A maybe-not-so spoiled Sunday

I couldn’t attend the Patriots game yesterday afternoon at Gillette Stadium. I missed an exciting last-minute comeback victory and a burger-fueled tailgate with friends on one of the best autumn afternoons of the year to watch a football game.

It was also the game Elysha was scheduled to attend – a once-per-year event that I always look forward to.

I missed the game because rain on Friday and Saturday postponed Charlie’s Little League playoff game to  Sunday afternoon, thus spoiling my football fun.

As a result, I awoke on Sunday morning feeling both sad and annoyed. Frustrated by the weather and baseball player’s inability to play the game in the rain. I had also spent most of Saturday DJing a wedding, so I had really been looking forward to a day of football and friends.

So, instead, I replaced a glorious day at Gillette Stadium with a morning of golf. Since it was a last-minute decision, I played alone, listening to Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours” as I walked the course and watched the sunrise. I chipped in a birdie, parred a couple of holes, and watched two hawks circle each other in the sky.

Then we were off to Old Wethersfield for a fantastic breakfast at a newly discovered cafe, followed by a walk down Main Street, which is currently lined by scarecrows of every kind:

Barbie, Taylor Swift, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Harry Potter, and many more. We posed with our favorites, popped into a lovely little shop, and played a storytelling game on the car ride home.

After some chores, I rode my bike for an hour before watching the aforementioned Patriots game on television. I ate potato chips, folded laundry, petted the cats, and cheered from a seat that was admittedly more comfortable but a lot less close to the action than my seats at Gillette Stadium.

Finally, we were off to Charlie’s playoff game. We hung out with friends, ate burgers, and watched his team attempt their own comeback victory before sadly falling short. Charlie’s baseball season ended with him sliding into home plate as a runner was forced out at second base.

I was more than a little annoyed by the rain and the relentless Little League schedule, and I was saddened by missing the Patriots game and our traditional tailgate with friends.

You don’t get to see too many last-minute comeback victories, especially lately. And missing my day at Gillette with Elysha made it all a little worse.

But I found a way to make the best of it, and sometimes, if you try like hell to make the best of it, the best of it can be pretty close to the best.

If I had my choice, I think I would’ve preferred to have spent the day at Gillette Stadium with Elysha, my friends, and those Patriots players, but not by much.

Maybe not at all.