Sox Nation

          An early council meeting preceded our second volleyball game in two days. I went in with shades of the Rangers' playoff schedule in my head and a bad feeling in my gut. The game started well enough; Julia, Nathaniel, and three freshman trumpets (Kevin, Seamus and Maddie) were making conversation and enjoying the first set, in which the Huskies built a humongous seven-point lead early on. They somehow managed to drop that set, narrowly won the next one, and were defeated in sets three and four - a painful loss, though Harvard is somehow less annoying than BC or BU. There was a burst of excitement during the final set, in which we were only down by two, when a game-winning point by Harvard was recalled by the referees, buying us another rally. Of course, this led to an epic choke, but the crowd really ramped it up for a few shining moments. This was also the exact opposite of the set results from yesterday, a little irony.
          Post-game, I decided to have a small party and invited several people over. As it turned out, the attendees would be the colorful combination Emily, Matt T, Julia, Stephanie, and a lone freshman, Halley. (Three others who had expressed interest in coming didn't text back.) She gave the most adorable, frosh-est reply when I provided the address: "I don't think I'm gonna make it, walking across the Fens at night is definitely not gonna happen." Nathan and I went to meet her near Punter's and crossed paths with Stephanie on the way; Nathan peeled off to go to campus, and we did our best to assuage Halley's fear of the Fens. (Some dangerous characters probably smoke weed in there...) Julia, Stephanie and I all ate special cookies, everyone but Halley had a drink, and we sat around and talked. The phrase "pound back Yuenglings" was employed; J&S were as intimidating a pair as ever; and Halley spoke very few words. Regardless, I think it counted as a non-negative experience with upperclassmen, so good for band acclimation purposes, yes? Also, I turned the inside of our front door into a Red Sox shrine -- it's a Boston thing more than a Sox Nation thing.