Non-fan would just as soon be in kitchen on Super Sunday

Being the only daughter of an avid sports fan and also the only girl of five children, I was quite often over­ruled when it came to choosing the one television program that would play on the family television.  Unlike today, when most children have televisions in their own rooms, our one TV had to be shared, and we democratically voted when there was a conflicting opinion as to what should be watched. Needless to say, we saw a lot more of Wide World of Sports than we did of Perry Como!

This is the reason I hate foot­ball! Another reason, I'm sure, is that Mom also dislikes the game. Had I been the youngest child instead of the oldest, or had I had a mother who was also an ardent football fan, I may have had a dif­ferent opinion, but that wasn't the case.

When, at 27, I moved into my very own apartment, I carved some rules in stone... the main one being: If you want to watch a sports program and, in particular, foot­ball, do it someplace else!

Five years later, when I returned to New England, I once again proclaimed my apartment a no-football zone. It should come as no surprise that I would ask for a full disclosure of the importance of football viewing of any young man I thought was potentially a long-term possibility.

Dick was, in 1982, to my delight, not much interested in sports. He loved bird watching, which was a totally new experience for me... I couldn't believe how beautiful gold finches and cardinals and chickadees were when viewed through binoculars or a telescope.

On one of our very first dates we saw the most beautiful bird I had ever seen, and from its color, I knew exactly what it was: a bluebird. We took that as a sign that we were meant to be together and we were married six months later. To this day Dick keeps monthly lists of birds he has seen. A substantial amount of our dating time together was spent walking in parks or fields or cemeteries with our necks craned and eyes strained to catch a peek at a warbler or an oven­bird, a thrush or brown creeper, a green or great blue heron.

The world of bird watching fit perfectly with my love for being outside and enjoying nature. In fact, we spent so much of our time at Swan Point Cemetery in Providence, we decided to purchase a burial plot there with the intention of placing a bench on our graves for future bird watchers to take a rest.
Unfortunately, most of our bird watch­ing in recent years consists of walking to the kitchen, hallway or bedroom window several times a day to peek at our numerous bird feeders we have located just out­side windows and within easy binocular-viewing range. I'm always delighted when a bluebird or hummingbird or nuthatch chooses out feeders for regular meals. I also enjoy mockingbirds, white-throated sparrows and catbirds that seem to be nesting in the area. Add to these, cardinals, titmice, downy woodpeckers, flickers, orioles, juncos, blue jays and numerous blackbirds, and we no longer Wit a necessity to venture outside to see our feathered friends.

As the last 25 years have swiftly flown by, Dick has acquired an ever-increasing love for football. I fought this love for the first 20 years of Our marriage but sadly, I lost not only the battle but the whole war. Fortunately for Dick, most of our friends love football! With the Super Bowl game a few days away, we are sending out invitations to six or eight friends to come watch one of two televisions we'll have set up in the living room, both tuned in to the football game!

I'll gladly be in the kitchen cooking up a feast for half time, and I'll laugh with Dick and all our friends when they call me into the living room to see one Or those great television ads they show during the most important games ... but I still hate football.