February 3, 2029: Super Bowl Sunday afternoon

Super Bowl Sunday. In the past forty years, my interest in the Super Bowl has declined consistently and precipitously. One of the joys of starting my withdrawal from the life of full-time work after fifty years -- almost as long as there has been a "Super Bowl" -- is not having to pay attention to the media hype, or to search for a good party to attend, or to check out the best commercials or Puppy Bowl, or to worry about which aging celebrity (I am the aging part, just not the celebrity) is going to do a needlessly overproduced halftime show.

Instead, I'll relax. I'll spend some time on preparing for the week and in preparing the second exam and the middle third of the semester. I will reflect on some recent losses of dear friends and count my blessings, starting with the three wonderful women in my life and including my health and sense of security. I try to avoid thinking about politics and political correctness, and instead enjoy a nice walk on a warming winter's day (from zero to fifty degrees in less than three days) with my curated Amazon Prime (who can manage today without a Prime account?) playing my eclectic music mix through my wireless headphones. I might even think of some place that is likely to be empty due to the Super Bowl, but the library is closed on Sunday night and I don't really have the urge to go out.

The most interesting aspect of the Super Bowl for me is to think of all the places I have been on the day of the Super Bowl, from Eden to Binghamton to State College to Lawrence to Laramie to Milwaukee to Appleton to Conway to Timonium. Being in those places was more exciting than watching the game, or in attending the game, I think. And tomorrow you don't have to let me know who won, who made the big plays, or how bad the halftime show was...

I've pretty much given up on the journal I've been keeping since 1972. That started to slack off when the girls were born, and Facebook took up some of the slack for the last ten years. This blog may become my new journal. We will see.

Eden Central High School graduation, June 1969