Oh, To Be a Simple Man

No, Ashley, we didn't let E sit in front of the TV all weekend.    He was bonding with his cousins.

This was a big week in many ways.  S left for Fort B and in traditional Army fashion, he was stuck in San Jose an extra day after the computers crashed and he couldn't be processed.  "Hurry Up and Wait" was the Army motto my father used to repeat.  S got a first hand lesson on his first day as a soldier.

B finished his first year at FSU in fine form.  Now looking for a job and trying to keep his cat,  Earl-J, happy.

The last person in the above picture, J, is I suppose like most fathers--along for the ride, watching.  Or maybe that is just my take on the world.

This week I also attended a funeral of the mother of a good friend from high school and college. There were many friends I hadn't seen in a while, as well as some I see fairly often.  Nice to be in the presence of good people. The service was nice, and it should be.  This was a nice woman that had lived a life serving others.  I never heard a cross word from her mouth and she lived to help, especially feed, others.  Some would say she had lived a difficult life, moved from the Midwest in the 1940's as a child, worked in a packing house, then raising two boys and a husband.  I don't think she would say it was difficult.  I think she would say she just made the most ofeach day.

As I was listening to the song, "I'll Fly Away," I was struck by the simplicity of this wonderful woman's life.  Not the "Oh, such a simple woman,"  thoughts.  The "WOW! What a glorious,  simple example of a great life lived."  Why do we humans complicate matters so much?  The longer I sat and listened and looked at the people at the service, I was struck by the power of simplicity.  The singularness of doing a few things, well. 

Oh, that I become that simple.

The Baseball Games are Over, but. . .

The high school season is over, though basebal continues as it should.  We finished 13-14, a smidge under average.  We needed to be above to make the playoffs, and I suspect for some of the team this is the better place to be for them.  For myself and others it isn't.

Now the rest of baseball takes over.  The field has to be maintained through July.  The Lions All-Star game is June 6 and some of the field projects need to be finished.  There are Babe Ruth games that the field will have to be marked for, which isn't a bad way to make some money.  W will do that with a bit of my help.  

Life at this time settles into another rhythm.  School is speedily winding down.  Summer school is on the horizon with its different pace and structure. Four days a week isn't bad, but many students have a difficult time with 6 hours of English a day.  We will have two new teachers in the English department next year and that will be a big change.  The leaving and changing of the staff was expected, just not so soon.  I have matured enough to realize that the teachers leaving and left are great teachers and greater people.  I will miss rubbing shoulders with this greatness and I fear that I won't be able to hold up their standard.

The gardens are up and growing.  This will be a new adventure and I hope to enjoy the bounty.  It is always fun to see new plants sprout and push skyward through the earth.

S is leaving soon and possibly B will be home for the summer.  I look forward to being with W and A.  I'd like to do some of the activities I used to do with B and S like hiking and visiting local places.  I haven't been to Mineral King in years and was reminded of it in a friend's post.  I wonder if the marmots are still running amok.

M and I have many things to do, not the least of which is eating and talking.  Summer evenings with a bit of cheese, home-made pizza and a glass of wine is a great way to decompress.

Half a Year With No China, Well Almost W/O China

The picture above was taken outside a Fresno eatery that we frequent when on our monthly Restock Brad at college and pilgrimage to Trader Joe's/Whole Foods.

Last blog I intended to mention how the No New Clothes/No China jig was progressing.  I forgot, that's been happening more lately, so I thought I'd do a mid-point review.  If you are unfamiliar with our committment you can read about it on Maureen's blog.  I haven't thought about it much, though a student asks occasionally how things are going.  I guess I don't get out shopping much, A would say never, so it doesn't affect me much.  What I do notice is that when I am out in any retail space I have a habit of looking at the label for the manufacturing/processing origins.  This happens in the grocery store, the hardware store, sporting goods store, any where.  A semi-local department store with an over 100 year history recently went bankrupt and closed.  We shinnied on down with the other ghouls to look over the retail carcass and I found myself not looking for clothes, but at the labels for country of origin.  Now I could use some replacement clothing, but I stopped looking very quickly and went on my location quest instead.  

This may be just a new take on a college habit.  When I was attending Chico State I was the quintessential poor college student.  I lived on a little over $200 a month for everything.  Even in the late '70's money, that wasn't very much.  I learned some valuable lessons and it started me on my parsimonious ways.  Friday afternoon became a ritualistic afternoon for me.  I had scrimped and saved, turned in the recycling (not much really) and had a few dollars in my pocket.  I would walk downtown and start window shopping.  I had a circuit through guitar shops, used book and record stores, Salvation Army, Goodwill, and a mountain sport store.  I would look at the wares, sometimes for the fourth time that month, and ruminate on their value.  I knew I couldn't buy 95% of what I was looking at, but it was the adventure in my mind of thinking of what these objects could help me accomplish.  On the rare occaision that I did spend money it was usually a used book, record or shirt.  But I knew if I did spend it would cut into my end of the ritual hamburger with roommates.  So many a bargain was left with money unspent. Many valuble lessons were learned about what it important on those Friday afternoons.

Maybe those Fridays prepared me for this No New Clothes/No China challenge.  Regardless there have been two major challenges in this recent journey.  Clothes wear out.  I started with few work jeans and fewer pieces of underwear.  I have for years been know to wear clothing that is torn, ragged and holey while working.  I have reached new levels in this pursuit/fetish.  One way I have supplanted my jean situation is from S.  He is in the process of cleaning out his clothing in preparation for the Army.  It is interesting that baggy, low slung jeans for a fashionable young man have the actual waist size for his over 50 Pops.  I have been the recipient of a "new" set of work and nicer jeans.  Thank you, S.

The other problem is in my capacity as baseball coach.  So many sporting goods manufacturers have outsourced to China that I have been unable to buy almost anything that is made someplace other than China.  The baseballs the Section dictate are made in China.  Catchers gear and helmets, China.  I recently bought wooden bats for my yearly hitting pick-me-up and they were made in China.  So while I have been a success elsewhere, I have been an almost total failure in the baseball realm.

I guess I'd give myself an A personally and an F job wise.  I guess I like most modern Americans.  high personal ethics and morality,  but corporately a degenerate.