A Couple More Softball Games

I know, I’ve still not gotten the schedule up on the side. I know there’s a growing number of people that just would come out and watch Off Road Tire softball if only they knew when we were playing!

We played last Thursday—or tried to, at least. We started the game under sunny skies, though there were some clouds in the vicinity. Not much scoring going on in the first couple of innings, and I honestly can’t remember what the score was. I do know that my first at-bat of the season, I hit it down on the handle of the bat and grounded out to third. Not an auspicious beginning.

Around the third inning, the sky started to darken up. After our at-bat in the top of the inning, the first raindrops started to fall. They were quickly joined by a multitude of their brethren. Soon it became difficult to see out to the field from my spot in the dugout (I was the designated hitter for the game). And still we played on as the umpires afforded no mercy.

The conditions didn’t help us at all, as a number of balls landed that might have been caught in clearer weather. One such ball landed in front of Russell, then kicked off his glove. The runner on base wound up scoring and the batter was heading to third.

Right then came possibly the loudest clap of thunder I’ve ever heard. It seemed to come out of nowhere—there were no far-off rumblings first, it just happened and it sounded like it was right above our dugout.

The batter dove for third, missed it, picked himself up and ran into the dugout. Everyone on our team waited for no signal but hurried into the dugout. What followed was probably 20 minutes of the hardest downpour I’ve seen in quite some time. People would start making a break for their cars, realizing there was no way this game was restarting, but since Meron and the kids were there, we waited it out. Benjamin and I finally ran to the car and pulled it up as close as we could for the girls, but by that time the rain had slacked off and, by time we reached home, it was completely done.

So nothing from that game counted and we’ll make it up sometime during the season.

Monday night was a better night weather-wise, as it was clear and not terribly hot. I was DH again as we were the visiting team for the third straight time. We jumped on the other team early, scoring two runs in the first and one in the second.

My first at-bat was in the second. Again I got it more on the handle than I wanted, but this time it blooped over the infield for a base hit. That made it first and third with one out.

Ben was up next and hit one into left field. I was hitting second when the outfielder had trouble coming up with it. For some reason, thinking that they might try for a play at home (or thinking they were as inaccurate with their throwing as some teams I’ve been on) I went ahead, rounded second, and headed for third.

The problem was, the throw went into the third baseman, who was right in the baseline. I stopped and retreated, but Ben was already going to second. I made sure he got there and then tried to avoid the tag, but wasn’t successful.

We held a 3-0 lead until the bottom of the third, when our opponents tied it up. Another scoreless inning passed before they got five in the bottom of the fourth. We scored four in the top of the fifth, but weren’t able to put another run across before the game ended. In the top of the seventh, we had two on and one out, but a groundout and a flyout ended that threat. Still, it’s one of the few games that I’ve been in that’s gone the distance, that hasn’t been called by run rule or by time.

As for the rest of my at-bats, my second time up I hit one probably about as solidly as I’d hit one all year long, but all that meant was that it carried to the outfielder, who was playing in. The third at-bat, I took a pitch that turned out to be right down the middle, then popped up on the next pitch. Not exactly a stellar night at the plate.

Tomorrow night at 8:30 is the next game, but I don’t think I’ll be able to make that one due to various meetings that I have going. I don’t think I’ll be terribly missed, though!

You Are Not A Jedi....Yet

When I was just shy of four years old, my father took me to the first movie I remember seeing. My mother wasn’t sure I’d like it and, besides, she was pregnant with my brother, so it was just the two of us. Needless to say, she was a little wrong. Star Wars was a huge part of my childhood (and, if you look at my bookshelves, my adult life as well!)

So when I heard earlier this year that they were going to release a movie to kick off the new animated Star Wars series, I really wanted to take Benjamin to it. As I thought about it, though, I figured that sadly probably wouldn’t be the best idea. It might be too violent, he probably couldn’t sit through it, stuff like that. I shelved the idea.

As the summer progressed and he became more and more excited about Star Wars (you’ve seen the pictures), I still didn’t really plan to take him. Then he saw a trailer on TV for it and started clamoring to go. It didn’t take a whole lot to persuade me, of course!

To be on the safe side, though, I decided to go to The Clone Wars by myself first. I could see if there were any really scary parts, plus I wouldn’t be aggravated at him if (when, most likely) he wanted to leave early.

I continued to ask him if he was sure he wanted to go. “It’ll be really loud,” I told him, knowing he’s not much on loud stuff. “It might have some scary parts.” No matter what I said, though, he really wanted to go.

I went on Friday to the first matinee (and, yes, was the first person in line. I don’t think many are surprised) and really enjoyed the movie. It was a war movie, of course, so there were plenty of battles, but I thought he’d probably be able to handle it, especially if I emphasized that it was just a movie, that’s not what you do when you are playing, etc.

Saturday, we get around, get one of his Star Wars shirts on him, have lunch and get ready to go. Here he is, preparing to leave:

We get to the theater right before the box office opens. There are a couple of other people around, which seems to make him a little nervous as well. He usually gets pretty shy around people he doesn’t know. Before the line really forms, we go over and see the poster for the movie:

We buy the tickets (the first for Clone Wars) and go inside. I ask him if he wants popcorn, which he does, and I get that and a drink for myself. Balancing all of this and making sure he’s with me, we head over to the theater that the movie is in.

The Picwood has three theaters with the raised seating that people have come to expect in the last decade. This was one of them. However, the solid banister created a large shadow over the door, so that when we walked in, it seemed dark, even though the lights were on.

That was the one thing I hadn’t thought of. I didn’t think it really was an issue, since Meron and I had took him to the see the VeggieTales movie in the theater earlier in the year with no problems.

It was a problem on this day, though. He started to cry and say he wanted to go. Incredulous, I tried to get him to at least come around the corner and see the seats, hoping that if we could get more into the light, he’d settle down. That was not to be, as we only took a couple more steps before he started to drag me back toward the door.

Needless to say, this wasn’t a turn of events I had anticipated. I took him out into the hallway, finding a place to set down the large popcorn and drink. I tried to talk to him, reminding him that he’d been to a movie before, that he’d really wanted to go to this one. Nothing doing.

Thankfully, I was able to get a refund on the tickets. We then spent the afternoon at my parents’ instead, due to the fact that our dryer went down on Friday and Meron and Sarah had headed out there when we went to the movie to do laundry. I wound up staying out there with the kids and sending Meron home so she could do some scrapbooking in peace.

Benjamin is anxiously awaiting the DVD, as he told me while we were heading to my folks’. And I’m sure he’ll enjoy the TV show as well—from the safety of our own house.

I Hate Yard Work

Most of you that have read this blog for—wow, over three years now, who’d have guessed—know that there is one major bane in my life. Mowing the yard and other lawn work. As I’ve stated before, if the Lord comes back if I’m working the weedeater, I’m in huge trouble.

There have been a dearth of stories about this on the blog, though, because for the past few years, I’ve had it fairly easy. My parents hired someone to do the yard in ’06, since I was still recovering from my bout with Guillian-Barre. They continued the service in ’07, reasoning that I wouldn’t really have the time with a new baby arriving.

But when they asked if I wanted to have it done this year, I said I could handle it. One, because they’ve done so much for the family already, so anytime I can save them a little time, money or hassle, it’s a good thing. Two, because it and softball are the only exercise I get. I’d like to think of a third, but none come to mind.

The first few times I mowed the yard this year were unremarkable. They actually were cooler than normal days or cloudy days or breezy days, days where it wasn’t one of Dante’s circles to be out taking care of things. I even stopped the practice of mowing one yard one day, one the next as I was able to take care of both the front and the back at the same time.

That all came to a screeching halt about a month ago.

First off, it was a blisteringly hot day when I got out to mow. Our office started working four ten-hour days with Friday off this summer, so it was a Friday morning but it was already reaching 90 at least.

For a while now, the mower handle, if you will, had been acting up. Where the bar you hold to push the mower attached actually to the mower, one side (the right) would drop so far when turning that you almost had to be bent over double to get it to turn. Something that is slightly annoying when the weather is good, but turned into a dealbreaker that day, as I was able only to get the back and side yards done before feeling nauseous.

I went back out Saturday morning to try to get the front yard done. As I pulled the mower out of the garage and tried to get it started, though, the left side bar attachment came loose.

This, of course, is a problem, because it’s darn hard to push a mower when only half your handle is attached. Surprisingly for me, though, I didn’t just give up and use that as an excuse not to mow. No, I looked for that ultimate fixing tool.

So, after wrapping a good chunk of duct tape around the attachment section, I started off. That held for a while before coming loose again. More duct tape. Go again. Come loose again. Lather, rinse, repeat. After about five times of this, I looked at the fact that most of the yard in front of the house was done and called it a day.

My neighbor and handyman Jon was able to do some redneck engineering and get the mower fixed on a temporary basis, so the next weekend I got out there to try to mow the rest of the yard, which of course had grown up a bit since it had rained in the intervening week.

I got some of it done until I got into the real tall stuff. I would have to push forward a mower length, then bring it back. Forward, back. Then the mower would kick off because it was clogged with wet grass. Start up, do it again. Finally, the mower wouldn’t restart and I put it away, still with a section of grass not done.

The next time I get out to cut the grass, I do the whole front yard then start on the now ridiculously long portion. Things are going well. The grass is dry and is cutting fairly easily, given its height. Finally, the mower runs out of gas. No problem, I go get the gas can and put some in. But then, when I go to start it up, it won’t. I let it sit for a while, then try again. Nothing.

The last time I got out there after mowing the back yard, it was another forward/back/die type of outing. Unfortunately, that time I was doing it on a day after work, so after a while I had to give it up so as to get the dinner/bath routine started.

So, if you go by my house today, you’ll see this long section of grass on the left with strange cuts into it. Perhaps next time I’ll get it all done. I’m sure I’ll take another crack at it tomorrow, if it’s dry enough. And one of these days, it’ll actually get done!

Darth Vader IS Cute!

As I’ve mentioned before, Benjamin is on a serious Star Wars kick. (More on our attempt to go see Clone Wars in another post.) He’s got toys, he’s watched selected parts of most of the movies (fairly benign stuff like Luke and R2 meeting Yoda in Empire Strikes Back or the speeder bikes and Ewoks in Return of the Jedi) and overall loves most everything about it.

He’s not big, however, on Darth Vader. Vader’s a little scary for him, though he does have a toy one that he likes. It’s the mask that does it. I have one of the voice-changing Vader masks and helmet and he never likes to see that on. The helmet, though, is another story. One day I let him put that on and I’ve not gotten it back yet.

He was wearing that helmet and sitting on the couch one day when Meron told him that he was very cute. He looked at her very seriously and said,

“Darth Vader is not cute.”

Well, you be the judge of that one………

Returning to the Diamond

As we did last year, a good portion of the church softball team as well as some non-Wesley players are playing for the Off Road Tire city league team. We are Division III (out of three) but have a more solid team than last year’s incarnation.

We practiced for the first time last Thursday and it went pretty well. Decent hitting, tolerable fielding, enough to get people excited. We had a better-attended practice on Sunday. We went through the whole drill—infield practice, outfield practice, hitting, situational fielding, you name it. Again, some really exciting results there.

The problem, for me, was that we were practicing on a baseball field that apparently had fine gravel around home plate instead of dirt. That meant it was pretty painful to do my typical kneeling when I was back catching. On Thursday, I just wound up sitting and catching, which wasn’t a big deal. But with the full on practice on Sunday, I didn’t think that was the best. So I actually squatted in a catcher crouch most of the practice.

Those muscles apparently hadn’t been ever used, at least according to the report they gave me after practice and even more so Monday. I could get around walking and everything, but getting up and down, especially if I had to crouch down, was a real challenge.

I let Bobby, again coaching the team, that I wasn’t going to be able to catch for last night’s first ballgame. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t planning on starting me anyway, so that wasn’t a big deal. So I had a good seat for the action last night.

We were the visiting team and opened with two quick runs. Even though we scored, we were hitting a lot of ground balls (and getting a little help from the other team’s defense). They scored one in the bottom of the first to have the score sit at 2-1 after the first.

Neither team was doing much scoring after that. We continued to hit ground balls or easy flies and the other team did the same. They finally broke through with four runs in the bottom of the fourth to go up 5-2.

That was apparently the motivation the team needed. In the top of the fifth, we batted around and scored 14 runs to take a 16-2 lead. Finally some solid hits, combined with some questionable outfield and infield defense, allowed us to pile on the runs.

One of the outs in the inning came when Russell was on first (and I believe there was a runner on second as well) and Jon was up to bat. He hit one to right field, but Russell had to hesitate to see if it was caught. When it wasn’t, he took off, but Jon was right on his heels.

Gary, the third base coach at the time, held Russell up at third. However, Jon didn’t realize that and kept motoring around second. He realized the problem when he was at third with Russell standing there. Russell took off for home, but got caught in a rundown. Jon finally retreated to second, but not before Russell was tagged out. Easy to laugh about in a big inning, though.

Being that it is softball, no lead is safe and the opposition put up four in the bottom of the fifth. We answered with four in the sixth before they finished up with three in that inning. Final score: 20-12 Off Road Tire, sporting our first undefeated record.

Our next game is Thursday at 6:30. (I’ll try to get the schedule on the sidebar soon.) Hopefully I’ll be healed up enough to get into that one!

The Ohio Trip V: Columbus and Coming Home

Trying to remember everything two months later probably isn't optimal for blogging.........

If I'm remember right, though, we left Meigs County Friday mid-afternoon and headed up to Columbus. We were hoping to go to a couple of malls, but being that none of Meron's friends could make it, we were going to have to go on our own. This, of course, didn't make me real happy. I hate driving in those big cities!

On our way up, we decided to skip the first mall and just hit the second since we were running later than we thought. Problem was, we didn't have directions from Shawn's apartment to the second mall, we had them from the apartment to the first mall and from the first to the second.

We talked to some of Meron's friends, but it started to look like no one was going to be able to go to the mall with us. I wanted to cancel the whole thing, but we did have to get something to eat and Meron wanted to go.

So, for once in her life (I kid), Jody turned out to be useful. She wasn't going to go, but actually got everything done at home before we got to Shawn's. So she wound up coming over and riding with us to the mall, which made me much more relaxed. I always feel better when I have a local guide with me.

We had a good time at the mall. The kids got stuffed animals at the Disney store, I got a Jay Bruce shirt (hey, I do have occasional baseball shirts that aren't the Cardinals!) and other assorted things were purchased.

Saturday was the highlight of the vacation for me. Well, maybe not the highlight, but it was something I was looking forward to. Meron, Shawn and the kids went to the zoo....and I got to spend almost all day at Shawn's by myself in peace and quiet. You don't get that much in life when you are married with two kids! I watched half of the last season of Alias, caught up on the internet....life was very good.

While I was relaxing, the rest of the family was spending hours (around five or so, I think) at the zoo. Pictures follow:

After their day at the zoo, we went out to dinner with friends, then back to Shawn's for ice cream. The next morning, very early, we set out for home.

There are a couple of places that lift my spirits so much on the way home. One is the bridge at Memphis. Going over that bridge, for one, I'm back home in Arkansas and two, I don't need directions anymore. I'm done with the big cities and the nerves and worrying about getting lost.

The second is at Little Rock. You come into Arkansas at Memphis and basically go horizontal through the state. But at Little Rock, the road diverges. You can veer to the left and go into LR and head into southern Arkansas or you can go to the right and head up to the northwest part of the state. Once I make that turn, everything becomes familiar and I know I'm almost home.

So that's the trip. There's a few things that we've done since we've been home--including lovely lawn stories--but those will have to wait for another day!

The Ohio Trip IV: Meigs County

Wow, I've really got to get back into this blogging habit. Between Facebook and my Cardinal blog, this tends to slide down the list.

Where were we? Oh, yes, vacation at Meron's parents. The Monday we were there, besides the usual run between places to see everyone, we had a get-together that night to see her family. Most of the rest of that trip consisted of seeing her mom, seeing her dad during the afternoon, eating dinner, going out to her dad's after closed the shop, etc. We do a lot of running around in Meigs County!

We also spent Wednesday at the park visiting with one of Meron's high school friends and her kids. Benjamin and Sarah really enjoyed that a lot.

So, some pictures from this stretch, with explanations afterwards:

We spent part of Tuesday visiting Meron's grandmother and her aunt that was in visiting as well. That was actually the only day the kids weren't on their best behavior. I don't know exactly what it was, though I think in Benjamin's case, he was also a little thrown by the fact that her aunt's son is mentally handicapped and he's older than Meron. Being that Benjamin's not been around that much, it was probably just another stressor in a situation that had plenty of them.

One afternoon in the back of Grandpa's store, Sarah was fussing around. Grandpa thought it'd be a good idea (and might get him enough brownie points to allow him to hold her!) to give her a bag of cheese curls. This went over well enough that another bag had to be brought out. (To be fair, she was sharing with the whole family.) Still didn't work the way Grandpa wanted, though.


When I said sharing, I meant sharing! Of course, it'd be the only day I wore a white shirt.

They didn't have any baby swings at the park, so for Sarah to get any swinging in, someone had to hold her. Since Meron was doing a lot of conversing, this fell to me. I wasn't complaining!

The kids really enjoyed playing on all the playground equipment. Going down a slide at the same time was a wonderful treat!

The night before we left, we took Meron's mom and grandma over to Bob Evans across the bridge in West Virginia. Here you can see grandma and grandson coloring the provided kids menu.

Really, though we had an enjoyable time in that part of Ohio, there wasn't much more to say. I'll wrap it up with pictures of the family trip to the Columbus Zoo in the last entry.