Just Musing: A royal farewell, an OSU blackout, and some word play
Nearly all television stations carried the funeral of Britain’s longest serving royalty this past week. Queen Elizabeth faithfully served her nation 70 years and was pretty well liked around the world.
I enjoyed watching all the pomp and circumstance along with pageantry and the precise marching of those assigned as royal soldiers. I have watched the funerals of most of our U.S. presidents that have had state funerals. We don’t have all the pageantry, but those I have watched were very high class and well organized. In my opinion, the funeral for President John F Kennedy came the closest to that of Queen Elizabeth minus all the soldiers.
I have been visiting family in the D.C. area the past two weeks. My son-in-law saw on television that The Ohio State Buckeyes are wearing their all black uniforms for the Wisconsin game and encouraging those attending the game to also wear black. A graduate of OSU, he gets upset every time he sees the team wearing black, insisting that the college colors are scarlet and gray. I agree. I grew up cheering for the scarlet and gray, my high school colors were red and gray and my children attended Elgin whose school colors were also red and gray — so, for me it has been an ongoing wardrobe of red/scarlet and gray. Either way, my hope is the Buckeyes walked off with a “W” against the Badgers.
A few weeks back, I had written about a daily word game I’ve enjoyed — at least most of the time. It is called Wordle, sponsored by the New York Times. I had also mentioned I preferred it over crossword puzzles anymore. I received an email from Ryan Mice also from the Times who reminded me there are still many readers who are diehard crossword folks and included a link to his works. It also includes hints and a place for answers — something I just learned is also available for Wordle and something I wish I didn’t know so I wouldn’t be tempted to cheat. If you choose to do either or both, they are good exercise for the brain.
My daughter and I are on the road Ohio bound as I write this today (Wednesday) which has been a barrel of fun. My service comes and goes as we drive through the mountains in Maryland, testing my Christianity as I am constantly restarting my iPad. We encountered road construction on I-81, I-68, I-79, I-70 , I-470 and U.S. 33 as well as a couple of cloudbursts pouring down rain so hard the windshield wipers were worthless.
I’ve also seen on social media that students are missing school with varying illnesses running from sore throat, runny noses, cough and overall listlessness already. Are we headed for a big round of influenza this winter? I got my flu shot the end of August. Hopefully, it is the correct strain for this years flu.
Let me leave you with this quotation by Michael Treanor: “Exercise not only tones the muscles, but also refines the brain and revives the soul.”
Until next week. Practice good hygiene and be safe. COVID is still on the prowl. Happy fall!
Brenda Donegan is a former Marion Star staffer. She may be reached at brendadonegsn55@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Marion Star: A royal funeral, OSU uniforms and a favorite word game
