Super Sunday

Sunday started out with a whimper. We slept in for a little bit and recovered from all the miles and all the smiles we endured throughout the weekend up to that point. While I am all for being a social butterfly, it can take a tole on a guy when he's used to spending at least half his day in silence around the house. So the extended sleepy time was much needed.

Side note, now that we got the new Queen sized bed I am sleeping much better. And I know Adie will say the same thing. Who would have thought that an extra 6 inches would make all the difference. Actually don't think about it. I don't want me and 6 inches to be associated together. Why start now.

Back on track. Adie headed up to Anderson around noon for her family stuff and I was left to my own devices around the house. I was still planning on heading over to Lauren and Lou's to watch the game. I was just messing around the house picking up a tiny tiny bit and doing some laundry. Lou called around 2 and asked/demanded that I go with him on some picture taking expedition.

I had gone one one these with him prior after we got sushi one day for lunch and Lou saw a train. For those of you that don't know, one of Lou's greatest loves in this world is to take pictures of trains. Not just the trains, but specifically the engines. He knows all about which tracks go where and the history of the trains that run on them. So when he saw this specfic train he knew that it was headed for the famed Stand By Me bridge that goes over Lake Lemon. He had been dying to get a specific shot of this train going over it and the chase was on. Because of his desire to get a shot of the engine, that of course meant that we had to get ahead of the train with enough time to set up and get ready to shoot it as it goes by. While I don't share in his love of trains to the extent he does, and no one will ever consider me a photo buff, it was still fun to share in a moment with him. His excitement wore off on me and it was fun just to ride around and get hyped for an event that I had probably seen happen a hundred times in my life. But this time with a new appreciation. He got the shot he was wanting by the way.

So anyway, he called me up and asked if I wanted to go to the abandoned IU observatory. I of course had no idea what the hell he was talking about. But Lou is not the one to take no for an answer, so when I informed him that I wasn't even dressed at the time he said " Put some pants on asshole, your going. I'll be over in five minutes"

So off we go to the secret location of the abandoned astronomy observatory. I have no idea when this was built, or when it was then left for new digs by the university. Upon our arrival to the spot we noticed a fence, so we figured we would go around the perimeter to see if there was a broken spot somewhere along the way for us to hop over and get to the picture taking. Much to our simultaneous delight and confusion the fence only covered on side of the property. I guess they figured that if you saw fence on the one side, you would just abandon all hope and disappear. But we were much more resourceful and walked the extra 100 yards and walked right around the end of it into the grove of trees. Our next fortuitous discovery is that the building isn't even locked up. There is a halfway broken latch that keeps the door from swinging open, but that's it.

Once we got into the building Lou took some shots and headed up the steps to the second level. This building was used before the advent of machinery because instead of having a roof that would open and close wherever there was a set of pulleys that would rotate the entire rotunda roof to meet wherever the telescope needed to go. There was one open patch in the roof where you would be able to see out, and I image there was some kind of big wheel to turn to get the roof to rotate into position. It was very cool and Lou got some really good shots. All in all we spent about 20 minutes before shoving off. We were sure to "Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints" which lou said at some point in a mocking tone. I imagine this is some kind of photographers code to live by, but I imagine we would use it only if we got caught trespassing and tried to pass ourselves off the the police as just a couple of artsy nerds who would rather take pictures of cool stuff than watch the football game that day. Thankfully it didn't come to this and we took off with no one the wiser.

Our next stop in cool shit was an abandoned water slide formerly known as "The Zoom Flume." Shut down sometime ago, all that remains is the broken down remnants of changing rooms and a pump house. And the slide of course. The slide consists of steep blue concrete walls that bank at almost impossible to comprehend angles. The width of the slide was also a concern of mine, as I couldn't see how fattys could have enjoyed such a ride. The slide loops around and around and probably would have taken about 20 seconds to complete. Lou says that you also had to ride some kind of sled when you went down it, which also seems impossible due to the tight corridors you were supposed to be rushing through. Once again there was no lock or gate to this place. Just an abandoned driveway and some brush. Lou had been there before but we took some shots anyway. I was relegated to holding shit while he took the pictures which was fine by me. I did take a few shots on Lou's very nice film camera, including one of him taking pictures with his other camera. Im sure it will come out looking like every other shot of people taking pictures, but I still took some pictures during our excursion dammit!!!

The rest of the afternoon prior to the game was filled with us going to the grocery and fucking around because I couldn't go over to their house till after 5pm. Lauren instructed Lou on this fact and made sure that no one would be over prior because she was cleaning. She was a bit more concerned about the whole thing than Lou or I was.

The game itself was highlighted by some excellent snacks lovingly prepared by Lauren, and some kick ass brats by Lou. While most of us there that day were rooting for the Giants half heartedly, it never appeared that it was going to happen. The fourth quarter finally provided some drama and capped off what will be a memorable superbowl, if only for one quarter.

I can't say that game could have turned out any better from my point of view. It is my belief that most of the patriots of this season will take off for greener pastures and fatter contracts. Which I am all for. Parity is what the NFL needs at this point.

Overall my Sunday started off as a whimper, and roared forward into adventures and experiences that I won't soon forget. If only they could all go this splendidly.