Travelin’ man, love when I can
Turn loose my hand ’cause I’m goin’
Travelin’ man, catch if you can
But sooner than later I’m goin’

Sometimes at night, I see their faces
I feel the traces they left on my soul
Those are the memories that made me a wealthy soul
Those are the memories that made me a wealthy soul 

Bob Seger

So for a moment let me drift back to my 50 Shades of Red post. On Friday, I went back to my skin doctor for some more sun damage removal from my nose and cheek areas. Carolyn threw me out at Paradise Valley Mall since she had to be in Chandler so I had about 3 hours to kill. So I roam the mall, Costco, and eat lunch at Picazzo’s. http://picazzos.com (Organic restaurant.) I like Picazzo’s but I must say they have gotten pricier. Good thing I had that gift card on me.

After eating I walk about a mile down Tatum Blvd to get to my skin appointment and I am now quite red.

So Dr. Cummings gets the ole laser out and it is a steady pulse to the face closing off various vessels. I’m not exactly vain but I figured I would try to get the red out before Caitlin’s wedding. The good news is that the doc noticed I was losing weight. That’s a positive. She also thought my face was looking better. Now that’s a real positive. But more lasers to the face were required. So after multiple zaps like several hundred of them, I’m done. During the process, it actually hurts. One’s eyes are taped shut so as soon as I’m done, the tape comes off, and the water in the eyes just flows. I guess I must have been crying.

Carolyn later reminds me that the pain is the price one pays for beauty. Hmm. Not certain I’m getting much beauty out of it but it is worth the effort to try to undue some serious facial sun damage due to those formative years without sunscreen protection. My advice–never leave your home without it.

After walking back to the Mall area, Carolyn eventually comes and picks me up for the journey back to Payson. While traveling home, Jordyn notifies me that her car won’t start and that she knows nobody with jumper cables so Saturday will get me rolling early.

We are very late arriving to a bbq at the Kane’s house to meet up with some friends and spend some time unwinding.  Good times are had  on the back patio with Mike and Mary Stoll, Claude and Debi Labonte, and the hosts Dave and Ann Kane. A simple warm up of food and all is well. Many fun stories are shared and Mike breaks out the guitar for some music. I must say that Mike is probably one of the most talented individuals I know and I think he could have made it as a musician but he found himself at APS. (Definitely a better retirement program than musician.) The music especially his blues versions with the acoustic are always good to listen to.

The evening ends early for Carolyn and I as since we both have activities scheduled Saturday morning–Carolyn a hike with friends, and me a youth football job officiating in Gilbert.

Saturday morning I pick up my friend Norm Tucker and we head off to make some extra money. For me I’m working for the upcoming wedding for one daughter and for the other’s college education. That extra job is not bad and we get to do something we usually enjoy. We roll by ASU and get Jordyn’s car started (had left parking lights on for a couple days) and head out to Gilbert Christian High School. Oh my! What an absolute beautiful campus this place is. I talk to the guy in concessions who tells me that they have around 300 students and it is built for around 500 students. Two story brick building with a beautiful turf football field right next to the San Tan freeway. http://www.gilbertchristianschools.org It is a beautiful complex.

Our first game is a disaster as one team roll up a 28 point lead early in the 2nd quarter. The game ends as one of the players on the team that is way behind gets hammered on a block that scores the extra point. The young athlete is ok but the fans are up in arms as they charge down and yell at coaches from the opposing team, us officials, and even their own coaches. The only had 13 players to start and their coaches throw in the towel after several parents threaten to pull their young players since they are so overmatched. It is a short game. Somehow the officials get blamed for not being able to prevent this legal block from happening. I did not witness the block as I was umpiring and was checking interior for holds, etc. By all accounts the block was legal and at the point of where the runner was running but the defender never saw it coming. I don’t like those blocks but it is legal contact as it was not away from the action. (Norm and I back in the day.)

The league is a very well run league and they have a paid game administrator and a paid EMT at each game. After the forfeiture and while resting on the sidelines waiting around for the next game, a young parent, who was visibly shaking, came over to yell at the administrator and EMT and I got caught in the crossfire. One of his most disturbing comments was that he was going to find us on “Facebook” and that he was going to “get” our families as well. I told him that I considered that a threat and I would simply call the police and let them handle his threat of the EMT, the game administrator, and now me plus our families. I even asked him if this was a threat and he answered yes he was going to “get” them. Of course, he realized what he had said and decided that his threat was only a “Facebook” thing so it didn’t matter. That was something new for me. Social media threats. I’m just a tad puzzled.

He leaves, we don’t call the police, and eventually he comes back to apologize. He explained that he had four young kids and he wasn’t thinking and so on. I accepted his apology and moved on. The poor guy already had gray hair and weighed about 130 lbs. I almost felt sympathetic for him since you just knew his wife had probably put him up to this. She seemed to be in the background urging him on. I give myself a pat on the back for not losing my temper and staying calm throughout his tirade. Maturity at last.

The other two games we refereed went without problems except it was flat out hot on the turf. Official high of 95 meant lots of water for us. (Plenty of sunscreen as well)

After the games we swung by Caitlin’s to pick up some stuff for donation. We drive back to Lifeway Christian Bookstore http://www.lifeway.com/to pick up a Max Lucado book for Norm. We go to the Beer Research Institute as it is a microbrewery that I had not been to. http://www.thebeerresearchinstitute.com/ It is a very nice place hidden in the strip mall and serves food. I try the vanilla porter and is very good. Norm had their Mo Wheat but I think he preferred mine. Such is life. I’m going to revisit some day when happy hour is on. Place had a good friendly crowd and looked like it had plenty of regulars.

We eat dinner at La Parrilla Suiza http://www.laparrillasuiza.com/ and it is good. The chips and salsa are fantastic and the steak tacos really hit the spot. Norm goes for the chicken tacos and gobbles them down so you know it was a good choice plus it didn’t hurt that we had a buy one get one free coupon. (You had to know that was coming.)

We get back on the road and finally arrive home around 10 p.m. making for a very long day but one that we will not soon forget. I check the eBay sales and as the weekend ends, my virtual yard sale is now over $500 with about 47 items out the door. Sunday will be my day of rest.

Traveling man I love when I can turn lose my hand ’cause I’m going. You see, those are the memories that made me a wealthy soul. The dream marches on.