>

Heading from the office on state Route 5 toward Ravenna, my first thought was, ‘Oh my, there’s going to be a funnel cloud swoop down and suck me up into the sky.’ It was near pitch black heading to the Division II Ravenna Regional at Ravenna Stadium, which is by far and away the best of the northeast Ohio regional sites.

As the heavens poured down on my drive, it was a sign of wetter things to come.

I did receive a lucky break as someone pulled out of there spot in the paved parking lot and I quickly snagged it.

As the rain continued, I sat in my car wondering if I would find an umbrella. I looked under the seat, in the back and even in the trunk. No umbrella. No, they’re not there. They are all in the van back at home. That does me no good here. Fortunately, there were some large lawn and leaf bags in the front seat. I put one over my camera bag and clipboard and headed off.

A collegue of mine saw me without and umbrella and questioned, ‘I know you don’t make all that much, but couldn’t you afford at least one umbrella?”

After a near 2-hour delay, things started moving along. There were two events pushed to Saturday — the boys long jump and pole vault. I’m surprised the girls high jump wasn’t pushed back either. Really, I thought everything was going to be moved to Saturday morning.

It was an enjoyable first day and kind of surprising since Liberty’s Fitzgerald Toussaint false started in the 100. He didn’t participate in the 200.

Well, gotta cut this short. I’m tired and there’s another long day head.