Just Another Monday

On the Aegean Sea, With Sami, Who Will Visit Chautauqua In A Few Weeks

8:30

Up at 7:15, some light, a gray sky, no guys out fishing, and colder, 18º.  Evie's up now and we are enjoying just relaxing, sipping coffee, talking about our great weekend.  And we are both excited because two of my Turkish students from forty years ago are going to visit us at the lake for a few days. They showed us amazing hospitality when we visited Turkey in 2009, taking us all over Istanbul and Turkey.  They are headed to Miami but will spend a couple of days here at the lake.  Crazy, right, especially at this time of the year but we are looking forward to it.  Let's hope they like to ice fish!

The team met for breakfast around 8:00 on Sunday morning, said our good byes, see you next year, and we were on our way by 9:30, some driving home, some flying back to Florida.  We were fortunate to have decent weather all the way back, a few flurries in Canton but that's about it.  We said our good byes to Vi in Painesville around 1:00 and were home at the lake by 3:15, a beautiful ride actually as there had been a fairly heavy snow storm earlier in the day, frosting all the trees, the woods, for at least sixty miles.  We timed it perfectly, avoiding the heavy squalls, enjoying the beautiful aftermath.

We quickly unpacked, pulled some taco stuff out of the freezer and pantry, so dinner was easy and we relaxed until the Super Bowl, listening to the pre game on the radio, having a glass of wine, reliving our weekend, laughing at all the fun we had.  It's really neat to get together with old acquaintances, now good friends.  Just a couple of us were good friends fifty years ago but are much closer now as a result of our reunions, an interesting experience, to get to know old teammates better now than before.  The same experience took place with my Turkish teammates on our visit back in 2009.  We had not seen each other in thirty five years but it was as if we were never apart, picking up where we left off as teammates and great friends.  Both teams cherish their friendships made and their championship season, the Bobcats Final Eight in 1964, and Turkish Champions for Besiktas, back in 1974-75.  Winning is always special, even more so if it's the league championship or going to the final eight in the NCAA.

Reunion in 2009, With My Besiktas Teammates, Turkish Champions in 1975

Reunion This Past Weekend, With 1964 Ohio University Bobcats

The Super Bowl was a bore, going the way I predicted but did not want.  Seattle's defense shutting down the Broncos.  We had our tacos for the game, stayed with it, putting off the urge to change channels and watch Downton Abbey at 9:00.  We will watch it tonight. A great weekend,  and now a busy week.