Baseball

I am an avid baseball fan. I like the game and what it stands for. Good clean fun. Sure I like pro ball...But it means much more. You must play for free before you understand it. The smells, the crack of the bat, the chatter, the personalities of the players, endurance and pure love of the game. I have a true story from colt league ( 13 -14 yrs old ). I played on a team that lost most of the time. We didn't gel until the last 4 or 5 games of the season. We won our last 3 games and played the best team in the playoffs and lost 14 to 13. That game was my best ever as far as memories go. It was my "natural".
It was the bottom of the last inning, we were losing 14 to 3. People were getting in their cars because it started to rain. People that had umbrellas stayed in the stands.
We scored 6 runs as we batted around. Errors were made by the opposition due to the rain and puddles were starting to form. The score was now 14 to 9. They walked a couple and an error was made, the base were loaded. Lightning was flashing along with the wind blowing. Rain was still coming down. I was up to bat. There was a train track about 300 feet from home plate, about 30 feet from the fence. Train was passing, adding to the drama... I think I took a couple of balls. Then I took a at least one strike. The 5th pitch was thrown and I hit the ball and I started running, as I passed 1st base, I looked up to see how far the ball went and it went through a box car that had both sides open. Rain really started to pour down. My teammates met me at the dugout and said, did you see that, the ball went through the box car. I thought it was an optical illusion, but I saw it right. The excitement of the home run was extinguished by thew next batter, who struck out to end the game. We played for free and risked our lives. That's what it's all about.

My old but new ailment

I have dealing with some aches in my shoulder, pain in my neck and tingling in my left arm for some time now. I thought it was my throwing shoulder needing a cleanout. But a week long stiff neck and some burning pain made me get an xray. Advanced ankylosing spondylitis, which in short means my c-6 and c-7 are fused together by "arthur"itis. I had c-spine surgery 12 yrs ago. Didn't have much problem. Had a clue that things were getting bad after a bicycle wreck 2 yrs ago. Inflammation and tense neck muscles.
I thought I would include pics but sorry can't do it. Just can't swing a hammer for extended periods of time, push carts with out pain, carry things and all that. I have stopped for now but I will continue. Need to rest it and take my meds. This is my tribute to tammy in a weird way. I didn't realize how much pain that you are in all the time. Better yet, how you can grin and bear through it. I am a perky person until I have to do a little work lately then I don't want to smile. Plan of action : realize my limits and pace myself. Look into physical therapy and hope not for another surgery.

Why ?

We live in a town where racism exists. Ignorance is rampant. Crime happens all around us. We want peace, quiet and solitude. We would appreciate people to be considerate of their fellow humans and animals. I have learned that fighting back quietly is the way to battle ignorant, selfish and mean people. They will break and make mistakes. My patience has been tested over and over. We technically lost our foot hold and will move out of our house. Who really wins ? Does it matter ? No not really.. I pray that we will not have to ever go through this last year again. I am not the one that had to endure, my wife did. She stays home with our dogs and her business. She is also suffering from an autoimmune disorder, while dealing with harassment for over a year. I know that evil lurks around every corner, but must we live next door to it ?