A meteorologist would call the past few days "unseasonably warm." We simply call it "Indian Summer."
Today it's breezy and, for late October, balmy. A gray sky hints at storms by afternoon.(The image at right, by the way, clipped from Dan Beard's 1920 classic American Boys' Handy Book of Camp Lore & Woodcraft, is completely unrelated to anything in this post. I just happen to like it.)
This time yesterday I was chasing fallen leaves, racing a 1pm NFL kickoff. The younger spawn pulled gutter duty while I cleaned up the edges of the yard, alternating between vac and blower. Then I fired up our walk-behind mower and mulched (twice) the leaves that remained on the lawn. (Look for an upcoming installment of Urban Resources inspired by the exercise.)
I finished my yard work by the middle of the first quarter of Browns-Saints. As a long-suffering Cleveland fan, I'm delighted to say that I got to watch the Browns answer the question, "Who Dat?"It wasn't pretty, and nobody really believes that Cleveland is better than the defending NFL champs, but escaping the Superdome with a 30-17 win is worth celebrating.
It'd be unwise of me to gloat too much, though, since Mrs. KintlaLake is a big Saints fan. In fact, three of her favorite teams -- WVU, LSU and New Orleans -- all lost over the weekend. (Her Colts didn't play.)
Ohio State, on the other hand, bounced back from last week's loss to obliterate Purdue on Saturday. The Buckeyes were up 42-0 at halftime, on the way to a 49-0 final. Nice recovery, guys.
My wife and older spawn watched the rout from our seats in C Deck while I killed time outside The 'Shoe. I watched law-enforcement assets re-deploy (but not stand down) after ticketholders entered the stadium, taking special note of one particular piece of hardware.
You're looking at one of Big Brother's mobile cousins -- a compact, trailer-mounted surveillance rig equipped with a pair of pan-tilt-zoom cameras that can automatically track moving objects. It travels with its own on-board video server, and the communications dish atop the 30-foot telescoping mast can link to the state's new monitoring hub in Columbus.It's good knowing that this sort of technology is out there -- I mean, it's better being aware that it's in use -- but it doesn't have me all paranoid or anything. Actually, I think it's pretty damned cool.
Mrs. KintlaLake and the 18-year-old emerged from the game asking for a snapshot with the stadium in the background. As I readied my camera, an older gentleman, walking alone, passed behind my subject. I did a double-take before calling out to him.
"Coach?"He stopped, turned and smiled. "Yessir?"
"Would you mind posing for a picture with my family?"
He graciously agreed, still smiling that smile. We shook hands as we parted, and I fumbled for something to say.
"Pay forward -- right, Coach?"
He cocked his head. "You bet, young man." He walked briskly away, waved over his shoulder and repeated the affirmation.
"You bet!"
On Homecoming Day at OSU, a day when Elvis starred in TBDBITL's halftime show, I wasn't the least bit surprised that the old Coach decided to make an appearance, too.
