It is ORANGE all over

Believe it or not, ORANGE has never been my favorite color unless it was mixed in with some hot pink, turquoise, tan and maybe some lavender. I almost didn't go to school at The University of Texas because the school color was ORANGE! Even though I decided that I was a bigger person than one who would let the school colors rule my education goals, I was ever so thankful when the administration changed the just plain ole orange school color to the infamous BURNT ORANGE. Burnt orange was so much easier on the eyes.

This year my opinion of orange has changed. I see it everywhere I look. As I travel around, I feel like Austin is wrapping it's long orange arms around me, holding me close with the love that has always been there.

Yesterday I traveled from my home in Lakeway into town to share Thanksgiving with a very dear friend of mine. There are only a couple of routes that take us into town, and one of them is RR 2222, or Bull Creek Road as it is known to us old timers. 2222 is an exciting route, similar to a roller coaster ride, I suppose. Up and down the hills, winding round twisting curves that will just take your breathe away, especially if someone else is driving the car. Occasionally you will get a glimpse of the city in one direction and Town Lake in the other direction. However, the most awesome part of the ride is the view of the changing colors of our indigeneous landscape of Live Oaks, Spanish Oaks, River Elms, Chinese Pistash, Sumac, Cedar, and God only knows what else there is that gives us the colors. New England's Autumn has nothing on the Texas Hill country.

I finally made it down to the UT Campus to feel once again the heart throbbing excitement after Texas beats Texas A&M in one of the most famous football rivalries of my lifetime. The view of the Orange Tower just took my breath away...again. It amazes me that some things never change. The landscape changes, the student body changes, but the feel of the campus after that victory is still the same as it was in 1963 when I experienced my first college football victory. The big Orange Tower keeps an ever watchful eye as the huge student body strolls home with a sense of pride to be a part of the University of Texas and yet another football victory.

No Orange Tower at UT

Geez, what can I say except that the No.7 ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders outplayed our No.1 ranked UT Longhorns. Texas Tech set out to win the game at all costs. UT set out to play football. As we all know, there is a huge difference between just playing football for the fun of the game and playing the game with all you heart to win. Tech did just that, they played their hearts out and won the game with an unexpected TD in the last minute of the game, leaving Texas to make a come back with only ONE SECOND left in the game. It left me breathless, speechless, and in total awe. Congratulations to Texas Tech.

Tanner Kyle, who was a team mate of the 2007 Lake Travis State Championship team, is a freshman football scholarship recipient at the University of Montana. Tanner's team, the 6th ranked Montana Grizzlies beat the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks 45-10. I am not sure of their ranking, but I am sure that Mark will fill us in when he returns from his trip to Missoula. Yea, Grizzlies! My friend, Mark Kyle, is Tanner's very proud father.

My favorite little high school football team, the Lake Travis Cavaliers won the District25-4A Championship with a 42-3 victory over Dripping Springs! Both teams went into the game undefeated. Next week LT vs Marble Falls promises to be a stronger, more exciting game for all to enjoy.


In the weeks to come, I am going to try to redirect my attention to more serious matters on aging than just enjoying football and the weather. I am hoping to feature a guest writer. I will have to downplay this until I have a firm commitment from the writer. Keep your fingers crossed. This person is a wealth of information and will be a great contributor to the blog.

Thanks for logging in to enjoy our blog. Until next time, enjoy some of this intoxicatingly pleasant fall weather...with a good wine, of course, and maybe some BBQ before the weather gets too chilly to be outside. OR does that ever happen in Texas?