Joe always manages to show us a great time when we visit him in Boulder. First, as always, is food! Our first dinner was at The Sink, a funky little restaurant that has been there since 1922, with wild and crazy artwork all over the walls, and years and years of graduates signatures on the ceiling. I felt a bit wistful thinking of all the young people who had inscribed their names for posterity only to have it eventually covered up, as it should be, by subsequent generations. There, at a true college town icon, I had the best burger I’ve ever had in my life, grass fed – wow. Delish.

Joe has a great little “studio” apartment on the bottom level of an old 10 unit building. He has fixed it up just to suit him – no kitchen, but a fridge, a George Foreman grill, a coffee maker. What more do you need? I was pleased to see things like bananas and apples on the menu, as well as the statement: “What can you possibly cook in the microwave that can be any good for you?” This made me sigh a sigh of relief because for the first few years Joe lived on his own he lived on fast food. Mothers, mothers, when will we ever learn that we have only to plant the seeds and if grown on fertile ground they will blossom?

Saturday afternoon things started to get moving. The Colorado Buffaloes vs University of Georgia game was set to begin at 5 p.m It was a perfect October day in the mountains, not too chilly, not too hot, football, football, football in the air. There were Georgia fans everywhere, those SEC folks are SERIOUS about their football. Joe said he’d never seen so many visitors in the stands.

Now, I didn’t know this before Joe went to CU, but the team mascot is an actual buffalo. Yes, most of the game is presided over by a regular guy in a buffalo suit, (his name is Chip – get it? Buffalo Chip? Har de har har har) but at the beginning of each half, Ralphie the Buffalo takes a run around the field. Ralphie is actually a girl buff, a male buff would be impossible to control. Super atheletic young men in an elite group of varsity athletes called the Ralphie Handlers escort her around the field. They actually get an athletic letter for doing this. It’s quite a thing to watch them keep up with her and guide her…these guys are a running a top speed with sprinting strides. It’s really not clear who is totally in control but there are plenty of handlers waiting all around to take over if some lame human can’t keep up with a speedy buffalo. If you have nothing better to do, search up the October 2, 2010 game when a sports reporter gets knocked on his arse. At first it appears the extra handlers accidentally run him over, but review of the play (football terms I’m learning) reveal the reporter was headed in a path that would have put him colliding with Ralphie. One handlers does a shoulder block and another trips him and he lands flat on his buttinski. It’s a classic. Those guys don’t mess around, you WILL NOT endanger the future of the Ralphie Run. You can sue us for knocking you over but a lawsuit against Ralphie would end this wonderful tradition forever.

It is also lots of fun before Ralphia comes out – they have on the big screen a countdown: Ralphie I, Ralphie II, Ralphie III, Ralphie IV with wonderful vintage clips of previous honorees, and then finally:”Heeere coooomes Raaalphie!” and out she bolts around the field.

A little research turns up that Ralphie sometimes doesn’t run – the handlers know her temperament, and if she’s got “that look in her eye” it’s called off, national TV or no. Off days Ralphie really has it rough – she lives on a Colorado ranch. I want to be Ralphie. The location is not disclosed for obvious reasons and she leaves the stadium long after the game and although I doubt any students who would be inclined to follow her would be sober enough to do it, I imagine they would have have a long trip-to-nowhere through the mountains before they would give up and go home.

Ralphie’s trip TO the stadium is no secret, though, she is taken in her state of the art trailer, emblazoned with her name, right through The Hill, the just-off-campus neighborhood (home of The Sink!) and right past Joe’s apartment (save the movie jokes, we’re the ones who made them up.) Joe didn’t tell us about it and we were sitting outside on his little patio when there she was! It was very cool. Joe may live there forever, it brings him such enjoyment!

The game was exciting – back and forth several times with CU finally prevailing.
It was a Blackout game. CU fans all wear black. I thought this was a regular thing but , no, it is for special occasions, like beating UGA apparently. (The Georgia Bulldog was also there and is pretty dang cute as well). The last Blackout was in 2008. The tradition includes storming the field if they win and indeed they did: it was like watching ants swarm over a piece of cake.

Obviously I had a great time. I am kind of likng this stage of motherhood where my offspring make the decisions and tell me where to go and feed me at their favorite watering holes. It was so relaxing, despite miles of walking from one end of campus to another and despite…

Colorado’s revenge. Al went to bed “not feeling well” on Saturday night and within an hour was makin’ love in the bathroom with a certain porcelain fixture. Sunday he spent all day in bed, Joe and I went out to dinner, I did a little shopping and bought some light food for Al. Then we said goodbye, which I always hate and now understand deeply how my Mom must feel whenever we say goodbye.

Monday a.m. Al and I were up at 4:30 a.m. to get to the airport where we kissed and went our separate ways. Probably should have skipped the kiss, even though it was a peck on the cheek. I worked Monday, came home and put on my PJs straightaway as I was so tired and…picked up where my husband left off. It is now Wednesday and although I started this little travelogue yesterday I could only get through a few paragraphs because my brain was mush. Feeling much better today and ready to finish up the work week and head to Illinois for three weeks with a little side trip to Pittsburgh, PA.

See you there!