THERE'S ONLY ONE

I was so glad when some washed up/never was much Cub named Daryl Ward hit a three-run home run in the top of the 9th inning to win the game for the Chicago team on Friday. What? I thought you were a Cardinal fan. Oh, I am, and always will be.

But you see, in the Year of the Cubby Bear, they're getting all the breaks in the world. That's the way it is with winning teams. Barring a collosal Cubby break down, and it could still happen, they are going to the NL playoffs this year. That saddens me. But sooner or later they will run out of SuperMen. It always happens.

So my logic is, let them get their breaks now in the regular season. When the Playoffs begin, hopefully they'll dry up. They'll look around, they'll expect them to be there. And they won't. They'll find no more SuperMen, so they'll try to be the heroes, press too hard and fall on their Baby Bear faces.

Foolish? Wishful? Perhaps the second. But don't forget these Cubs were swept in the first round of the Playoffs last season by the AZ Diamondbacks. Let them be super now, rather than later.

SEE WHAT'S BECOME OF ME

Author David McCullough needs to get busy. I've finished all his books. I did that one school year with Vonnegut.

I had a great Student Teacher. She needed little help from me. So I read. It helped that I also got to keep her for a whole year when Illinois put in some kind of a Mentor program. My students were even happier than I when she returned for another semester. So I didn't even have to rush to get through all his books. But when I finished, I didn't have the void that McCullough left.

I'm not sure what I'll read now besides my interest in religious commentators. Boice, Piper, and MacArthur are big. Currently I'm reading a book by John Ortberg, one our pastor gave me, and it's very good. I don't think I'll ever run out of religious authors to read. I'm also reading a book about Billy Graham and the Presidents, though I've been away from him long enough that my wife has already finished the book.

Tidbits by McCullough I miss, though. The picture in this entry, for instance. The author thinks digital clocks are a pejorative sign of modern society. They show only what's now. Not what was in the past. He claims that the last US President to be a student of history was Truman, and that concerns him. I'm not for certain what he means about the hands on a clock face, but I find myself agreeing. I'm also concerned that no other Prez in my lifetime has been a student of history. It may explain more things than I care to think about.

So if I find no other author to delve into, I'll have to rely on C. S. Lewis and the previously mentioned writers. When I run out of them, I'll just go to The Word. I can't go wrong there.

LOOK AT THAT SHINER!

The sky is ready for the sun.
C'mon. It's time.
They're waiting, too.
So where are you?
Ah, you were obscured by a concrete cloud
Heavy laden from the task
Of trying to conceal.

The other clouds, the revealers,
Foretold your coming.
Like trying to keep a secret, they couldn't and chided ever so slowly,
Hints of colors they can't make on their own without you.

I'm glad it's time.
For this day holds.
Opportunities, second chances, and finalities.
Memories to be made, times wasted
It's what we make of it, you know.
So go ahead, Big Fellow
Illume.

CLEARING OUT COBWEBS

Whatever it takes. For some it's jogging, for some canoeing or kayaking; for others it's a devotional. It refreshes; it's re-invigorates, but at the same time, it's rids us of stress.

It used to be jogging for me till I became slower and slower. The only time I was ever in a canoe was at the MTV City Park. But rather than a canoe, it was more of a row boat. I was eighth grader and had my girlfriend Karla, I think was her name, with me. I remember that it kinda looked like a cool thing to do, but it was a lot of work. Especially since I had never rowed a boat before. But I'd seen others. In real life and in the movies. Heck, if I remember correctly even Alfalfa rowed Darla once and she thought it romantic, so why not Karla?

Whatever happened when we finally reached the other shore, I simply don't recall. Karla moved away, and I never took another girl rowing.

I watch rowers once in awhile on the Tempe Town Lake. It still looks like a lot of effort to me. Also they seem to be working out. They don't know about cobwebs. Or eighth grade girls with blonde hair.

WASHERS IS AS WASHERS DOES

Washers is a great game that doesn't require the space needed for horseshoes. Also no one gets injured playing washers, pronounced "warshers" in some climes.

I'm still wearing a small scar on my right leg partly hidden by hair, partly hidden by age, but mostly hidden by the sun's effects. The cause, an errant horseshoe that deflected off the stake and onto my nearby leg. I should have moved quicker. So much for athleticism. And focus.

I wanted to order this game on EBay, butit carried a $55 price tag with shipping. Somehow, I figured I'm into the U of I for enough money having sent our son there sans scholarship for 4 years back in the 90's. Oh, it was worth it, even if their football and basketball teams those years were pretty miserable. Well, football anyway.

But it was always a place to go freeze your tail in the (irony of the entry) horseshoe at the football stadium. Or you could go to Assembly Hall and try to yell and be heard, but in that cavernous edifice at that time with subdued fan support and only average basketball, well, good luck.

But the loyalty of the alums is amazing. After four years of wind blowing cold weather, after four (or more--there were a lot of Super Seniors there) years of academics, where by the way most students were awarded their first C's or even D's ever, after all the hours spent competing, they still love the university.

Maybe $55 is not so bad. After all, it's worth the memories.

POST NUMBER 900

Why do I blog? Because it's there, I guess. Like Mt. McKinley and the English Channel and the marathon.

But whatever the reason, this is my 900th entry in On the QT. So what have I learned? Lots about myself. Lots about what I want to reveal about myself. Lots about what's surface level and what's below the surface. That is latent stuff that I didn't know was there. Until I searched for a picture and found a memory or an idea. Maybe a slant or take. Misinformation and prejudices.

Don't ask for specifics. Just go back and hit on older posts. There'll be your proof.

I also have learned that I don't have as many readers as I thought I would. I have some dedicated readers and to you I say thanks. I hope I've given you something to chew on, gnaw on, or spit out. It is for you and for me that I write.

And if you're not a faithful reader, then I take that not as an insult, but as an inspiration that I need to be reaching more of you. Thus, I have to be more entertaining. Somewhere between Garrison Keillor and John Gresham, I suppose.

So thanks for reading. I hope I can eek out 900 more. However many, they're never a chore.