Jill's Journal: Good-bye torpedo Sundays, hello Vikings
By:
Jill Meier, Journal editor
There’s a hint of fall in the air. And I’m OK with that. After the recent string of near 100-degree days paired with ghastly humidity, I’m a happy woman these days.
I have a love-hate relationship with both summer and fall.
I love when summer arrives and all that comes with it. I hate the unbearable temperatures and the even uglier humidity that oftentimes comes with it.
I love when the fall season arrives, too. The cooler morning temperatures that have you pulling the covers up to your neck, and the onset of the fall colors in the trees and across the rural landscape.
And of course, my “maybe next year” Minnesota Vikings will soon be consuming several hours of my Sunday afternoons.
I hate what comes after fall – winter. Well, at least some parts of winter, like the blazing brutal winds that accompany mounds of snowfall and nasty icy roads that sometimes land me on derriere.
While this summer has been somewhat abnormal compared to past summers, I am going to miss the roar of the crowd at the baseball games, freshly-grown fruits and veggies, rounds of golf and torpedo Sundays.
What’s a torpedo Sunday you ask?
It’s a game that a few of my friends and I concocted with a “couple of young fish in the water.” With swimming pools shut down this summer, my friends and I took up Michael and Jessica Gross on their invitation to “use their pool whenever.”
Upon our first dip in their pool, their two youngest boys, Acadian and Phoenix, invited us to play “torpedos” with them. Essentially, the game consists of tossing rubber torpedo-like toys into the water and then racing to see who can retrieve them first.
Apparently, the boys enjoyed our first game so much, they asked us back a second – and a third – time for more rounds of “torpedo” games, and of course, we happily accepted the invitation. It melted our hearts on one occasion as we drove up to the Gross home. Patiently – and excitedly – waiting there on the driveway to greet us were Acadian and Phoenix.
My friends and I are always up for a play date with the Gross boys. But we’ll remain forever hopeful that the one day the “big boys” will be just as eager for a play date.
