This morning — only a day or so before the official start of autumn — we had our first cold morning in many months.
The last few weeks we’ve moved gradually from hot, sweaty, shorts and t-shirt mornings to cooler, pleasant, long pants and long-sleeved shirts mornings. This morning, with the temperature hovering around a bracing 40 degrees, I had to break out my favorite hooded sweatshirt for the first time — and I needed it, too.
The night skies were clear and the stars blazed, and it was as if the warmth had been sucked from the world. Water vapor billowed from the surfaces of the darkened ponds and creeks into the brisk air as we walked past, and we were just on the edge of frost on the ground and visible breath. I felt the familiar sensation of numbing cold creep into the tip of my nose, my exposed ears, and my fingers.
As we neared the end of the walk, I looked forward with anticipation to a piping hot cup of black coffee. We get accustomed to the heat, and then we get accustomed to the cold. A steaming cup of coffee helps.
Normally the first games of the year are great. You get back into the football mode, do a little tailgating, watch the Buckeyes kick the butt of some overmatched team, and get to see lots of players play. But tomorrow’s game will not be a normal game, and I’m not talking about the off-season developments or the fact that seven Buckeyes are suspended for the contest.
Super 8 is a great summer movie. It draws deeply on the strong Hollywood tradition of youngster “coming of age” movies. Think of E.T., and Stand By Me, and you will get a sense of the arc of the storyline. The movie is set in 1979 — and in Ohio! — where a gang of nerdy young boys who are filming a Super 8 movie about zombies end up enmeshed in a much bigger story than they expected. The hero, who is dealing with tragedy in his own life, grows up quickly as he is faced with great challenges, and along the way the dialogue between the kids crackles, there are a number of humorous moments, and terrific recreations of the 1970s clothing styles, hairstyles, and lifestyles bring back lots of memories. Couple that with some very moving set pieces — a scene where the young male and female leads inadvertently watch some home movies left Kish in tears — as well as action, sci-fi, an alien, a military cover-up, and just the right amount of computer-generated special effects, and you’ve got all of the elements that anyone could want in a summer blockbuster.
Director J.J. Abrams seems to have his hand on the pulse on America in the same way that Steven Spielberg did during his heyday. Abrams gets wonderful performances from his two leads — Joel Courtney as the growing-up-before-our-eyes Joe Lamb, and Elle Fanning in a stunning tour de force as Alice Dainard — but the rest of the young cast members are quite good, too. (I particularly liked Ryan Lee as firecracker-obsessed Cary, a pitch-perfect ’70s kid.) They also are tremendously believable as the wisecracking young gang that is struggling to grow up while also still reveling in simple childlike pursuits, like lighting firecrackers, building models, and trying to make Super 8 movies. The adult actors are all good, but the kids really steal the show.
What does the label tell you? It says that the dry cider is 5% alcohol by volume and that it has 140 calories per 12-ounce serving and no fat (whoo-hoo!) but some sugar. The cider is made from fermented apple juice. It has a crisp, clean, slightly fruity taste — very pleasant and refreshing on a muggy evening. Of course, the main issue is whether it continues to taste good and doesn’t become sickeningly sweet after you pound the third or fourth bottle.
Our group walks and carries our bags to maximize the exercise and rhythm of the golfing experience. Today, only a hole or two into the round, it was as if someone had drenched us with buckets of warm fluid. We drank water — Lord knows we drank lots of water — but sweated it out immediately.
