5) Vanderbilt vs Ole Miss. A blowout victory of a type not seen for decades around the West End, one big enough that it drew the attention of Cal tailgaters and the eyes of a nation who said “wait, Vanderbilt is 3-0?” Maybe the high point of a season filled with promise for 2012 and beyond.
4) The Dirty Coast trip – Mobile, Birmingham, and New Orleans, culminating with the pride of RLC all sat around the same table for cocktails for the first time ever.
3) The Anchor of Gold experience – from being summarily appointed to the masthead in January to being recognized at Bourbon and Branch in November, AoG has gone a long way to filling in the gaps in the Vanderbilt experience.
2) Team Black Swan. All of it – family dinners, cocktail hour, drinking whiskey in the hot tub, or just hanging out generally. Glad y’all made it.
And 1) Disneyland in July – both for being able to tell EZ-E “You are surprised NOT AT ALL” and for being able to perch on the bench at sunset outside Sleeping Beauty’s castle with “Put On Your Sunday Clothes” drifting over from Main Street USA. Walt Disney World is fraught with memories, baggage and emotional peril. Disneyland is ours.
And so, 2012. To borrow from a President in similar straits, “I see the storm coming and I know His hand is in it, but if He has a place and a work for me, and I think He has, I believe I am ready.”