A GOOD HOCKEY STICK

When I was growing up, my family held/shared season tickets to the Cornell Men's Hockey program. I spent the first couple of years going to games and reading; eventually I was sucked in. Hockey is a very good sport to go see. It moves fast, it has enthusiastic fans, and it is conducive to the ingestion of hot chocolate.

Cornell hockey fans are unique in that they curse loudly, often, and in unison. I learned the breadth of my cussing at Cornell hockey games. Even the clean cheers had a real way about them. When the pep band played the national anthem, the fans would yell "RED!" and nothing else at the proper moment (Cornell is, somewhat inexplicably, "The Big Red"). Songs were sung, cowebells rung, and fish were thrown. When current coach Mike Schafer took the reins, he made public requests to the fans, asking them to tone down the blue. Many of the old cheers have been worked over a little to provide for the young ones in the audience -- an old "ASSHOLE!" has been replaced with "YOU GOON!"

So, Dad has season tickets to his local hockey program, UNO. It was a flat game, the highlight of which was the Pee-Wee hockey league who toddled out during the first intermission. Notre Dame spanked UNO. Dad tells me that one of the refs who used to work the ECAC (Cornell's league) is now working the North Central Conference, UNO's league. He's a terrible ref, all penalties and no vision. And, if the old time cheers of Lynah are to be believed, he enjoys sexual congress with barnyard animals.

My family watched what appeared to be funnel clouds appearing and disappearing in the distance towards the American River canyon. It was during a time in which storms were moving in and severe thunderstorms were taking place to the south of us. It took us a while to get the telephoto lense installed and start clicking. The cloud had been one large dark form, then by the time we started taking pictures, it had formed into the two faint images you see here. In a matter of one minute from the time this photo was taken, they had disappeared.