30 July 2008

Have You Ever Seen Pure Joy in a Face?















I have just returned from Salt Lake City, after bringing my daughter out to join Mike Kooreman's New Edge team at the Olympic Oval, and get her ready to begin her college career at the University of Utah. Sending my son to college several years ago was hard. Sending my daughter, my youngest, is no easier. Still, we had a wonderful four day trip together, seeing the Field of Dreams in Iowa, and looking for Shoeless Joe in the corn fields (see photo--is it a ghost, or just me?); eating a great steak in Omaha; going to Chimney Rock NP Nebraska (see photo of Liz cycling past Chimney Rock); to Fort Laramie (color me surprised to find that it was an open layout, and not surrounded by log walls as in the movies); and to Fort Bridger, Wyoming and a few other spots along the Oregon and Mormon Trails. Seeing the most amazing lightning storm near North Platte NE. A wonderful dinner at an organic restaurant Liz picked in Laramie WY called Jeffrey's was a highlight, too. Our first trip west without a plane--I had no real idea of the vastness...sure glad we could share driving! I hope Liz had half as much fun as I did and will remember it with as much pleasure. In any event, it was Monday morning, at 6:15 at the Utah Olympic Oval. From the bleachers, I watched my daughter take to the ice for the first time with her new teammates. NEVER have I seen a face so happy, so excited. My daughter is where she needs to be. A chance to take her sport to a new level. Quite apart from my hopes for her, I am proud to see her reach for the brass ring.

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