It had been going on for a couple of months. One of my husband's clients were going to be out of town during the weekend of a Chicago Bears home game for which they had season tickets. On Sundays over the years, as well as occasional Mondays and Thursdays, I have begun to understand, in a general sense, American football, When I am not working we often watch at least a portion of the Bears games. We have even watched them in Jackson Hole and Puerto Rico. This client's absence would be an opportunity to see a game live in the stadium. Two obstacles stood in our way.
Obstacle #1: Would we be the recipient of the tickets? There were apparently several possible alternate choices.
Obstacle #2: Would I have that Sunday off or. were we to get the tickets, would someone have to take my place?
We got the tickets and due to me being firm and unwavering with my coworkers I had the Sunday off. Once we had the tickets in hand and I saw their face value I realized that this could very well be the one and only professional football game I would ever attend.
It had poured rain the during the week and the day before the game. That morning, however, promised to turn into the type of fall day one relishes. Bright sun, temperatures in the low to mid 60's, in short, glorious football weather. Brilliant leaves clung to the trees and formed a multi hued carpet on the ground in the parkland that lines Chicago;s lakefront. The sunlight accentuated the colors as our bus made it's way down Lakeshore Drive.
We had given ourselves extra time. Too many details could go awry. Erratic bus schedules, extra security once we got to the stadium, finding our seats. As always when one displays an excess of caution things could have not gone more smoothly. We stopped for coffee and a roll figuring that even the overpriced environs of Starbucks would be less expensive than buying food at the game.We enjoyed the downtown scene, which often borders on chaotic. As we exited Starbucks a woman. face pulled overly taut in a vain attempt to recapture her youthful looks entered with a man with a wrinkled visage and scruffy long hair. obviously unconcerned with recapturing his. A zydeco band played in a plaza as we continued to the stadium.
We went through the long line created by the stadium's tight security when we arrived. The columns of the original Soldier Field are visible from the ramps leading to the seats that wrap around the newer structure. Views of the city are framed between them .Our seats were midway up, just off the 50 yard line. We reveled in the beauty of the day, taking pictures with our phones and then posting them on Facebook. We cheered on the team and discovered what occurs during the commercials on t.v. Young men run out on the field with flags bearing the teams insignia, then run back to the sidelines again. We "made noise" as instructed by the megatron signs and had a generally wonderful time.
Sadly, despite a couple of excellent plays made by Jay Cutler, the type the consistently inconsistent quarterback is occasionally capable of, in the last few seconds of the game we lost. Ah well, it's only a game. We left with smiles on our faces having had a wonderful time on an incredibly beautiful early November day.
