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1:37 p.m. - 2004-09-19 Monmouth CollegeRemember my post on how I was taking a walk everyday to get myself ready for the trip to see my nephew on his college campus? Well, the "training" paid off. I must reiterate here that my physical condition is "beyond sedentary". The physical challenge turned out not to be anything to fear, however the daily walking did pay off as I climbed stairs, took a walking tour of the campus, and walked around during the barbeque, all with my back intact and not giving out. No huffing no and no puffing....that is until I was required to climb a hill so steep that it appeared to me more cliff face than hilly incline..(OK...I exaggerate but it was a big deal to the slug here). We decided to watch the football game from the hill rather than the stands and approached the hill from the bottom instead of gradually walking up an incline through the parking lot above. The beginning of the hill had steep concrete stairs. but the top half of the hill was even too steep for stairs and as I hoisted my largess...or should I say Large Ass..to the top step, I realized that there was no way in hell that I was going to make it to the top of the slope. I called to my much more active family, trudging above me, for help and my nephew's girlfriend, Joy, a tiny little wisp of a girl, came back to give me a hand. As I reached out to take this tiny little things hand, I realized that I had a better chance of pulling her down on top of me than of her being able to hoist me to the top. My nephew's, Don and Sam thankfully came to my resucue and although embarrassing for Auntie P, they did manage to pull me to the top of the hill. By the time I got there, my back had given out, the legs were rubber and we still had to walk over to where we were going to sit, by the time we reached our seats, I honestly don't think I could have taken another step. We sat on a little concrete ledge for 3 hours while watching the Fighting Scots lose their first football game and in that time every muscle in my body tightened up. As we were walking back to the dorm, the site of my stiff slow waddle must have looked like a wooden puppet with a pole up her ass. Now that I have made my confession and reported my improved although still sad physical condition, I will get on the the more pleasant part of the day. There is nothing more enjoyable to me than spending time with my family. We have such a great time together and when the setting is right and the weather picture perfect as it was yesterday and all moods are in a pleasant groove....it is makes a day of pure paradise. It was a beautiful 80 degree day with a perfect breeze blowing just when you needed it. Monmouth College in Monmouth Illinois is an idyllic, picturesque small college of only 1200 students in an old town that has civil war history, Ronald Reagan history and boasts to be the birthplace of Wyatt Earp. The College was founded in 1853. The surrounding town is peppered with quiet streets of Victorian Era homes.
In 3 short weeks, nephew Don has managed to make tons of freinds. We met one great kid after another. Friendly and well spoken, all of them were completely comfortable talking with "Parents". In three short weeks, Donald has gone from boy to man. He has joined a fraternity and has fallen in comfortably with the other guys and they have given each other nicknames. The nicknames are names like "Breakfast", "Stinky Pete", and my nephew's is "BoJangles". As we were walking, we were approached by a couple of guys and Donald set about introducing them to the family. The music playing in the quad was loud and the breeze was blowing, making hearing human voices a bit difficult. Donald introduced a young man to his mother as "Caleb", the kids real name. Linda, heard this introduction incorrectly and thinking that Donald was introducing a kid by one of those crazy nick names, cordially offered her hand to shake and said "Nice to meet you Cantaloupe." The kid just smiled, politely conversed with us for a few minutes and left, while son Sam was mortified that his mother called a kid, "Cantaloupe". Donald set her straight and reitterated that the kids name was "Caleb" and that he had introduced him by his name not his nickname. We were all cracking up at this and Linda, red faced embarked on a quest to find this kid in order to apologize for what she had called him. We finally met up with Caleb again, she apologized, and it turns out that with all the noise and music, he didn't even realize that she had called him Cantaloupe. He said, "My nickname is 'Cable' and I always prefer to introduce myself by my real name and sort of ease into the nickname." We had major belly laughs over that one for the rest of the day and that kid will be forever known as "Cantaloupe" in this family. We attended a barbeque, took a tour of the beautiful, clean and dignified campus and watched their football team, "The Fighting Scots" lose their first game to St. Norberts "Green Knights". Monmouth has a Scottish Heritage and everything has a scottish theme. They have a bagpipe band and Donald is currently taking bagpipe lessons so he can eventually be a part of it. He bought himself a kilt to wear during the football games. I have included a photograph of him below. He assured me that he was indeed wearing underpants beneath his kilt. We teased him and called it his skirt.
After the game, we drove to Galesburg for dinner and then back to Monmouth to attend a concert by an Acappella group from Madison, Wisconsin called BC3. I have to say that at first I was just along for the ride on this one. My sister loves to go to concerts and I sort of expected a choir. What we got was 4 guys who made the sounds of every instrument in an orchestra with their mouths. All they had was themselves and a sound system and wireless mic's and they sang everything from rock, pop, country, gospel and hip hop, using nothing but voice, lips, and tounges. They had choreography and humor built into their act and it was a non stop hour and a half of some of the best showmanship I have ever seen. I think I fell in love with the bass singer who could also make the sound of any percussion instrument with his mouth. What a babe. Ok...I am old enough to be his mother...but I'm old....not dead. Chalk it up to another perfectly wonderful day with my loving family. P. I. Yarnsmith
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Stating this fact aloud to my family got a reaction from 15 year old nephew Sam. "Oh God Aunt Paula....I don't want to hear that....too much information" as he threw his head back, covered his ears, closed his eyes and grimaced in embarrassment.