, the kids were excited about going to the game, and to be honest with you, I really enjoy them, though I like the brutal and physical aspect of the NHL, but that's a guy thing.

After thinking about it for a few minutes and asking R her opinion, we decided to just go for it. We also thought that the homecoming festivities might be fun, and a good way for the kids to get a taste of what college life is like. I know, it's a bit early, but you never know what sort of moments really speak to a child.

When story hour ended, we piled into the car and headed over to the big city. Since the food options at the game boiled down to hot dogs or pizza, which is akin to fine cuisine for a kid, I'd made some healthier fare. For R I brought a goat cheese and roasted red pepper wrap, and for the kids, some cold cut wraps along with some fruit. We have been on a whole grain kick lately, so I also made R a wheatberry salad with feta cheese and olives.

While R loved the food, the kids had one thing on their mind - hot dogs. Oh well, I tried. The game was a blast, and kind of poignant in that they played Brown, our old haunt, and beat them. Out with told, in with the new.

It was a lot of fun. The women are incredibly good, and tickets are easy to come by since nobody seems interested in watching women's sports, which is a shame. After the game, we walked over the Green to watch the homecoming bonfire, and they really went all out. The pile of wood was at least 2 stories high, if not more. Kind of menacing.

There were loads of people, as we anticipated, but it was mellow, and they even had free food. After several interminable speeches, they lit the fire, and man was it impressive. It really warmed things up, it was cold out there.

They have some sort of tradition at Dartmouth where the students run around in circles around the fire, I'm guessing until it's done. There were a few students out there acting silly who were clearly drunk, but for the most part, they were pretty civil. You figure even though these guys are young and prone to crazy behavior, they are Ivy League students and have it together. More so than the students where I went to college (UCLA), where they would never hold a rally like this because it would have most definitely turned into a riot.

We watched the fire for a bit, then headed home. It was a really nice evening, and though we got home really late, I'm glad we did it and did not bow down to fear and anxiety. Nothing worse in life than saying "I should have..."

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Rob Dickie and Neil Thorne for the pics.