Now, Grasshopper. . .

Let's hit the road, before the road hits back.

Those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it. Geo. Santayana

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

There are three rules on this baseball team. Rule # 1--The coach is right. Rule #2--No catch or pepper in front of the dugout. Rule #3--Refer to Rule #1.

Does his food stick in your throat? Miss Maudie to a neighbor criticizing Atticus in his house.

Measure twice, cut. . . err, measure five times, cut and use putty to fix.

Break up that rockpile.

Crap on toast.

People in Hell want ice water.

Sam, I need some help. It'll only take a minute.

I may look dumb, but I'm only stupid.

Me paresco menso, soy para estupido.


Isn't it funny which of our words get remembered. I asked one of our sons for some of my sayings and he ripped off three without taking a breath. Three that I had momentarily forgotten, but use.

I'm afraid to ask what actions he would remember.

The Ties That Hold

Ain't those a pretty set o' legs? They belong to Sean Kelly, a bike racer from the 1960's and 70's. The Tour de France ended this last weekend. I didn't watch or see it. I paid attention to who was winning and such, but not like the past. The other interesting thing about the picture? Duct tape. The tie that binds the world, at least according to Red Green.


This last weekend our oldest, Brad, and I traveled to Mt. Veeder to visit with John, Ashley, Maya, Elias and Maggie. The picture above is of Napa Valley looking east from the Oakville Grade. They live on the other side of the "hill" this picture is taken from. Brad wanted to go wine tasting for the first time. He is one week from moving out to go to Fresno State. So a "Dad and I" Road trip seemed like a great idea. It was a great trip for many reasons. It is always great to see John, Ashley and their family. You know those people in your life that whenever you see them, you go away a better person? That is both John and Ashley. Their children are an absolute hoot to be around. I could go on for days about them. And like I said, I came away a better person.

Brad and I spent more time together than we have in a while, and that was good. I understand my father more now that Brad is moving out. I listened to more Beatles music than I have in the last 20+ years. Sgt. Peppers, Abbey Road, Revolver, The White Album. It brought back many memories, not all good and not all bad. We went to some interesting wineries and had a great time. I'll bore you with the details in the future. Brad in a serendipitous moment met Gary Vaynerchuk, the creator of Wine Library TV. Gary lives in New Jersey and is in the family wine business. He created the online Wine Library TV and Brad has been watching and studying there. Brad is a big fan. On Friday, Brad told me that Gary said he would be in Napa for the weekend. Brad mentioned that it would be cool to meet him.

Saturday after Elias' soccer practice we went to lunch. We were on the way to a barbeque place and in the parking lot Elias decided he wanted corn bread and wanted to go to another restaurant in the complex, BarBersQ. All seven of us changed direction, actually only four doors down from where we were intended to go, with a stop at the toy store along the way. Funny how a 4 year old's mind works. During lunch we were eating good food and having good conversation; I like children and given that the children are just learning to communicate makes it fun. I looked over at one point and saw Brad stiffen, turn in his seat, and stand up to say hi to one of three young men that just walked in the door. I thought it was someone he knew from school or such. It was Gary Vaynerchuk! Brad introduced himself and said he really liked the show, a big understatement. Everyone was introduced and it was mentioned that John worked in the wine industry and he and Gary talked. Brad got Gary's autograph. It was one of those moments that can't be scripted. If you see this in a movie you'd think, "Well, it's a movie, anything can happen." It wasn't a movie. It was a small, or big, detail in a few people's life. It was a huge detail to Brad.

Later that day we were tasting at a winery and a young lady (everyone is young when you are post 50) approached me and asked if I was from Exeter, New Hampshire. Sorry, I said; Exeter, California. She said she was from Exeter, NH and studying at CAL. Her fiance is also at CAL studying evolution of insects in Hawai'i. He and John started talking about insects and people in that field they both knew.

A boy eats corn bread he likes. A young man meets a person he admires from the internet. Two people from two small towns with the same name a continent apart talk about the similarities of those towns. The biology of bugs and the expert two people know. Who'd a thought they could've met in a valley in Northern California in late July. Who'd a thought it would make each of them happy for a moment. Some One stronger than duct tape, that's who.

Great Expectations, Not.

Two facts have been rattling around in my head lately. The two major reasons churches split are doctrine and sin? How about infidelity and apathy? None of those. The two main reasons are music and money. Let that rattle in your brain for a bit as I give you the next fact.

One in every 900 high school senior baseball players will play professional baseball. That's minor leagues and majors. Better than the lottery, but not good odds. I have been told that I have ruined many a player's chance to "turn pro." I have been blessed to have had the opportunity to coach four players that did get the chance to play professional baseball. Two are still playing. In twenty five years of coaching the other players "turned pro in a field other than sports" as the NCAA advertisement states. I am also blessed to see these pros in another field from time to time. The lack of professional baseball on their resume hasn't seemed to hurt too much.

Are these two facts and their associated human actions normal? Or are they a sign of our times? Regardless, we are living in a time that expectations overwhelm reality. We don't just play sports to play; we play as a step on the way to a profession. Players attend camps, work-out with private coaches and enroll in sports academies designed to better them as athletes. But parents expect that the money spent is buying their child a step up on the way to being a professional athlete. I don't have a problem with these entities. The reality is these camps, coaches and academies are providing a service to make the athlete better. For money. Still, I have no problem with that. But let's be realistic. If I take my Ford Windstar and get new Goodyear tires will I be driving it this Sunday in the Allstate 400 NASCAR race at the Brickyard?

Hopefully most Sundays I will be in church, and I will hopefully be considering something loftier than the song that is being sung in worship. Is it too contemporary? Not contemporary enough? Is Bach tuning in his grave because his opus is being played with a guitar and drums? I understand money as a problem. Jesus spoke about money quite a bit, probably more than any other subject. Why? It is a problem and will be a problem for humans. Remember the Bible is a guidebook for us to live better lives. When money is mentioned that much, then I best take heed of a crook in the road ahead.

But music? What gives there? Expectations, that's what gives. We expect to get what we want, not what we need.

And if you see a white Windstar racing at the Brickyard this Sunday, someone with more money and different wants than myself will be driving it.

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

I'm still here. Busy, but pleasantly so. Summer school is over for this year.



This is the 20" cargo bike I'm using as a model for the one I'd like to cobble together. Wouldn't that be fun to ride while going to the store? Here is another version.



More fun than a barrel of Pixie Stiks.

Besides that project I have a few others coming along. Actually coming closer to finishing them, and for their intended purpose.


That was almost a year ago. And here it is in the background, except it is brown now. Kind of the color of a Toblerone milk chocolate.


The Baseball Car is still being hacked upon and the field is always a project.




Hope things are well where you are. Vaya con Dios.

Just Sit Right Back, And You'll Hear a Tale. . .

Somewhere in the mid 1960's my father decided he wanted a sailboat. Not a big one. Something like an 8' El Toro. He also decided to build it from plans he ordered. He bought wood, plywood, brass screws and fiberglass and started the boat. He finished the wood part of the hull and started fiberglassing the seams. This took a year or so, working weekends and such. Life and three children get in the way of sailboats sometimes. We then moved across town and the unfinished hull came with us. Life continued to intrude and the boat was still there waiting.

When I got into college, I worked on it a bit one summer. I finished fiberglassing the hull and started considering what needed to be done next. Both my father and I got a hankering to sail so he bought a Sunfish, basically a big surfboard with a sail and room for two. Work on the boat stopped as life, college and the Sunfish interceded.

As you can guess the boat never was finished. As a sailing vessel. Eventually my father, with help and guidance from my mother, took the boat to the kindergarten playground sandbox at the school where my mother was working. The boat finally was being sailed, through the Sand Ocean of many a child's imagination.

Did the boat do what my father intend for it to do? No. Failure? I don't think so. How can we presume to understand the future? That is the adventure of life and following God. Last night we watched Long Way Round. Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman ride motorcycles around the world. Things didn't turn out exactly as they planned, but they did make it. The boat did find a purpose. We need to be pliable enough to bend with the adventure we call life. We need to view life as an adventure and a journey where the destination isn't the goal, the journey is the point.

I have to admit this comes at a time when I am planted too firmly and bending too little in my life. The adventure is more of a struggle than a journey of discovery. God, help me to bend.

The Day After Ramblings

This is just going to be a list of assorted rambling thoughts; most won't mean much outside of they are rattling around in my dome and need to get out.

Dome--Isn't that such a cool term for your brain, your noggin, your gray matter, your pate, your. . . you get the idea. I like words. But in usual fashion when an adult uses an adolescent term, the term is no longer in vogue. It works wonderfully in class sometimes when I use a student term and they stop using it. JK, LOL is a recent example of this.

The pool is up! It is a task I like when it is done, and really isn't that hard to do, but a job that isn't looked forward to start. It usually means I have a slow work day because I have to fiddle with the pool bottom as the water fills to get all of the wrinkles out. It is especially nice on a hot day as the first dip or flop into the water is tingly cold like a mountain lake late in August.

Speaking of which, the mountains have been unseen even more than normal because of the numerous fires and smoke around California. Seems to be a long summer and fall ahead.

We didn't purchase any fireworks nor set any off this year. Just kind of fell into it. B is in Shasta with family, A was with her adopted older "sister" E watching the Lions Club fireworks display, W was with friends doing likewise, and S stayed home. M, S and I drove (Guess I broke my own promise not to drive) out near the local hill and watched the Lions fireworks for a bit. M took some pictures with the slice of moon next to the explosions. Pretty neat. Drove downtown on the way home and it was deserted. Only one couple outside the Stag. Nice to think people are with family during the 4th.

The studio ceiling is painted and we are moving forward. Sure is nice to see tangible results.

I have an idea for a bike based on a 20" bmx bike. It will have extended steerer tube on the fork for raised handlebars and longer seatpost so an adult can ride it comfortably. There will be a BIG basket on the front for cargo. Sort of a modern newspaper bike. The smaller wheels will carry the weight better. Not totally my idea, but still something to keep alive my weird bike person label.

The yard is better than usual. Not all of the plants are growing as well, especially the tomatoes. But with the addition of the new backyard plot, the almost finished concrete, and M's garden wisdom; I just marvel everytime I walk into our yard. It is a refuge from the world.

Along that line, I am working a four day work week in summer school. We have been doing this for about four or five years. I thought I wouldn't like it, but have really come to enjoy the three days home. I get to enjoy my family more, enjoy the aforementioned yard and finish some projects around the house. The problem with the four day work week, after three days at home,I don't want to go back to work. I have a start-up issue.

I do enjoy being around the house. Years ago I read the Intregal Urban House and over the years we have tried to implement similar ideas into our house and living. One son calls it Urban Hobodry and me the Urban Hobo. I found this site recently and hope to explore it for new ideas.

It is very pleasing to see the three boys, and A sometimes, making the transition from Guitar Hero to real guitar playing. B bought an electric and at times they take turns playing two at a time on the guitars. Also kindled an interest in classic rock.

Nice blog about Independence, Interdependence and Freedom. As is often the case, some use them interchangeably when they aren't.

Did you know the Declaration of Independence was signed on the 2nd of July? Fighting was already going on between the Colonies and Britain. The next year, 1777, someone decided that the D of I should be celebrated, but it was the 3rd. So they said how about tomorrow the 4th and the holiday was on. Many myths surrounding this piece of parchment. I think everyone should read it at least once seriously, not when you're trying to go to sleep.

Did you know that a shovel urged me to go to college? Digging weeds out of a ditch in 100+ degrees has a way of talking to a teenager in a way that no parent or teacher can compete.

Well, I better hit the road before the road hits back. And remember to keep the rubber side down.