It was a terrible snafu of scheduling. The Chorale had booked the Peace Center early last year to avoid conflicts with Furman football. Then, FU changed the weekend of homecoming, and I found myself needing to be at least three places at once. Laura figured that since I would be tied up with rehearsals and concerts, she would be free to judge Homecoming competitions again this year.
Jim and his son drove up from Florida, and I felt bad about not being able spend much time, or to be able to offer them a place to stay. At least we had a quick (albeit smokey) dinner at Handlebar before I had to rush off to rehearsal.
Friday evening on the mall at Furman has been a tradition with us. It was when Jim and I first met Laura. It didn’t seem quite right to miss it, so even getting out of rehearsal late, I headed over and met up with Laura. The rides and activities were even more elaborate, and we ran into many of Laura’s former students. Turns out that its the reunion year for one of her favorite classes. Again, a nightmarish schedule prevented spending more time with them.
We had just gotten seated on one of the carnival rides when I looked up and spotted Jim on the same ride. He and Trip hjad made it over, afterall. We spent some time goofing off, but by midnight it was time to head in.
On Saturday I rushed over from the morning rehearsal and met Laura, who had lunch with her students. We dropped by the UFFP tailgate, and I was surprised to see that Lis had made it down from Minnesota. Again, another person I would have loved to spend more time with if the schedule hadn’t been so crazy.
The game itself was blessedly boring – no Cardiac Kids this time. I even found myself dozing off between Furman touchdowns. The final score was Furman 45, Elon 6.
Carnival on the Mall
Laura on Rides
