Thankfulness

Thought I would join the norm and make a list of the things I am thankful for, but with my twist. I generally try to remember these things most of the time, but like many I forget.

I am thankful for:

My wife--This may seem like a pat choice, but to me it is not. Think of how many marriages you know where the spouses don't do things together. He is off golfing/biking/riding that cruiser bike/etc. and she is doing coffee/shopping/quilting/etc.--not that there is anything wrong with any of those. It takes effort to make a couple work. I am thankful my wife puts up with this SOH. I am thankful she like to cook and try new things gastronomically. I am just thankful God put this woman in my life.

My children--All of them. Isn't it wonderful to see the differences in our children? I am blessed that they give me so much to think about and so many things to do to keep up with them.

The rest of my extended family--Sometimes a TV drama seems tame, but they are still related by blood or other things and they are mine.

A job that I enjoy more than I dislike--If it weren't for the students, the job would be hard to take. Stop and think what people in retail dislike about their job, adults. Why can't we adults act with more sincerity like children.

Friends--Friends are the exception to the above comment about adults. In fact, I'm surprised that my friends don't say about me what I say about adults. That's why they are friends.

Bicycles--Specifically the bikes I get to ride, and ALL the bikes in the world.

Baseball--Really it's more than just a game; we all know it. Challenges, cause and effect, and more thinking than people give it credit.

God--In no way could I have such hubris to think that this world exists for and is controlled by such an imperfect being as homo sapiens.

What if. . .

What if the theory of Peak Oil is correct? What if cars and personal transportation will change? There are many negative sides of these questions, but I've been thinking about one of the positives for our little town.

Our little hamlet celebrated the New Millennium prematurely in 2000 and then again in 2001, then again in 2002, then again in 2003. They have continued, but have begun calling it a New Year's Celebration. It was and is a wonderful production with fireworks, a Doodah parade and plenty of small-town revelry.

Something hit me as I was standing in the center of the main intersection of town, talking to my brother near a fire pit. What if the downtown was closed to cars all of the time instead of just tonight? I have since thought about his many times. I walk or cycle downtown when I need to go there. I've thought about how and where to close the roads. I'm sure there would be opposition and I'm sure there are downsides. But what would some of the positives be?

Our town has many murals and promotes self-guided mural walking tours. Why not add to the walking aspects? Friday nights a few local restaurants have music. Why not make it easier and more pleasant to walk amongst them? On a few occasions during the year one of the streets is closed for Chamber of Commerce functions, weddings, etc. This would make the entire downtown available for such functions. People would be encouraged to linger and walk about more. We have a new cafe/winebar with seating on the sidewalk, except there isn't much room for tables outside. If people walked on the street, the former sidewalk could be opened up for more tables. We had a chance to go to the Gaslamp District in San Diego recently. What a nice place to walk around. And it hasn't always been like that. Could our hamlet's downtown look similar?

Certainly traffic flow would be effected. Round-abouts and diverting traffic through alleys would allow cars to move through and near the downtown area, freeing the central core for pedestrians. It's just a dream, but what if. . . ?

Greed has a New Standard. . .

. . .Lower.

I apologize for not posting for a bit. And I doubly apologize for the nature of this post after posting on the same subject previously.

The thirdbaseman that shall remain unnamed, after having slunk back to the Evil Empire, has come to some agreement to resign with the EE. I thought the EE had come to its senses and washed their hands of 3B, but I guess greed comes in many flavors and wins are more important than being embarrased.

The money will probably be considered reasonable over time, though said 3B and his agent seem to be about as out of touch with the world as the Saudi royal family with their countrymen.

The killer though is the "provision" to allow 3B to share the revenue from his pursuit of the all-time home run record. Am I the only one that finds this so ethically bankrupt as to be beyond belief? So we now will have a greedy player chasing the record of a cheater/liar and recieving part of the money generated.

What is wrong with just playing the game?

What if someone opted out, and nobody cared?

Does the term narcissistic come to mind? I have a hard time even writing his name, but a certain third baseman seems to be so very out of touch with the world. Maybe that is the only way to get his name mentioned in a World Series. Or as one sportscaster said, maybe there IS a reason Justin Pedroia and Mike Lowell are in the series and he isn't!

Hats off to Tito, Brad and the crew. Great series for traditional baseball. Good pitching, good defense and timely hitting. We in Exeter are proud of our native son in Beantown.

And the answer is, Why Not?

My wonderful wife posted the following on her blog. http://fotosbymeg.blogspot.com/ Each time I read Ben Stein I realize I'm missing something by not reading him more and if I am missing things what is the rest of the world missing. Here is the what he wrote:

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.
Here with a few confessions from my beating heart: I have no clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the cover of People and Us constantly when I am buying my dog biscuits and kitty litter. I often ask the checkers at the grocery stores. They never know who Nick and Jessica are either. Who are they? Will it change my life if I know who they are and why they have broken up? Why are they so important? I don't know who Lindsay Lohan is either, and I do not care at all about Tom Cruise's wife. Am I going to be called before a Senate committee and asked if I am a subversive? Maybe, but I just have no clue who Nick and Jessica are. If this is what it means to be no longer young. It's not so bad.
Next confession:I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees. It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.
I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution, and I don't like it being shoved down my throat. Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him?
I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.


So many levels to this and done so succinctly. Why have we as a nation moved away from tolerance? Is it because it is easier to poke our noses and point our fingers at others than it is to look inside ourselves? And maybe correct some of our own flaws? Introspection is difficult, but it shouldn't be impossible.
Or is it that we have become so used to doing what we want, when we want? Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should do something. Why do I have the right to tell someone else how they should live and how they should eat and how they should exist? "Let he who is perfect cast the first stone." Maybe if I live my life in a way that isn't disparaging to others or if I worry about other's pain before mine, someone will ask, Why do you live like that?
And I would answer, "Why not."

Yee, Haw! It's the Rocks vs. the Sox

I have to say this is the combination I was looking forward to watching. Two teams that play baseball in an exciting way. Neither is afraid to bunt and both have pitching and can hit for power. This will be fun. And cold to boot.

I have to say I have personal ties to both teams. The Boston bench coach, Brad Mills, and I graduated from high school together and played together in HS and at the local JC College of the Sequoias. Our coach at COS was Bert Holt. My family has known Bert and his family since I was about 5. It was an absolute joy to play for Bert. He is a scout for the Rockies. Bert is a baseball lifer and there isn't a much better a tag for someone. He and his wonderful bride, Sue, will be sitting in a suite watching the series in Denver. I wish both teams could win.

PS. Bert got me started coaching while I was at COS. I had trouble hitting the fastball, let alone the slider. He put me in the first base coaches box and I was on my way. I also learned to pitch a pretty decent batting practice.

Boring Baseball Playoffs?

Say it ain't so? I read in the local paper recently that a certain columnist wasn't excited about the baseball playoffs and the potential Colorado-Cleveland World Series. That was before last night's spanking by Josh Beckett and the BoSox. It's alright to celebrate the Sox winning in 2004 for the first time since 1918, but not the Indians for getting to the Series since 1948? How about celebrating an organization working and getting it's ship righted? Cleveland is doing things well andbuilding from within instead of buying a good team. That is real baseball.

And the Rockies have finally learned that hitting homeruns and waiting for that lightning to strike doesn't always pay off. Nothing wrong with bunting and catching and throwing and good pitching is there? If these two teams get to the Series, it will be about playing baseball as it was intended. Though for me, I'd like to see a Colorado-Boston series.