WONDERING

Yes, I know. You didn't sleep well. Your mind raced. Pondering. What kind of flower I would be. Did anyone guess, the misappreciated dandelion?

Well, that's me. I thought sunflower. But they grow so tall. I didn't. They lean over, weak in the neck. Mine's too fat to do that.

They have a big brown, soft center. Hey, maybe I did make a bad choice.

But to me, a dandelion is what I would be. Unwanted but providing a little color. Deep, deep rooted. Craving the sun. Alone or surrounded. Rough around the edges. Rugged. Survivor through the years.

Unseen in the Winter (at least when I was an Illinoisan). Breaking out into full bloom in Spring. Determined. Dogged.

There were tons of others I could have chosen, of course. And, of course, some rejected solely on the basis of names. For instance, pansy. C'mon. Peony? Hardly. Daffodil? Now, you're making me mad. Butter cup, blue bonnet, mums--all, not me.

But I'm so much a dandelion that I am starting to believe the poster was right about flowers being people. Or was it the other way around?

THANKS FOR THE STROLL

Lay it on the line. Tell it like it is. Be transparent for all/any to see. That's right--blog.

I first started as a rotisserie blog. It's animus was to hype my fantasy teams. Our son initiated the idea with a fantasy newsletter when he was in high school. Our league was formed in 1988, I believe and we are still going strong preparing for our 21st year in baseball. So with the advent of computer technology, a few of us started our own blogs.

We still have our rotisserie blogs, but I write only sporadically there. Along with three or four other team owners. We also have a football blog with fewer scribes. Again, sporadic.

And, my OneWay Christian blog that can be accessed by clicking on the link. Sadly, it's become sporadic lately, too. But I enjoy it as much as this one, though it usually sends me to the Bible for scripture references, thus making it a little more difficult.

But it's a hoot for me to blog and hear from a loyal reader. One called me last week to talk about my blog. Specifically, my entry about the barn. It seems my good Kansas buddy also enjoys microwave 100 cal popcorn, McCullough, and low sugar Smucker's Concord grape jelly. We both have two slices almost daily.

Then he sends me an email about a new preacher in town and it has the same saying in it that we have on an artsy plaque sitting on a small easel next to our tv. Wow!

But reader BES knows all that. So to give him some fodder for the day and to tie in the 60's poster a little more to this entry, I pose the question: if people are all flowers, what kind are you?

My answer, because I expose myself on this blog will come tomorrow, after you've had time to ponder the possibilities. And, as usual, thanks for walking in my garden. Stay as long as you like.

JAVA

When the journalism insructor approached me as a department chair in 1976, he had the right idea. He wanted to begin a literary/arts magazine for our high school. He wanted me to co-sponsor with him.

What he didn't know was that I had wanted to be in high school journalism, wanted to be on our high school literary magazine staff as a student, needed that mental floss back then, but for various reasons had been denied. Mostly because I hadn't made my ambitions clear to anyone else, including my guidance counselor/friend who placed me in accelerated English III instead.

So what lay dormant for ten years was embraced with new life thanks to the journalism teacher. He left after two years but our magazine flourished for another 21 years until I left. Actually, it still continues at MTVHS.

We really put together a quality product that won quite a few awards over the years. It became a school wide cross curriculum venture when my next co-sponsor was an art teacher. We had art shows for the expressed purpose of the work being published in the magazine.

We had it printed at the school's print shop with student workers helping our school printer, a certified English teacher himself. We did all the work from idea to selling advertising to sales to distribution.

JAVA even got into sponsoring an anti-litter campaign predicated on a New Mexico program called Toss No Mas. We worked with our Dean of Students and watched videos of students in the parking lots who discarded their trash. After they were identified, they were recognized on the public announcements and a drawing was held to award one of them with $100 for not littering.

I miss JAVA. It was aptly named, for it gave me a kick start. A pick me up. I'll tell you how much I liked working with those students on staff: some days I would pass up playing golf to spend some after school time on layout or design issues. The operative word there, of course, is some. But I'm glad it's still going on. Everybody can use a little JAVA.

I NEVER HAD A BARN

Once I laid out some pretty good change for a wooden building to store my lawnmower and unnecessary collectibles. You know, the kinds of things you have no room for, but somehow you think you need. I don't remember the dimensions of the building; I just remember that I paid too much for it.

But if I'd had a barn, I wonder what I'd advertise? Probably whoever would pay me the most. But I'd be a little discerning. For instance no Mail Pouch. I even changed the name of my rotisserie baseball team from the Blazin' Camels to the Flying Chaucers because I wanted nothing to do with encouraging smoking of any kind. Ok, purist, or chewing. Or dipping. Or anything having to do with tobacco. Except for rubbing on bee stings, and even then, there are better products for that relief.

So, I guess I could offer it to Trader Joe's Sumatra Organic coffee which I'm enjoying right now. It is very good. In fact, I prefer it to Starbucks. Or, since I eat popcorn nearly every night, I could offer it, but I'm not so loyal to just one company. Whoever has a sale on 100 calorie microwave packages, that's whom I go with. Or Smuckers low sugar Concord grape jelly: another staple in my diet.

I'd offer my space to My Space, but I only know of it by name. Much like Facebook. But it would be kinda cool to see My Space on my barn.

I'd offer it to sports teams but only the Red Sox, Yanks, Dodgers, and Cubs have enough money to throw around to purchase the space. I wouldn't want my barn to advertise any of them. I think I'd prefer the Mail Pouch.

I know; I could advertise authors. One big sign spouting Read Anything by McCullough, my favorite. But I'd have to have a pretty good sized barn to get all that on there.

I could just have them print a big JESUS on it. But someone beat me to that one. After Florida quarterback Tim Tebow had John 3:16 printed in white into his lampblack strips under his eyes for the national championship game, it was the biggest hit on Google the next day. So I have my answer.

My favorite scripture passage will be advertised on my barn: John 14:6. In great big letters.

WARNING! YOU ARE ENTERING THE DOG DAYS OF WINTER

I know Summer has its dog days. But so does Winter. With the NFL having crowned their champions and baseball two weeks away from Spring Training pitchers and catchers reporting, before actual Spring Training games, before the NCAA Basketball Tourney, before The Masters Golf Championship, well there's not much left.

So rather than channel surfing for a meaningless college basketball game, or worse, a meaningless pro basketball game, I offer these suggestions.

1. Prepare for your fantasy or rotisserie baseball season. It's a lot harder this year with so many free agents (was there ever a bigger misnomer?). If you're not in a league, get started. Since 1988, I believe, I've been in four different ones. I've only won three titles, so that shows you don't have to win to enjoy. It's great camaraderie, it's a time consuming diversion, plus it makes every game meaningful.

2. Do something for someone else. Any time you get feeling like there isn't anything to do, then shift the focus and ask what you can do to brighten another's life. Then do it. You'll feel better about yourself.

3. Organize. A closet, a garage, some drawers. You'll find stuff you didn't remember you had. You'll have more room to add more stuff that doesn't mean much anyway.

That's it. Only 3 things to do until MLB and NCAA finals and The Master's Golf Tourney. Notice I skipped the Spring Training games. They're meaningless, too, unless you're an astute rotisserie league player. Unfortunately, unless you're a fan of the deep pocket teams, I'm afraid MLB has also become meaningless. And, if that's the case, I need to come up with more than 3 things to do. Or I'll be incredibly organized.

TURKEYS NO MORE

The down trodden are still down. They came up short. By 35 seconds.

It was a painful, painful loss. Right up there for me with the '85 St. Louis Cardinals World Series loss to the Royals and the 2002 St. Louis Rams loss to the Patriots and the Fighting Illini's NCAA loss to North Carolina. The last two both attended by my son and me.

But this was a big hurt. Even though the Arizona Cardinals played well enough to win. And a two yard goal line pass interception turns into a 100 yard return. But still they came back. My man, my most favorite professional athlete of all time, Kurt Warner, brought them to within 35 seconds of a Super Bowl win.

Much will be written by the pundits. By those much more clever than I. One thing I know, though, that maybe they don't --this was it for the Cardinals. There's no "wait till next year". This was our shot.

I fully expect Kurt to retire. It would have been so nice for him to go out on top. But all fairy tales don't always end well. And if ever there was a story of rags to riches, it was Warner's. With Leinart at the controls, just don't expect much. He's overrated as most USC QBs are. Their college team is so good that it distorts what their quarterbacks can do at the next level. An average Joe looks mighty good playing behind that offensive line.

I also don't expect The Edge to return and he's pretty good. Boldin may well bolt in another direction. Without him, there'll be more double coverage on Larry Fitz, maybe the best wide out I've ever seen. But who's going to throw him the ball?

It's hard to repeat if you get all your guys back. I'm afraid it won't happen. Man, I hope I'm wrong. It's great to see Cardinal red all over the place and that beautiful stadium raucous.

Thanks for a great playoff run. Enjoy the accolades. They fade all too fast.

GO CARDINALS, GO

The whole Valley of the Sun is still in shock. And all we want is one more win. One more. To shock the world.

So what would it mean if the Arizona Cardinals win the Super Bowl? Well, it will mean 100 million people would witness that the Cardinals are futile no more.

It would also mean that all things are possible. It would give the down trodden hope. Cub fans would be salivating. Charlie Brown finally got to kick the football. The Bidwills have arrived.

So what would it mean if the Steelers win? Not much. They're there all the time. People expect them to play hard nosed, smash mouth football. They are the Lucys of the world ruining dreams of the upstarts, the ne'er do-wells. Even if they lose, you know they'll be back.

Not so with the Cardinals. More than likely this is a one-timer. A golden opportunity, but one that may take another 61 years to come to fruition. You know, players flee for greener/golder pastures. Players get older/injured/waived for purpose of salary cap space. Bad draft picks. A competitive NFL. A tipped pass. A blown call from an over zealous or prideful official. All can lead to defeat.

The magic is there. Grab that brass ring, Cardinals. Bring that trophy back to the desert. Please!!