This year’s Christmas and New Year’s season has been different than any other in recent memory. It has included two trips to see grandsons and soon will include two trips to football games.
In a few days, I will be traveled out. Hopefully I won’t have to go anywhere until Mardi Gras in late February.
Typically, Mary Ann and I are able to corral all three of our kids for Christmas, either in McComb or New Orleans. Not this year, but for good reasons.
Audrey is eight months “swollen with child” in Memphis, so she is not travelling. It was not hard for her to convince her parents to come up there for Christmas, although the visit was brief.
John lives with his sister and her family in Memphis, so he would be there too. But Thomas and his wife Kayla, who live in Metairie, La., decided to stay home.
They made the right call. New Orleans to Memphis is a six-hour haul, and that’s a challenge with a 7-month-old baby. So Mary Ann and I went down on Saturday, Dec. 21 for some Christmas with them.
We showered Tommy with toys and clothes, and had a nice meal at an Italian restaurant. It was a fun day.
Three days later, on Tuesday afternoon, Christmas Eve, we were on the road again, this time heading north. Memphis is a bit more than four hours from McComb, not as easy to get to as New Orleans is, but not bad.
We got to Zach’s and Audrey’s house about 6:30 p.m., and the best possible sight awaited: Our 2-year-old grandson Henry was at the front door, as was John’s dog C.J. It’s a great feeling when family is excited about your arrival.
It was a good Christmas morning, especially for Henry. The kid racked up on toys. He gravitated to a set of three trucks that included a green garbage truck. They all had some lights and sounds, and he kept track of them all day.
The single funniest moment of the visit had nothing to do with family. The Christmas Day “Final Jeopardy” question was about an American town named for an ancient city. None of us got it, even though we were sitting in a home in — Memphis. (Ancient Memphis, founded around 3100 B.C., was at one time the capital of Egypt.)
Our visit didn’t last long because I needed to be in the office Thursday afternoon. It was too short of a trip, and Henry wanted to come back with us, but it also was good to be back home.
Upon our return from Modern Memphis, land of the missed “Jeopardy” questions, all of our holiday traveling was done. My two remaining trips involved football.
I went to the Saints game on Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders, and then on New Year's Night, I’m going to the Sugar Bowl for the Notre Dame-Georgia playoff game.
I thought the Saints might beat the Raiders. But after that brutal Monday night shutout and all the injuries on offense, they had no fight.
Football strategy moment: It looks like the Saints will be drafting around 10th in the first round next year. I think we should keep Derek Carr as quarterback in 2025, but in 2026, or whenever he graduates, go after Arch Manning if he’s got the family business down. That would be exciting!
Even deeper strategy: I keep reading that a certain LSU quarterback, a Heisman Trophy winner who took his team to the Super Bowl a couple of years ago, is not completely satisfied in a certain Ohio town. How great would it be to trade for Joe Burrow?
Just three days after Saints-Raiders, I’ll be at the Sugar Bowl. It will be a long night, since the game won’t start till 7:45 p.m., or later if the Rose Bowl runs long.
I’d love to see Notre Dame win to get a little revenge for the 1981 Sugar Bowl, where we lost to Georgia and Herschel Walker. But I kind of think the Bulldogs will pull it out, even with their starting quarterback hurt.
I’m not going to tear my garments if the Fighting Irish lose. Frankly, I’m more worried that I’ll be sitting near some insulting Georgia fans. I’m less tolerant of that behavior now, and I’ll be ready with a bunch of insults of my own if anybody crosses the line.
