The Cornhuskers were 5-3 after our win over Purdue game (a game that I attended), and I knew that in the last four games we should be able to win at least one, enabling us to reach the magical six wins to be bowl eligible.
I also — seriously — thought that we had a good chance of winning all four of those on the schedule:
Michigan St., Maryland, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Our defense had really jelled and was playing solid ball, espsecially against the run. Our offense was sputtering a little but was doing well enough to get by.
Those four games went approximately like this: lost by a last second field goal; lost by a late fourth quarter touchdown; lost by a last second field goal; and lost by a last second field goal. Turnovers have been our bane this year, like an unbelievable number of fumbles. I WILL say this: the Huskers sure provide entertaining football! We finished the year at 5-7.
Keep in mind that this is a very young team — lots of frosh and soph players out there. We have three QBS who can run the ball. And I like that the offense was showing occasional option looks. *If* we could run the option with the fluidity of a Tommie Frazier or Turner Gill … okay, if we could also have Irving Fryar as receiver or slot back
Home Safety
I have become more apprehensive when walking downstairs and (sometimes) upstairs. My wife is being proactive and is making the house safer. This past week, she installed double rails going down the garage steps between the kitchen and garage; she installed double rails going down the steps from the driveway to the backyard; she installed two safety grips in the shower, and she bought a shower bench seat so that I wouldn’t have to stand while showering.
Physical Activity
I went on two walks last week of one mile each, once with the walker and once without. I should be doing that every day or at least every other day. My trike is back from the bicycle shop, so I need to get that out and about. A year ago, I was doing a lot of riding on the ATT (American Tobacco Trail) and could go 20 or 30 miles with no problems. It’s been cold this past week and I don’t likel riding in the cold. I should maybe take the trike out this afternoon though (depending on the temp outside). We’ll see.
I am taking Tai Chi (as opposed to Chai Tea) once a week, and that’s helping balance (somewhat) but especially helps me with “intentional movement” — that is, when I start careening out of control,l I can just tell myself, “STOP,” and then begin what’s called “Chi walking,” where each step is a focused movement.
Mental Activity
So I’m still writing / reading, more of the latter than the former. I have put together a manuscript of stories written by my great grandfather (Mom’s mom’s father) and am debating whether to make it public or just publish a few volumes for the currently living members in our genealogy. He was a good writer and the stories are fun, quite original. Some funny, some romantic, some serious, some patriotic, some mysterious — all combined into one volume. Currently there are 46 stories and 2 poems. I have enough of his poetry that I could make a whole ‘nother book; I have enough long stories that I could make yet another whole book …. and I have two or three novels that are missing some pages. I also have a couple hundred paged legal practice “how to” books (he was a lawyer). He also was doing his own style of Bible homiletics and/or commentary and was working on summarizing the Bible as a whole. He was working on Exodus I think at the time of his death.
This is good stuff.