A Saturday at the Farm

I know that times they are a’changing when Mar and I don’t spend a lot of time organizing ourselves to go to various ball games

Her schedule is such that we can eat together at a normal time (around dinner time) on the week nights, its just the weekends that we don’t always cross paths
 
When I worked at Stanford, we made a point of going to a lot of athletic events as well as other things on campus. That sort of fell off when I left not only because I wasn’t really in the hub of things there on campus, but also because of her wacky schedule
 
Whenever Mar gets her schedule, she looks on the calendar and checks with me (as I am the hub of all concert/sports/goings on in my house, she’s the social director as she chooses what she deems an appropriate way to spend our free time…and no, she doesn’t really have that many friends to spend her time)
 
Much to our surprise, she had this past Saturday off and after conferring with the various websites and information at hand, she decided that it wasn’t to be missed an afternoon at the Farm to celebrate Homecoming
 
Mind you, neither of us went to school there, it is however, the thing you do in the fall. And why not spend it at a leading NCAA college?
 
I didn’t give it much thought until the last minute, as is my way and on the way to my job interview Friday I thought, I will go early, swing on campus, get some general admission tickets, bob’s your uncle, head to the interview
 
I totally forgot that the campus was a total clusterflips when its time for homecoming. Reunion’s and such, plus people from Arizona (the school of choice to meet in battle on the gridiron) just a mess
 
I stressed for a bit about the timing, however it wasn’t a problem as I got a parking spot right in front of the ticket booth and ran up all dolled up in my interview clothes, got some tickets, and off I went
 
We woke up Saturday and got ready, tried to warm up as it was a balmy 55 degrees in our house (I am thinking autumn is finally here, although I say that and its 85 the next day!). We always struggle with what to wear to football games as it may be freezing at our house, however 7 miles to the north of us, inside the stadium, in the afternoon sun, well, we always seem to miss our mark with the clothing arrangements. And the bay area is after all the capital of layering, and yet we haven’t quite mastered that yet
 
We head to the local wrap place after finding a parking spot WAY in the back. We notice that people are parking in this shopping center and are walking with their school regalia to the stadium kitty korner. I wonder why people just don’t park legally? Its just a few extra steps, I would sit there all game and worry that my car was getting towed
 
Anyway, we got our wraps, moved the car to the street next to the shopping mall, and walked into the crowd to the stadium
 
To be able to have so much money to spend so much on a football stadium for a school is just beyond my frame of understanding. This particular gentleman’s name is plastered all over campus and its generally in the athletics area. 
 
What a difference $30 million dollars makes as we always say as we enter the stadium through one of the tunnels and head to the general admission seats in the end zone. We don’t really care where we sit there. Sure it would be nice to along the 50 yard line, or in the shade as the sun totally beat down on us. Its more about the experience, and we always have such a great time, regardless of the situation
 
Mar sometimes feels when we go to school events that she missed out by not going to a 4 year school. She thinks that all the stuff that goes on in a college, the groups, the cliques, the sporting events, classes, etc. is a rite of passage and shewent from high school to trade school to work without stopping to enjoy the process. She will sit and watch the kids in the student section, watch as they hang out in little groups and will wish that we could tail gate too. I told her we could get there and tailgate as well, maybe next year we’ll add that to our list of things to do…it’s a big list at the moment!
 
Considering that Arizona is 4-1, I knew we were up for a possibly very one sided game. Based on the stats for both teams, the score totally belied what was going on, on the field.
 
It went back and forth, however it was very close, tied at one point. With only a few minutes left to play, Stanford charged down the field and got the final score of the game, to take the lead and with only :25 left, Arizona didn’t have much of a chance.
 
After the win, by one point, the team went over to the student section and to where that ridiculous band was and the celebration commenced. We stayed to watch for a bit and we slowly walked out. We went to the store quickly and I prepared some stew while Mar got ready to go out for the evening. 
 
All in all, it was a lovely day at the Farm, one that I will add to the layers of experiences that we get to have together.