A glorious week and great company

a little better all the time........
last friday - beautiful weather - and Joe's birthday, so we made him skip school (he was very tentative about the idea, but bought into it quickly), I took a vacation day, and Sue turned down a "Sub" request. We loaded up the bikes and headed to Falmouth and the Shining Sea Bike Path. We had also planned to visit the Childrens Museum in Mashpee, but Joe decided it was such nice weather that we should stay out in it longer - so we pedaled and walked and explored a bird sactuary along the way and investigated shells near the Trunk River. A glorious day with great company!
Saturday - we did some basic yard work and house cleaning, and in the evening recruited friends Mark & Maureen for a canl-side walk followed by drinks & appetizers & a good band (with a great young female singer, and an excellent Berklee grad type guitarist. A glorious day with great company.
Sunday - family day (minus Corey & Mary & Yon) - and we decided to risk the depressing weather reports and trek up Mt Monadnock. Along about the NH border I was feeling & hearing an unusual noise/vibration from the van, which turned into a steady thumping noise that everybody heard. We pulled into the State park parking lot and checked the front tire, discovering it was on the verge of major blow-out (it might not have lasted one more mile). Jamie - my budding mechanic - was eager to get the jack & spare and get to work, so while he & I changed tires, the rest of the gang ate lunch. Then we headed up hill on foot. Tim & Joe were gung-ho and were given permission to hike on ahead. Julie & Jamie were struggling, so I sent Sue & Nikki off ahead and I held back with the out-of-shape high schoolers. Tim & Joe made the peak, Sue and Nikki stopped at the junction of the White Dot (up) trail and the White Cross (down) trail and waited for us slow pokes. They both could have made the top - almost visible from the intersection (but fogged in) but chose to sit & rest & wait from us to catch up. Shortly after we did, the boys came down and met us - so we all headed down. Aside from a few high pulse rates and one fall on the rocks (Joe, horsing around) all went well and unusually chearfully. A glorious day and great company.
Monday - Memorial Day - tons of work accomplished (for upcoming Grad Party) and people left me alone. (also translates into a glorious day).
Tuesday - Joe's evening baseball game, sitting in the van by the right field fence - a glorious lazy way to spend an hour & a half.
Wednesday - our softball game was supposed to be rained out, but the weather held off and the girls played quite well, pulled off a few very good defensive plays (followed strategic instructions and were rewarded by the results) and despite two runners thrown out at home plate (one give credit to the opposing catcher how perfectly blocked the plate, caught the throw and made the tag - and one were Antonia actually made a picture perfect slide under the tag but the ump was out of position and blew the call) we came from behind and won the game. A glorious day and great company.
Thursday - virtually uneventful (other than Joe getting "benched" at his tack meet - it's hard to sit, behave, and watch for 3 hours while waiting your turn to run) and sue was out doing yoga with my sister and then drinks/snacks with play-people. For her at least, great company.
Today (friday) - amazingly nothing on the calendar for Sue & I, only two children home, so Friday's for supper followed by doing NOTHING (interupted by picking up Nikki, then Julie). Talk about a glorious day and great company!!!

The Fear of Bunting

No – not the patriotic red-white-&-blue flag-like bunting that you see on the sides of buildings around certain holidays. I’m talking about that terrifying moment when the batter squares off to face the pitcher, bat held horizontal, ready to intentionally bump into the ball, making it drop to the ground a few feet in front of home plate (which is, by the way, about as far as some girls hit it with a full swing).

We have been practicing bunting almost every practice session. For some reason the girls hate the idea and are scared to death of the whole prospect. So last Friday, before the game started and before I had to leave to Tiverton to play in the band, I told the whole team that in Tuesdays game EVERY batter would be given the bunt sign (note picture: this is my bunt sign! it seemed appropriate, hard to miss, and hard to mistake), at least once during EVERY time they got to bat. Apparently they all spent a very sleepless weekend! The night of the dreaded game came, and I reminded them all that they would ALL indeed have to try to bunt. I even went and told the opposing coach of my plan so he wouldn’t think I was pulling some cheap ploy against his team, but that it was simply a cheap psychological ploy against my own players. He loved the idea, though it was great. I let the umpire in on the plan, and he happily advised various ones along the way about not stepping out of the batters box, and pulling the bat back if they are NOT going to try for that particular pitch. I was going to be happy if about half of the girls actually squared up into the proper bunting pose even once, and if anyone had set an over/under gamble at 3 total balls actually bunted I would have probably bet on the ‘under’. I figure the first step in overcoming their fear was to simply have them mentally prep for the attempt – get used to looking for the sign, and hopefully, eventually, as the season progressed, to get more at ease with the actual physical technique and maybe even have occasional success. The end result? About half of the at-bats, no spectator/opposing player/opposing coach would have been able to tell you which pitch was the one they were supposed to be bunting on. Many of the attempts were half-hearted at best. They squared up (if you could call it that) much too late – when the pitch was half way to the plate instead of before the pitcher let go of the ball. After the first time through the whole lineup, I told them that if they simply made a good attempt, they wouldn’t have to do it any more that day (anything to boost their motivation level). In the end, three successful bunts were put down (successful in the fact that they WERE put down, not that they reached base safely – which none did). Hopefully we will do better next game, and eventually it will be no big deal.
Oh yeah – by the way – we won the game 11-10, not by executing a perfect suicide squeeze bunt, but because we were fortunate enough to go into our at bat in the bottom of the last inning tied, with our best three hitters scheduled to bat, and the coach being wise enough to let them swing away – which they were thrilled to do, getting three straight hits to push the winning run across the plate. Now they are feeling pretty good and think they are off the hook. Wait until they find out about my “getting in a run-down” plan for next week!

Opening Day one week late but worth it

Last weeks opening softball game (Nikki's team, which I am head coach of) got rained out, so we got to play our first game yesterday instead. For three weeks in practice, we worked on basic fielding and aggressive base running. I already knew we had good pitching, so I didn't actually spend much practice time on that. Apparently it was the proper preperation, as we won 15-3, with solid pitching, good fielding, and brave baserunning (actually - brave might be too strong of a word, but some people do run very fast when they are scared to death). Despite a truly clueless umpire whose strike zone ranged from about the top of MY head to the batters thigh (Nikki pitches best right around the knees), Nikki kept her composure and pitched three very strong innings. Taryn finished with two also strong innings. Kayla smacked a solid double that turned into a "Little League Home Run" (anyone who has seen one knows what I mean) and Adrianna belted a legitimate bases loaded triple. We caught three fly balls (Nikki, Kayli, & Adrianna), were the beneficiaries of a horrible "out" call at home plate (the other teams girl easily got under the tag), and even got the final out on a play that the second baseman usually panics and messes up on. With two outs and a runner on 1st base, the batter hits a ground ball to the 2nd baseman (Antonia). She fielded it cleanly, and started to go for the tag, then thought she should run for the base, then considered throwing to the base. The tag out would have been easy, and she would have beat the runner to 2nd equally easily. About two feet away, ball in glove, she decided the right play was to throw it to Alex who was indeed properly covering the base from her shortstop position. Thankfully she has quick reflexes and a good glove hand, and the game was over. They are fun, and it is certainly never a dull moment.

Jesse Manibusen

Most musicians never achieve "fame", and spend a great deal of time learning and performing the songs of "famous" musicians. Except in very rare cases, on very rare occasions, do we ever even get to meet someone who's songs we might play. I got my chance on Sunday to rub elbows with one of the most internationally famous current musicians of his genre - Christian Praise & Worship musician Jesse Manibusen. One of the first Catholic Retreat songs I ever learned to play/sing was Jesse's "Open My Eyes, Lord" which is still a staple "modern praise" song world wide. I saw him once, as he performed at Jim & Paula's wedding two years ago, but I didn't get to actually meet him. But this past weekend, by a twist of Divine Intervention, he was coincidentally scheduled to be in the neighborhood on precisely the same weekend as Jim & Paula's baby was being baptized. (Jesse and Jim have been close friends for many years. The spare bedroom at Jim & Paula's home had been dubbed "the Jesse Room" as he always stayed there when his travels brought him to the Boston area. Now, as the "Jesse Room" has been converted to "Liam's Nursery" of course Jesse agreed - probably insisted - to perform at the Baptismal Mass. I hope someday Liam, you can grasp the magnitude of the honor of having this world renowned evangelist eagerly fitting your baptism into his busy itinerary - 1 hour after finishing a retreat and hours before flying to Spain.) Jesse played guitar (a beautiful Taylor) and sang all the various hymns (some written by him, some by others) and Mass parts oh so effortlessly and beautifully as only a full fledged and gifted professional can do (and as much as Jim tells me that Jesse is not the only musician in the room who can do that, while I appreciate his compliment, I know the truth). So this time, I made certain that after the Mass ended, I approached Jesse and introduced myself and offered my respects. Then my son Corey, aware of who Jesse was, spotted me with him and joined in the conversation. Corey - an Northeastern University sophmore - is trying to assist the "Brotherhood of Hope" to develop a vibrant campus ministry program at NU and wanted to know if Jesse would be interested in coming to the campus and giving a talk/concert. Of course, this IS what Jesse does for a living, and he enthusiastically advised Corey how to go about setting something up. Needless to say, as good Christians are naturally able to do, Jesse touched many peoples lives in a short two hour period. Jim & Paula were honored with his friendship, Liam was honored by his service, I was honored by hearing stunningly beautiful music direct from it's creative source, and Corey was honored to get encouragement in his efforts at being a part of a ministry. All in a days work for Jesse Manibusen - pray he never tires of his vocation.

Making a Waterfall

The idea of having a waterfall as part of our garden water-feature has been on the wish list for a number of years. This spring, when we discovered that the pond pump that runs the little pond fountain was kaput, we figured while we had to replace it, we might as well get a bigger one that would be able to run a waterfall. SO off to Lowes we went. $60 for the pump, $20 for the 3/4" diameter hose, and lots of free stone & cinder block from a demolished out-building at Camp Kiwanee later, and it was time to start building. Generally with a project of this sort, I start with a general concept of who it will work and what the finished result will look like. Then I simply start. As I work, I survey the individual stones etc.. and wing it, following my artistic instincts. Stones get placed and replaced and rotated and repositioned until they look right. Usually, I find a combination I like and end up with a result I am happy with. In this case, the result was very pleasing and worked great. Now this morning we discovered the pond only half full - which means either the pond is leaking (I fixed a leak in it last year, which might have re-opened) or the new waterfall is (also a likely possibility). So we refill the pond, but do not turn on the waterfall while we go out for the day. If the pond is low when we return, I know I need to drain and fix it. If not, I will disassemble the waterfall and redesign it - which I don't mind as it is a fun job to create (or re-create) an artistic and functioning structure.