My dear wife, Carrie, is in the kitchen working on the makings of tomorrow’s Thanksgiving feast.  No one does it better.  Just ask anyone who ever wandered into her kitchen.

I went to see a specialist type doctor yesterday.  To say a neurosurgeon is looking at how healthy my back is or is not seems rather serious.  All I can say is my back hurts.  It has been hurting for 33 years.  The old L 4/5 injury…lower back.  When I was 15 the first neurosurgeon I saw about this ailment said the words “Down the road…” as in down the road he will probably have problems to deal with.  I did not think the road would be so short.  I figured down the road meant when I was 88…not 48.  Oh well.  I will press onward.

The Rose Bowl.

There are times in our lives when we have built things up in our mind and the reality of being does not live up to what we had either dreamed or conjured up in our minds.  I can tell you I had the highest of expectations last weekend when my Dad and I traveled to Pasadena to see USC play UCLA in The Rose Bowl Stadium.

The place lived up to those expectations and actually exceeded them.  I didn’t think that was possible.

I remember a line from the movie “Broadcast News” when William Hurt’s character, Tom, asked Albert Brooks’ character, Aaron, “What do you do when your real life exceeds your dreams?”  Aaron looked at him and told him to keep it to himself.  Well, The Rose Bowl, a place that has been the Sugarcandy Mountain of Football Stadiums in my dreams, was more than I ever expected.  The whole trip was a blessing.  My Dad had a blast.  I am so glad he did.

What follows are several pictures and a few words about the trip.

I walked down Rosemont Ave and at the bottom of the hill that had houses and trees on both sides, I found this…

I thought…it is real.

Later that day, Dad and I took the train to Santa Monica.  It was very beautiful.  It was only the second time I had seen the Pacific Ocean.  The Atlantic is an old friend.  The Pacific, which I saw the first time in Hawaii, was different.  To see the sun there over the water in the late afternoon seemed a bit odd I must say.

The LA Union Station terminal is a bit docile compared to NYC’s.  The architecture is gorgeous.

From the train, I took this photo.  I have never seen so many cars and so many people as far as the eye can see for such a long distance.  Hollywood, LA, Burbank, Culver City, Pasadena, Santa this and Santa that…they all run together and they are all full of folks.  And I must say, the people were very friendly.  I was impressed.  I did not know what to expect.

Some rides on the Santa Monica Pier.

This is the Courtyard of the Pasadena City Hall.  It too was remarkable to the eye.

SO WAS THIS…

My Dad was buying a hat at the UCLA STORE tent.  He wanted a hat.  He only has about 500.  He needed another one.  So he bought one outside the Rose Bowl before the game.

In front of the tent, there were UCLA cheerleaders sitting at a table signing items and talking to folks.  I yelled at my Dad as he was coming out of the sales tent; I told him to go stand in front of the table so I could get a picture of him with the UCLA cheerleaders.  He made his move over to the table.

That was not enough for the cheerleaders.  They sprung into action!

A few joined in and then more joined in…

And then more joined in…and I had to tell them that enough was enough…though I appreciated their effort.

It worked out well.  Dad’s legend has grown again.

Here he is walking through the tunnel to the see the inside of The Rose Bowl.  It was a twenty yard tunnel.  I had never seen anything like it.

Inside we found this.  I was a nervous wreck.  We made it.

I think this is my favorite picture.

Watching kickers warm up before the game.

There really are roses at The Rose Bowl.

Fantastic.

The USC Marching Band

Script UCLA

The UCLA Bruins lost to USC 36 to 14.

It was still a good time had by all.

I have been asked what possessed me to up and take my Dad to the Rose Bowl to watch a football game.  Honestly, I think my Granny had something to do with it.  Granny died two years ago yesterday.  It was a Saturday.  We were all gathered at Granny’s and I went home for a while.  I was on the elliptical downstairs when the phone rang.  It was Carrie.  She and my sister were at Granny’s bedside when she passed.  The rest of the day was a blur of time and emotion and stillness and silence and loss and time that doesn’t make sense and awkward bewilderment and grief and relief and more silence and just some kind of stuff that goes with a day like…when you lose someone you love.  It was a long day.  It was a November Saturday.  When Carrie and I finally got home that night, I fell on the couch and looked at the TV.  It was not on.  It was a silent black screen.  And I knew my Granny would not want me to sit and look at that.  I turned a football game on.  

USC was playing UCLA in The Rose Bowl.  Granny always wanted to be there to see a game.

Last Saturday, she made it there.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson