Memoirs of a (sometimes) football fan

I did something the other evening which I hadn’t done in years. In fact, probably not since I’d graduated from high school.

I attended a high school football game. (Go Trojans!)

The last football game I attended in person was at my alma mater, the University of Oregon. (Go Ducks!) I didn’t go to a lot of games over my four years of college but from time to time I wandered across the Willamette River with my friends and we enjoyed rooting for our (then perpetually losing) team.

That was fun enough, but it’s a whole lot more fun to watch them winning these days on television. That way I can stay dry (it rains a lot in Eugene) and I can go to the bathroom without having to stand in line.

Back when I was in high school I didn’t attend too many games, either. I actually have some pretty good reasons for this. For one, I attended three different high schools, due to my father’s job.

I do remember going to one or two football games my 9th grade year at my school on Orcas Island, Washington. Forget about Friday Night Lights, our games were always played on Saturdays because the opposing teams had to take a ferry to get there and that added a huge amount of time to their traveling schedule. (Go Vikings!)

The next year I lived in Bend, Oregon, and there at Mountain View High School I attended just one game. I didn’t know very many people, and going to football games alone is no fun. (Go Cougars!)

Then I moved to West Berlin, Germany, and I was there for my last two years of high school. There, at Berlin American High School, I attended a handful of games (Go Bears!) but my best friend was the school mascot – which meant that she got to run around in a bear suit for the entire game – so I didn’t have her to sit next to and my other friends weren’t really into football so mostly I stayed home on Saturday afternoons. Yes, the games were on Saturdays there, too, also due to travel issues. It was kinda a big deal getting to and from West Berlin.

So all in all, being at any kind of football game was an anomaly for me. I do remember, way back in third grade, briefly considering becoming a football fan simply to improve my math scores. All the boys were really good at their 7 times tables whereas I hated and despised the 7 times tables and I knew that somehow their talent was involved with football scores.

I don’t really understand the sport of football. Ok…I don’t understand it at all other than I know that a First Down is a good thing and that field goals are sometimes worth one point and sometimes worth three, depending on if they’re accompanied by touchdowns or not. And I know that to get a touchdown the guy with the ball has to cross the end line without dropping the ball and somehow Mary, the Mother of Jesus is often involved.

I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I’ve never attended a game here in Worthington prior to this year, but there it is. And the truth is, I enjoyed myself.

Does that mean I’ll be going to a lot more games from here on out?

Let’s not get crazy here. I mean, I enjoy hearing my son play tuba in the pep band, but I can only take so much sitting in the cold cheering for the home team before I zone out and begin wondering why some of the players have long black socks and some of the players don’t and wouldn’t they all be more aesthetically pleasing if they all matched and do they need to hire a fashion consultant to take care of this problem?

Apparently the snappy uniforms of the Oregon Ducks have rubbed off on me.

(Incidentally, I’m a little worried about the Ducks this year, what with losing Marcus Mariota and all. And even I know, deep down, that snappy uniforms or no, it takes more than that to win a football game.)

And to that I say: Happy Homecoming, Worthington!

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Grandpa’s Fun Farm

I have a favorite place to go here in town. It’s not too far away, it’s bright and cheerful and full of hope, it’s mostly outdoors…but it also has antiques. How could I not like the sound of that?

Grandpa’s Fun Farm – so named, I presume, because of its autumn pumpkin-themed activities for the whole family – is not just a place for fall fun. It’s also a wonderful nursery for all of your flower, plant and tree needs, as well as having an antique-filled barn with prices that are quite reasonable.

Marlyn and Jolene Nystrom are now in their 15th season of running their business, located out on Read Avenue. In June they are open Monday-Saturday, 9am-5pm. In July and August they are open Thursday-Friday, 9am – 5pm and Saturday, 9am – 12pm. They are always closed on Sundays. Their animal exhibit (goats, cows, horses, pigs, peacocks, guinea fowl, geese…and more!) is open by appointment during the summer until their fall hours when it is open most every weekend.

If you live around here, don’t wait to visit Grandpa’s Fun Farm just in the fall – go now! They have lovely plants (including ready-to-go hanging baskets and flower pots), many bedding plants and herbs and veggies, trees, bulbs, etc. It’s a feast for the eyes in their five greenhouses and all around the property with lovely flowers in all sorts of wonderful locations!

And the great old barn, filled with many farm-related antiques, shelves and desks and decorative items is a must-see as well. It’s clean and charming and is run by Marlyn and Jolene’s daughter.

So come buy a plant or two, check out the barn, and enjoy your time at Grandpa’s Fun Farm – not just an autumn treat!

I love the variegated leaves.

Everywhere you look there are great things to see!

Part of the fall fun out at the Fun Farm.

Back home with our plants, the girls and I got to work.

I had two helpers. One with the camera and one running errands!

Whose pasty arms and legs are those, anyway?