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Friday, August 31, 2007
Blue Bell and Brenham
I spoke at a men's retreat over the weekend. We were at a nice place in the hills north of Brenham, Texas. Brenham is the home of Blue Bell Ice Cream. Blue is the best ice cream in the country! I love their homemade vanilla and peaches, but there is no bad flavor of Blue Bell.
I love taking the Grandkids to the Park.
I love to take my grand kids to the local park. It is such joy to watch them play on the slide and the see saw. I get to push them on the swing set, but they are on their own on the the monkey bars. Some days we use the bike trail, others the hiking trail. The boys love to get in the sand pile, and long for the days when they will be old enough to try the skate board ramp. They took lessons in the swimming pool last summer. They even love having trees to climb.
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Pence Is Back
Hunter Pence came off the disabled list a few days ago and resumed his rookie season. He likely fell behind some of the guys he was leading for the Rookie of the Year award. He was hitting okay and maintaining his batting average at about .320. But today in Chicago, he hit two homers and drove in five as the Houston Astros won the first game of the new road trip six to nothing.
Hunter is back in full stride now.
Hunter is back in full stride now.
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Peregrine.com
One of my favorite bloggers has moved one of her blogs from blogspot.com to its own domain. Her travel journal is now Peregrine.com. As a result of the migration, the page rank has reverted back to 0. It is a great place to get travel tips and descriptions of intriguing places in the world. I hope this will help you stay in touch with her and keep you in the know about her journeys .
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Thursday, August 30, 2007
Like Old Times At the Ball Park
I took three of my grandchildren to the ball game at Minute Maid Park in Houston today. Before the game we went down to the rail near right field, while the Cardinals were taking batting practice. I used to do that with my girls and they frequently were able to persuade a player to give them a ball.
This afternoon a ball came to rest about 25 feet from where we were standing. A Cardinal with Flores on the back of his jersey came over to retrieve it. My 7 year old grandson shouted, "Mr Flores, would you throw me the ball, please?" Flores, a relief pitcher, I think, tossed the ball to the boy, who shouted, "Thank you sir."
A few minutes later one of the Astros' rookie pitchers, Chris Sampson, came down the rail signing autographs. As he approached us, another ball came to rest about 6 feet from us. When Sampson got to us, my 11 year old granddaughter asked him very sweetly, "Mr Sampson, would you mind giving me that ball, and signing it for me?" He could not resist. It sure reminded me of her mother 35 years ago.
So did the 2-1 pitcher's duel. That is the kind of game we saw all the time in the Astrodome!
This afternoon a ball came to rest about 25 feet from where we were standing. A Cardinal with Flores on the back of his jersey came over to retrieve it. My 7 year old grandson shouted, "Mr Flores, would you throw me the ball, please?" Flores, a relief pitcher, I think, tossed the ball to the boy, who shouted, "Thank you sir."
A few minutes later one of the Astros' rookie pitchers, Chris Sampson, came down the rail signing autographs. As he approached us, another ball came to rest about 6 feet from us. When Sampson got to us, my 11 year old granddaughter asked him very sweetly, "Mr Sampson, would you mind giving me that ball, and signing it for me?" He could not resist. It sure reminded me of her mother 35 years ago.
So did the 2-1 pitcher's duel. That is the kind of game we saw all the time in the Astrodome!
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Reasons I Dislike Tardiness
I always considered punctuality a mark of character. There are many reasons I dislike being late or someone else be habitually late. I do not like to rob or be robbed of my time. It is very inconsiderate to be predictably late.
Things are forgotten when you are in a rush, caution suffers when we are hurrying.
Tensions rise, tempers flare when you are hurried. Accidents are more likely when rushing, not to mention that progess is slowed by tardiness. Health risks rise from the stress. It is uncomfortable to enter after proceeding have started.
Things are forgotten when you are in a rush, caution suffers when we are hurrying.
Tensions rise, tempers flare when you are hurried. Accidents are more likely when rushing, not to mention that progess is slowed by tardiness. Health risks rise from the stress. It is uncomfortable to enter after proceeding have started.
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"Football Makes Sense."
I should have seen the twinkle in her eyes when my wife came into the room. No telling how long she had waited for this moment. I was watching the third football game of the day, and fifth of the holiday weekend. She was carrying a load of laundry toward the bedroom, when she stopped by my lazy boy and said in a normal tone, “Football really makes sense.”
That got my attention. I said, “in what way?”
She said, “Well, at the beginning of the game, they flip a coin, and they spend the rest of the afternoon trying to get the quarter back.”
And she walked out of the room, with me chuckling. She never even looked back.
That got my attention. I said, “in what way?”
She said, “Well, at the beginning of the game, they flip a coin, and they spend the rest of the afternoon trying to get the quarter back.”
And she walked out of the room, with me chuckling. She never even looked back.
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Wednesday, August 29, 2007
An Entire Softball Career In One Short Blog Post!
For the past couple of days, in exchanges with another blogger, I learned of her participation on a slow pitch softball team, named "Quit Yer Pitchin'." It reminded me of this story I want you to hear.
When we were in our early 40's, my sister-in-law called and talked to our middle daughter about a new Co-Ed Slow Pitch Softball League that was being created in my hometown, about 40 miles from where we lived then. She proposed that we form a team made up only of family members.
Our daughter liked the idea so much that she pressured us to participate. I was still playing competitively at the time, so I was more than willing. My wife, however, had never played in an organized league in her life. But our daughter was very persistent. She was able to get her mom to agree by stressing the family time we would be able to enjoy in the hour trip to get to the game, and the hour getting home, not to mention the time with the extended family.
We decided on Bandits as our team name, bought sharp team shirts for all of us; we really had big plans for the season! Our youngest team member was 16 the oldest was 66!
The rules of the league were that the batting order had to alternate genders. And the infield had to have 2 females, the same for the outfield (there are 10 players on a slow pitch team). We were designated as visitors in our first game, meaning we batted first.
My wife was our first hitter. Our youngest daughter had a video camera rolling for this monumental moment in my wife's athletic career. She hit a ball to the third baseman. The girl fielded the ball cleanly, but her throw to first was too high and got over the head of the first baseman, all the way to the fence.
My wife stepped on first and turned to head to second. But she went down hard, cried out, and grabbed her right knee. By the time I got to her, she was crying. She had torn her anterior cruciate ligament!
It is all on video, you can come by and watch it if you like. It won't take long, only 45 seconds! That means that the surgery cost us over $200 per second of my wife's entire career! And that is not counting the entry fees we paid the league and the shirts we bought!
That is a true story. Can you top it?
When we were in our early 40's, my sister-in-law called and talked to our middle daughter about a new Co-Ed Slow Pitch Softball League that was being created in my hometown, about 40 miles from where we lived then. She proposed that we form a team made up only of family members.
Our daughter liked the idea so much that she pressured us to participate. I was still playing competitively at the time, so I was more than willing. My wife, however, had never played in an organized league in her life. But our daughter was very persistent. She was able to get her mom to agree by stressing the family time we would be able to enjoy in the hour trip to get to the game, and the hour getting home, not to mention the time with the extended family.
We decided on Bandits as our team name, bought sharp team shirts for all of us; we really had big plans for the season! Our youngest team member was 16 the oldest was 66!
The rules of the league were that the batting order had to alternate genders. And the infield had to have 2 females, the same for the outfield (there are 10 players on a slow pitch team). We were designated as visitors in our first game, meaning we batted first.
My wife was our first hitter. Our youngest daughter had a video camera rolling for this monumental moment in my wife's athletic career. She hit a ball to the third baseman. The girl fielded the ball cleanly, but her throw to first was too high and got over the head of the first baseman, all the way to the fence.
My wife stepped on first and turned to head to second. But she went down hard, cried out, and grabbed her right knee. By the time I got to her, she was crying. She had torn her anterior cruciate ligament!
It is all on video, you can come by and watch it if you like. It won't take long, only 45 seconds! That means that the surgery cost us over $200 per second of my wife's entire career! And that is not counting the entry fees we paid the league and the shirts we bought!
That is a true story. Can you top it?
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Singapore Night Tour
While were on our recent vacation trip, two of the men from the church in Singapore offered to give my wife and I a night tour of the city. We accepted their offer.
They came by at seven to pick us up in John's car and we proceeded downtown. Our first stop was at the recently opened Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum. The temple is a magnificent structure that takes up an entire block in the very busy part of the city. It is five stories high, with the shrine to the Buddha tooth on the fourth floor and a beautiful garden on the fifth floor. There is quite a bit of debate in the city as to whether the tooth really belonged to Buddha, but there is no doubt that the temple is a sight to see.
Next we went to Mount Faber, the second highest hill on the island. At the peak there is a very nice park and garden that allows observation of the resort island of Sentosa, the downtown district, and one of the housing estates near downtown. It was a rather romantic spot, and we saw lots of young couples there among the gardens.
Next stop was at Clarke Quay near the waterfront, which has been developed recently into the district of restaurants and shops and entertainment. It was really hopping the night we were there. One of the attractions that I tried to get my wife to ride was the reverse bungee, but I had no luck. It looked like an amazing ride.
We then drove out to the east end of the island where there was another district of nightlife. This one was right along a beach, and again we found a lot of young couples walking and sitting on the beach overlooking the strait that separates Singapore from Malaysia. It was amazingly quiet in that area.
Somehow our guides got turned around as they were trying to take us to a country club not too far from the beach area. We drove around for 20 or 30 minutes, but never did see that site.
The next stop was back toward the north and the Sembawang district. We went to see the temple of the God of wealth. It too took up a full city block and was very ornate. But it was not as impressive as the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple.
By this time it was after 1:30 in the morning. I told our hosts that we were ready to go and visit the temple of the is one of rest. So they took us home, but it was a very nice evening.
They came by at seven to pick us up in John's car and we proceeded downtown. Our first stop was at the recently opened Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum. The temple is a magnificent structure that takes up an entire block in the very busy part of the city. It is five stories high, with the shrine to the Buddha tooth on the fourth floor and a beautiful garden on the fifth floor. There is quite a bit of debate in the city as to whether the tooth really belonged to Buddha, but there is no doubt that the temple is a sight to see.
Next we went to Mount Faber, the second highest hill on the island. At the peak there is a very nice park and garden that allows observation of the resort island of Sentosa, the downtown district, and one of the housing estates near downtown. It was a rather romantic spot, and we saw lots of young couples there among the gardens.
Next stop was at Clarke Quay near the waterfront, which has been developed recently into the district of restaurants and shops and entertainment. It was really hopping the night we were there. One of the attractions that I tried to get my wife to ride was the reverse bungee, but I had no luck. It looked like an amazing ride.
We then drove out to the east end of the island where there was another district of nightlife. This one was right along a beach, and again we found a lot of young couples walking and sitting on the beach overlooking the strait that separates Singapore from Malaysia. It was amazingly quiet in that area.
Somehow our guides got turned around as they were trying to take us to a country club not too far from the beach area. We drove around for 20 or 30 minutes, but never did see that site.
The next stop was back toward the north and the Sembawang district. We went to see the temple of the God of wealth. It too took up a full city block and was very ornate. But it was not as impressive as the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple.
By this time it was after 1:30 in the morning. I told our hosts that we were ready to go and visit the temple of the is one of rest. So they took us home, but it was a very nice evening.
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Thursday, August 23, 2007
Thirty Runs!
When was the last time you saw a Major League game in which one team scored thirty runs? You never saw such a game! Not unless you are well over a hundred years old. The last time it happened was in 1897! But the Texas Rangers did it to the Orioles!
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El Caballo
Back in the off season, when the Houston Astros signed free agent Carlos Lee to a seven year deal worth one hundred million dollars, they were hoping for a serious run producer in the middle of the line up. Tonight Lee had two homers and boosted his runs batted in total to 102. He is just what they hoped for. Too bad the pitching staff has not lived up to its billing the way Lee has!
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Hurricane Damage In Dominica
I was in Singapore when Hurricane Dean went through the Caribbean, but I have been trying to contact my friends in Dominica since I returned. I finally got through a while ago. Three died as a result of rock slides caused by the heavy rains. Most of the homes survived with minimal damage, but almost all the crops were destroyed. It will be hard on the nation to have to live on imported foods as they wait for the land to once again produce the affordable provisions they depend on for their sustenance. Thankfully the island is very verdant and will replenish in a few weeks.
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Thursday, August 02, 2007
They Traded Ensberg!
For several years I have been wishing that Morgan Ensberg was not the third baseman for the Houston Astros. He is not a particularly good defensive player, and his tendency to take called strikes irritated me no end. He must have thought he was a lead off hitter because he relished walks, his on base percentage was good enough, but he was in the line up in run producing spots. He needed to swing the bat.
I am surprised they got anything for him in the trade with San Diego, whether it be the player to be named or cash considerations. It is better to have him gone.
I am surprised they got anything for him in the trade with San Diego, whether it be the player to be named or cash considerations. It is better to have him gone.
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