National Championship

 

Very exciting!
And the event takes place down the street!

We attended the rally.

View from the rally.
The tennis courts are across from the tall buildings.

D3 team championship bracket

Darn

I Don't Understand

 

Scorigami is a new word for me

Campus Entertainment

 

A play within a play

The Play that Goes Wrong
Review by the campus newspaper here.

Men's basketball, away

Women's basketball, at home

Not only did I enjoy this concert, 

I enjoyed it in Garrison Theater,
a very nice venue that is close to home.

It is nice to live in a college town.

September Leftovers

 

Lots of love locks, but where do they put the keys?

Volleyball is a good sport when it is 103F/40C

Off to look for turtles

Supervising? Watching paint dry?

Weekend Activites

 It was nice to have a weekend with only a few activities.

The library was hosting a bring-a-plant, get-a-plant
event and also had small pots to paint.

The baby and her mother came and we tried to
paint her hand onto the pot. Easier said than done.

From there we went to the first game of the Division III women's water polo national championship. It was hosted by the Sagehens and included one other team from the region (the cross-street rivals), one team from a region that included Austin College and one team from a region that included Augustana College. Both California teams won the first round with lopsided scores.

I learned that Austin College has a kangaroo as a mascot because they had a Kangaroo Kourt, but people liked that so they got a real kangaroo as a mascot. It died so they bought another one. I am happy to say that now only humans dressed up as kangaroos represent the college.

We watched a tiny bit of baseball, but mostly chatted with people.

In the evening we went joined the First Saturday Art Walk, which included a performance inside the movie theater's lobby.

It rained a bit overnight but was dry enough to get out on the tandem. I wonder how I ever did this ride on my own.

We got back in time to get good seats for the championship game, which was surprisingly not sold out and also surprisingly a bit lopsided.

Sagehens, Division III champions
One of these players will do research with D. this summer.

Time to turn in early to get ready for the week ahead.

April Madness

 

When I saw the brackets in the newspaper I learned that the Final Four would be in Cleveland right before the eclipse. I immediately called my parents to let them know that if anyone was giving away tickets I would love to have one

My mom went online and got free tickets to the practice the day before the final.

The excitement started at the airport.

Please note that there is a train to downtown that leaves directly from the airport, no need to take a shuttle or even go outside.

My neighbor and I took the train from close to home to get to the practice.

We got there before the gates opened

and ended up sitting at center court in the front row of the upper section.

Worth the price!

Each team practiced for an hour.

Each pep band played, too. I was surprised to see a guitar player and also thought it was interesting that they had their music on their phone.

Yes, I did get to see Caitlin Clark shoot lots of three-point shots.

Both teams had men on the court. The guys working with the Iowa team acted as defenders, trying to stop the women from scoring. This article says it is a humbling task.

Afterward people went to a little party on the plaza

Look at that perfect weather!

It was nice to see all the positive posts online.

They were giving away free cans of Coke. No, thanks.
Oh, it has a logo? Yes, please!

View from the train as I headed back to the airport later in the week.

It was a great outing and I loved seeing so many happy people and seeing Cleveland shine.

Busy weekend - Saturday

I love going to water polo games, although
it turns out I love it more when the team wins.

Village Venture seemed a slightly smaller, but still busy enough and filled with people we hadn't seen in over a year. 

I liked that there were some hands-on activities.

I saw one of our favorite trash and recycling guys,
who said he is on a different route now.

My very favorite booth is
the golden retriever rescue group.

I finished that day volunteering at the League of Women Voters booth. It used to be busy because of upcoming elections, but now the state and local elections all happen on even years. The California primary was moved from June to March, which was the biggest news we had to share.