I came across a very friendly seeming individual who (I think) owns a local corner drug store. I asked him if he could tell me why Auburn has both a tiger and an eagle as mascots. He told me the (what I have discovered to be) somewhat variable legend (it depends on who you ask) of the Auburn War Eagle. What follows is our (and now yours if you choose to accept it) first lesson in the Auburn Football Cannon.
Auburn has but one mascot and that is Albie, the tiger. "War Eagle" is the Auburn University battle cry. I like the first version of the story I heard best so that is the one I will relay to you now. Back during the civil war a man from Auburn was fighting in a battle. When the battle was over he found a wounded eagle on the battlefield, and he took it home and nursed it back to health. The eagle came with him everywhere, perched on his shoulder and the whole town came to know the eagle as the War Eagle, due to where it was found. The man brought the eagle to an Auburn v. Georgia football game. The rivalry between these two teams is the biggest football rivalry in the south, so this was an important game. During the game Auburn was doing terribly, they were getting creamed by Georgia. At some point the eagle got away from the man (or the man let him go...I can't remember) and started to fly around the stadium. The Auburn fans, bored of the crappy game started to get excited about the eagle. They began to chant the eagle's name, "War Eagle! War Eagle!" The football team could not understand the crowd, but could hear that the fans were getting excited. This in turn pumped up the football team who came back with a vengeance to defeat Georgia! At the end of the game, the referee shot his pistol into the air to signify that the game was finished and accidentally killed the War Eagle.
Auburn flies one of its eagles at the start of each football game. It flies around the stadium and lands on the center of the field. This year, apparently, Auburn will be flying a golden eagle. One of the Auburn eagles flew during the opening ceremonies of the Salt Lake Olympics. It also sounds like all of the Auburn eagles are named "Tiger". If you are interested you can type "War Eagle" into YouTube to see footage of the eagle soaring around the stadium. You can also get a feel for the energy and mass amounts of people that fill the stadium for a game.
Friday, July 25, 2008
The Good, The Bad and The Bizarre
OK Folks. Here we go...
The Good
The Mellow Mushroom. Thank you gods of pizza for bestowing upon us an amazing pizza joint. Within walking distance. Plenty of options, beer on tap, pretzel things and cheesy bread for appetizers and last, but not least, a jerk chicken and pineapple pizza that is to die for.
Coke Icee right next door. Actually many things within walking distance: our landlords, grocery store, Hastings, CVS, Auburn University, Cambridge Coffee!, fresh squeezed lemonade, Cold Stone Creamery, the Auburn Public Library (we think), Day Spring organic foods (where we can get fresh peanut butter!) and a bicycle shop where I can get my old but awesome Raleigh bike fixed up.
Really very decent weather. We stay indoors from about 2pm - 7pm in our sweet air conditioned apartment and head out in the mornings and late evenings.
Beautiful surroundings. Lush, diverse foliage and hills. We went to a gorgeous park not far from our house, Chewachla State Park, and had a nice little walk around the place. It is far enough away that we will probably need a car to get there, (we went with Joshua's mom and sister when they were here), but it is a cool place to visit once and a while.
We have a dishwasher! And it works!!
Netflix still gets to us two days after we mail it out. Well played Netflix...well played.
Our friends Steve and Jill live but a quick hour and a half away from us.
Coke Icee right next door. Actually many things within walking distance: our landlords, grocery store, Hastings, CVS, Auburn University, Cambridge Coffee!, fresh squeezed lemonade, Cold Stone Creamery, the Auburn Public Library (we think), Day Spring organic foods (where we can get fresh peanut butter!) and a bicycle shop where I can get my old but awesome Raleigh bike fixed up.
Really very decent weather. We stay indoors from about 2pm - 7pm in our sweet air conditioned apartment and head out in the mornings and late evenings.
Beautiful surroundings. Lush, diverse foliage and hills. We went to a gorgeous park not far from our house, Chewachla State Park, and had a nice little walk around the place. It is far enough away that we will probably need a car to get there, (we went with Joshua's mom and sister when they were here), but it is a cool place to visit once and a while.
We have a dishwasher! And it works!!
Netflix still gets to us two days after we mail it out. Well played Netflix...well played.
Our friends Steve and Jill live but a quick hour and a half away from us.
The Bad
The bugs. The bugs are kind of bad but also kind of bizarre. There are many, many bugs. At night, if you take a stroll around campus you will see these little (and by little I mean large enough to cast a respectable shadow) cockroach looking guys scurry out of your way on the path. Last night a cicada landed on the pavement behind me with a thump! Like a small bit of meteor falling from space. A bug that makes a thump is not something I tend to want near me. Also, a lizard got into our house already. Some kind of little pinkish, translucent two inch long dude. I quickly escorted him out of the house. I've had those in my house before either in Arizona or Ghana...I think Ghana, but I can't quite remember.
Ummm. I'm not sure what we had for lunch. They call it a Bagel shop, but I did not just eat a bagel. First of all, we are pretty sure that the "bagels" here are just bits of white bread cut in the shape of a bagel. Also, I ordered my favorite kind of bagel snack: a salt bagel with strawberry cream cheese. The salt on a salt bagel is typically rock salt. This "bagel" had like, table salt on it. There was very little to no cream cheese and the cream cheese that was there tasted very lightly of strawberry and was pretty runny. Do not make me mention Joshua's sandwich which consisted of an "Everything Bagel" which was completely weird and bland with chicken salad that was ground so fine that it was less like chicken salad and more like chicken paste. I am going to do some investigation and find out if the bizarro "bagels" are a southern thing or a just this one place specialty thing. I'm tending to think it is a southern thing because I don't understand how anyone who has had a good bagel could possibly think that what we just ate is a good idea.
I have already encountered a few different free newspaper articles which are either extremely judgemental towards women or vacuous. For example there is a column called "It's a Woman's World" and the logo is the female sign with the earth in it. I saw this and thought, hmmm...this looks like it could be interesting. I was disappointed to discover that the article was about proper toenail maintenance during the summer sandal wearing season. There was also an incredibly insulting advice columnist, name of Debbie (I think). The woman who wrote to Debbie said that she is 27 and gained some weight in grad school. Her relationship with her mom has become strained as a result of her weight gain. She said that her weight is something that she is coming to terms with and that she is big and beautiful. What she was having a hard time with was dealing with the way her mother is treating her. Her mom's insults do not motivate her to change her body, rather the comments make her feel like crap. She wanted some advice about how to deal with her messed up relationship with her mom and dad as a result of her weight. Debbie, the advice columnist offered the following advice: "You may be big, but you are not beautiful. Get on the stair master and don't be such a drama queen." Nice, right?
I think people are staring at me as a result of my hair cut. It isn't the worst thing ever but it does get annoying and I find it a bit rude. Let me give you an example. (This has been by far the worst incident of staring). Joshua and I were standing at an intersection waiting to use the crosswalk. There was a man in the left hand turn lane, in a truck, waiting for his light. He was staring at me. Really staring. So, naturally Joshua and I both started staring back. He looked away and fidgeted around in the truck a bit. He lite a cigarette and put on his aviator sunglasses and started staring again. When I looked at him he looked away, when I looked away he would stare at me again. Rude.
We've also recently had a disappointing experience at a Chinese lunch buffet. We won't go there again. Bummer since this is the place that claimed to have a Thai menu as well.
We get like three channels on our TV if you don't count the Christian station, which I don't.
Temporary badness: We still don't know anyone. I don't think we will until we come back from Washington and get situated. We go out to coffee shops and to eat to have an excuse to get out of the apartment. We walk around a bit to explore. And we keep to ourselves for now.
The bugs. The bugs are kind of bad but also kind of bizarre. There are many, many bugs. At night, if you take a stroll around campus you will see these little (and by little I mean large enough to cast a respectable shadow) cockroach looking guys scurry out of your way on the path. Last night a cicada landed on the pavement behind me with a thump! Like a small bit of meteor falling from space. A bug that makes a thump is not something I tend to want near me. Also, a lizard got into our house already. Some kind of little pinkish, translucent two inch long dude. I quickly escorted him out of the house. I've had those in my house before either in Arizona or Ghana...I think Ghana, but I can't quite remember.
Ummm. I'm not sure what we had for lunch. They call it a Bagel shop, but I did not just eat a bagel. First of all, we are pretty sure that the "bagels" here are just bits of white bread cut in the shape of a bagel. Also, I ordered my favorite kind of bagel snack: a salt bagel with strawberry cream cheese. The salt on a salt bagel is typically rock salt. This "bagel" had like, table salt on it. There was very little to no cream cheese and the cream cheese that was there tasted very lightly of strawberry and was pretty runny. Do not make me mention Joshua's sandwich which consisted of an "Everything Bagel" which was completely weird and bland with chicken salad that was ground so fine that it was less like chicken salad and more like chicken paste. I am going to do some investigation and find out if the bizarro "bagels" are a southern thing or a just this one place specialty thing. I'm tending to think it is a southern thing because I don't understand how anyone who has had a good bagel could possibly think that what we just ate is a good idea.
I have already encountered a few different free newspaper articles which are either extremely judgemental towards women or vacuous. For example there is a column called "It's a Woman's World" and the logo is the female sign with the earth in it. I saw this and thought, hmmm...this looks like it could be interesting. I was disappointed to discover that the article was about proper toenail maintenance during the summer sandal wearing season. There was also an incredibly insulting advice columnist, name of Debbie (I think). The woman who wrote to Debbie said that she is 27 and gained some weight in grad school. Her relationship with her mom has become strained as a result of her weight gain. She said that her weight is something that she is coming to terms with and that she is big and beautiful. What she was having a hard time with was dealing with the way her mother is treating her. Her mom's insults do not motivate her to change her body, rather the comments make her feel like crap. She wanted some advice about how to deal with her messed up relationship with her mom and dad as a result of her weight. Debbie, the advice columnist offered the following advice: "You may be big, but you are not beautiful. Get on the stair master and don't be such a drama queen." Nice, right?
I think people are staring at me as a result of my hair cut. It isn't the worst thing ever but it does get annoying and I find it a bit rude. Let me give you an example. (This has been by far the worst incident of staring). Joshua and I were standing at an intersection waiting to use the crosswalk. There was a man in the left hand turn lane, in a truck, waiting for his light. He was staring at me. Really staring. So, naturally Joshua and I both started staring back. He looked away and fidgeted around in the truck a bit. He lite a cigarette and put on his aviator sunglasses and started staring again. When I looked at him he looked away, when I looked away he would stare at me again. Rude.
We've also recently had a disappointing experience at a Chinese lunch buffet. We won't go there again. Bummer since this is the place that claimed to have a Thai menu as well.
We get like three channels on our TV if you don't count the Christian station, which I don't.
Temporary badness: We still don't know anyone. I don't think we will until we come back from Washington and get situated. We go out to coffee shops and to eat to have an excuse to get out of the apartment. We walk around a bit to explore. And we keep to ourselves for now.
The Bizarre
I actually overheard the following thing being said by a barista at a coffee shop:
"Hey, you should come to my party. We are going to shoot some fireworks, shoot some guns and hopefully shoot some squirrels." When a fellow barista questioned the sensibility of shooting squirrels he defended his position by indicating that the squirrels would be eaten and therefore wouldn't be wasted. (In defense of the south I will say that I have heard this same conversation take place between two people up in Rochester as well. However, I think the fact that I have heard this conversation twice makes it more bizarre not less.)
At Kroger's (a grocery store chain here in the south), we heard our checker, a woman with a southern accent, tease the bagger, a woman with a thicker southern accent, for her accent. The checker was stating that she wants to get out of Alabama. The bagger was saying that she likes it around here because it is peaceful. The checker said, "Really? Is it Peeaacceful?" with a really thick accent. It was really funny and I don't think the bagger even knew that the checker was teasing her so good was her imitation. We are also uncertain that the checker was aware of her own accent, which makes the whole thing even more amusing.
Auburn University school spirit. Where to start? When I went to WWU, there was this notion that wearing WWU gear (shirts, hats, sweatshirts) was something you did, but not necessarily while on campus. A lot of students had those WWU car window stickers, but by and large you didn't see a ton of western gear on campus. This can not be said of Auburn. TONS of people are wearing pro-Auburn stuff. Shirts and hats. Bumper stickers, window stickers, little stuffed tiger tails which hang off the back of your car. Houses have banners, stores have posters, restaurants have signed swim team posters. Pictures of football players. There is an art store with all university themed art. A huge paw print painted in an intersection near campus. I have seen all of the usual suspects: golf balls, tiger driver covers, license plates, regular plates and clothes. I have also seen or heard of Auburn University chapstick, toothbrushes, toilet paper, hair brushes, car cup holder coasters, Christmas ornaments and even a large wooden carving in a local restaurant.
We have heard from one of Joshua's colleagues that the Auburn University football stadium becomes the third largest city in Alabama during home football games. 80,000 fans all in one place at one time.
I'm sure we will have more news of the bizarre as time goes on and football season starts.
I actually overheard the following thing being said by a barista at a coffee shop:
"Hey, you should come to my party. We are going to shoot some fireworks, shoot some guns and hopefully shoot some squirrels." When a fellow barista questioned the sensibility of shooting squirrels he defended his position by indicating that the squirrels would be eaten and therefore wouldn't be wasted. (In defense of the south I will say that I have heard this same conversation take place between two people up in Rochester as well. However, I think the fact that I have heard this conversation twice makes it more bizarre not less.)
At Kroger's (a grocery store chain here in the south), we heard our checker, a woman with a southern accent, tease the bagger, a woman with a thicker southern accent, for her accent. The checker was stating that she wants to get out of Alabama. The bagger was saying that she likes it around here because it is peaceful. The checker said, "Really? Is it Peeaacceful?" with a really thick accent. It was really funny and I don't think the bagger even knew that the checker was teasing her so good was her imitation. We are also uncertain that the checker was aware of her own accent, which makes the whole thing even more amusing.
Auburn University school spirit. Where to start? When I went to WWU, there was this notion that wearing WWU gear (shirts, hats, sweatshirts) was something you did, but not necessarily while on campus. A lot of students had those WWU car window stickers, but by and large you didn't see a ton of western gear on campus. This can not be said of Auburn. TONS of people are wearing pro-Auburn stuff. Shirts and hats. Bumper stickers, window stickers, little stuffed tiger tails which hang off the back of your car. Houses have banners, stores have posters, restaurants have signed swim team posters. Pictures of football players. There is an art store with all university themed art. A huge paw print painted in an intersection near campus. I have seen all of the usual suspects: golf balls, tiger driver covers, license plates, regular plates and clothes. I have also seen or heard of Auburn University chapstick, toothbrushes, toilet paper, hair brushes, car cup holder coasters, Christmas ornaments and even a large wooden carving in a local restaurant.
We have heard from one of Joshua's colleagues that the Auburn University football stadium becomes the third largest city in Alabama during home football games. 80,000 fans all in one place at one time.
I'm sure we will have more news of the bizarre as time goes on and football season starts.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Roc City to Auburn: The Journey
After I got hit with a sudden and ferocious illness on the Saturday before our move, we were still able to get on the road as planned. Joshua had took on the responsibility of taking care of me and packing up the house with some gusto. Thank goodness for Joshua. A huge thank you to all of our friends who helped us...we would have been lost without you!
Leaving Rochester was rough and we are pretty sure that packing and loading the truck was a hellish experience. After we finally left Rochester, everything went quite smoothly. It felt good to drive out of New York state and we pulled over at the Pennsylvania welcome center to do a subdued, and as a result somewhat pathetic, happy dance.
Our first stop was Pittsburgh where we spent a lovely evening dining and chatting with our friend Keith. We were extremely impressed with the beauty of Pittsburgh from the freeway and amused by the quirky-ness of Pittsburgh once we got onto city streets. I'm still moderately alarmed by the art-deco/Gotham city "Cathedral of Learning" that looms ominously from its central location in the University district. Good Indian food, interesting place. We love Keith!
We decided to drive on for another hour or so and crashed at a Red Roof Inn which offered a welcome $46.99 a night. A decent sleep and then on to Kentucky the next day. Wednesday was our longest day of driving, about eight hours. Not so bad as far as road trips go, but by the time we arrived at Mammoth Cave National Park, we were ready to get out of the truck for the day. We had a relaxing evening, spent some time on the easy foot trails near the hotel and chilled out. Joshua decided which tour he would go on the next day, and I decided that for the purpose of continuing to get healthy I would sleep in and relax the next morning. Joshua enjoyed his tour the next morning and we were off again!
When we finally drove into the state of Alabama we were struck by its beauty. I had heard people say that it was beautiful, but this was amazing. The hills, comprised of the lower tip of the Appalachians, and the lush foliage made us very happy indeed. The weather has been warm, but so far nothing much worse than Rochester, though I'm sure it will get warmer yet. We've heard high praises of the winters though, so I think it will all be worth it. Our visit with our friend Steve was wonderful. We very much enjoyed seeing him in his element and meeting his new friends. Steve and Jill came with us to Auburn and helped us to get settled and for that we extremely grateful. Our apartment is cute, newer than our place at Goler house and we are getting closer to having the place set up.
We are close to many restaurants, including a delightful pizza place called Mellow Mushroom Pizza which has already yielded a delicious dinner. There is a grocery store that carries organic milk in carton containers, a Hastings and a CVS within about a 15 minute walk from here, a perfect activity for after the sun goes down. Yesterday, Joshua and I spent some time wandering around campus. It is amazing! Huge but well appointed. I'm looking forward to exploring in the library and Joshua is going to get to meet with at least one member of the faculty tomorrow.
It is strange to be in a town and know absolutely no one. That is sort of new for us as we had begun to feel pretty established in Rochester. I would regularly see people around town that I knew and we often had social activities planned with friends. For now, it is just Joshua and I, in our somewhat messy apartment, catching up on sleep, e-mail and watching TV. A short reprieve before the start of more travel, teaching and researching.
Joshua's mom and sister arrive tonight for a few days. They are going to help us get even more settled and we are going to run some errands. We are going to buy some fun things like a vacuum cleaner, garbage can, sheets, etc.
So far nothing to weirdly southern has occurred except for the appearance of a couple of confederate flags on the way down here. The Alabama flag looks much like the confederate flag minus all the of the color...just a giant red x over a white back ground. Also, Cracker Barrel seems to be a popular place. My pancakes were delicious, but I've never had pancakes that tasted so fried.
More soon.
Leaving Rochester was rough and we are pretty sure that packing and loading the truck was a hellish experience. After we finally left Rochester, everything went quite smoothly. It felt good to drive out of New York state and we pulled over at the Pennsylvania welcome center to do a subdued, and as a result somewhat pathetic, happy dance.
Our first stop was Pittsburgh where we spent a lovely evening dining and chatting with our friend Keith. We were extremely impressed with the beauty of Pittsburgh from the freeway and amused by the quirky-ness of Pittsburgh once we got onto city streets. I'm still moderately alarmed by the art-deco/Gotham city "Cathedral of Learning" that looms ominously from its central location in the University district. Good Indian food, interesting place. We love Keith!
We decided to drive on for another hour or so and crashed at a Red Roof Inn which offered a welcome $46.99 a night. A decent sleep and then on to Kentucky the next day. Wednesday was our longest day of driving, about eight hours. Not so bad as far as road trips go, but by the time we arrived at Mammoth Cave National Park, we were ready to get out of the truck for the day. We had a relaxing evening, spent some time on the easy foot trails near the hotel and chilled out. Joshua decided which tour he would go on the next day, and I decided that for the purpose of continuing to get healthy I would sleep in and relax the next morning. Joshua enjoyed his tour the next morning and we were off again!
When we finally drove into the state of Alabama we were struck by its beauty. I had heard people say that it was beautiful, but this was amazing. The hills, comprised of the lower tip of the Appalachians, and the lush foliage made us very happy indeed. The weather has been warm, but so far nothing much worse than Rochester, though I'm sure it will get warmer yet. We've heard high praises of the winters though, so I think it will all be worth it. Our visit with our friend Steve was wonderful. We very much enjoyed seeing him in his element and meeting his new friends. Steve and Jill came with us to Auburn and helped us to get settled and for that we extremely grateful. Our apartment is cute, newer than our place at Goler house and we are getting closer to having the place set up.
We are close to many restaurants, including a delightful pizza place called Mellow Mushroom Pizza which has already yielded a delicious dinner. There is a grocery store that carries organic milk in carton containers, a Hastings and a CVS within about a 15 minute walk from here, a perfect activity for after the sun goes down. Yesterday, Joshua and I spent some time wandering around campus. It is amazing! Huge but well appointed. I'm looking forward to exploring in the library and Joshua is going to get to meet with at least one member of the faculty tomorrow.
It is strange to be in a town and know absolutely no one. That is sort of new for us as we had begun to feel pretty established in Rochester. I would regularly see people around town that I knew and we often had social activities planned with friends. For now, it is just Joshua and I, in our somewhat messy apartment, catching up on sleep, e-mail and watching TV. A short reprieve before the start of more travel, teaching and researching.
Joshua's mom and sister arrive tonight for a few days. They are going to help us get even more settled and we are going to run some errands. We are going to buy some fun things like a vacuum cleaner, garbage can, sheets, etc.
So far nothing to weirdly southern has occurred except for the appearance of a couple of confederate flags on the way down here. The Alabama flag looks much like the confederate flag minus all the of the color...just a giant red x over a white back ground. Also, Cracker Barrel seems to be a popular place. My pancakes were delicious, but I've never had pancakes that tasted so fried.
More soon.
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