Labor Day Weekend in Iowa

Cheryl and the kids drove out to Iowa for Labor Day weekend for the purpose of witnessing, in full color, the cheerleading prowess of their wonderful cousin, Isabelle.

They were not disappointed.

They seemed to enjoy the cheerleading.  I'm not so sure about the game itself. How much can you say about a high school football game at a school you don't attend?

The most you can hope for is mild entertainment.  Guys running around a field dressed in padded costumes, whacking into each other and tossing a little leather ball around.  It's supposed to be representative of some cosmic struggle, a stand-in for battle or war or something.

Mostly, it's a way for guys to burn off some testosterone.

And girls to burn off -- whatever it is girls need to burn off.

My kids weren't raised to appreciate football.  Or baseball.  Or basketball. Or any other sporting event.  They're more the Art & Literature types. Hey, that's not a bad thing; it saves us lots of money in the long run, money we might've spent on expensive stadium tickets and outrageous concessions. (We'd rather spend it on Museums and Musicals and Theater and Symphony tickets.)

But because it is their cousin, they had a good time.  Didn't see their cousin as much as they would've liked -- they got there on a Thursday night (game night), and Isabelle had school the next day, so they didn't get to spend a lot of time with her until Saturday; and of course she works, too, so even that time was limited.  But they did get some time with her.

And they spent nearly an entire day's worth of time in the car, there and back again.  With lots of time to listen to Books-On-CD.

Boy, was I relieved when they got back home!

Being alone is so ... boring.