LIVIN' ALONE...WAITIN' on the TELEPHONE...

.....I've been "living" alone now for a week" since RH+ went to New York for four different events; her daughter, Renèe, getting Bat Mitzvahed (she's 40+); then taking Ilana to a camp in Pennsylvania where she's to be a counselor (she's 17); watching the other granddaughter, Allison, graduate from 6th grade (she's 12); and attending her brother's new grandson's "bris" (8 days; the brisee, not the brother. Please don't make a painful mistake about that). I miss the little woman, and find it hard to sleep at night--perhaps I should say--difficult to sleep at night. But, after my divorce in '76, I lived alone for seven years, so I've had plenty of practice. Of course, I was 27+ years younger then; and I was able to walk caneless. But I survived the week, difficult as it may have been, and I am picking up Rho at the airport this evening and taking her direct to the lobster dinner I owe her because we were separated when our anniversary occurred on the 19th of June.

.....One very important thing that got me easily through the week was the televised World Cup games. I happily watched four of them each day; two in the morning and two in the afternoon. Of course, I have an abiding interest in the USA national team who played England (a heavy favorite) to a draw; Slovenia (wherever that is) to a draw; and a thrilling, bone-chilling, heart stopping defeat of Algeria in an overtime minute which allowed them to move on to the next round of 16 teams. There were 32 teams in the World Cup, representing 32 different countries, if you can visualize that--and the effect it has on the people of those countries, virtually all of them, soccer being their national sport, which they call "Futbol." It's the only real world game, and most everyone who follows soccer calls it "The Beautiful Game", and that it is. Oh, I know that here in America, a majority of our millions most likely find it boring to watch, probably because there are so few goals--but that is because they don't understand the game or how to follow it or don't know the rules, or dislike the referees or the constant racket of the vevezuela horns. So sad.

.....Well, I'm an avid soccer fan. I played in high school and in college and I coached the freshman team in high school, then the junior varsity, and then the varsity for 30 years. Soccer is beautiful to watch if you concentrate first on the amazing skill of the players; then on how the attack builds up from the back to the front; then on the skill of the defenders and especially the goalkeeper. The expectation of a goal being scored by the team you are rooting for builds tension as the 90 minutes roll on. Imagine the fitness level of the players as they run full tilt up and down the 120 yd. length and the 75 yd. wide "pitch" as the field is called. When the American team defeated Algeria on Wednesday, in the last minute, imagine the joy of the thousands of fans in the stands who journeyed to So. Africa. And imagine the explosion of cheers of joy in the sports bars across our land, and especially in Duffy's! OK, now that I've got all this off my chest, you can go back to what you were doing as you shake your head. Just cheer for the US as they play Ghana at 2pm tomorrow.