Mr. Baseball’s Collection …
When I was about 12, Grandpa Scully took me out to the garage of the house he and my grandmother owned in Florida to show me some of the memorabilia of his youth. He showed me old baseball gloves that looked as though they would never be able to close around a ball; catcher’s masks, and all sorts of other baseball-related items. He had been known as “Mr. Baseball” when he lived in Trenton, NJ (they even named a street after him), and baseball was his life. When he got too old to play, he managed teams, including the Trenton State Prison Guard squads.
Some of the best things he pulled out to show me that day were the baseball cards of his youth. He looked both ways as if he was doing something illegal and whispered. “One day these will be yours, Tiger” he said as he pulled out a shoe box filled with old baseball cards with player names that were foreign to my young eyes and ears. They were cool, of course, but at the time all I could think about was how they weren’t Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes or Ron Cey—my favorite players of the day.
I didn’t see those cards again until I was 38-years-old when my father passed away. Sarah and I went by the safe deposit box to see if there were any insurance or house-related documents we might need to help settle the estate. When I opened the box that day, I was floored to see the beautiful works of art there before me. The colors were significantly more vivid than I remembered, and I couldn’t help but picture my grandfather at about the same age as I had been when he showed these cards to me the first time so many years ago.
Recently, we consolidated our safe deposit boxes and took the precious collection home just long enough to scan them. The images on the web are low resolution but I think they do a great job of showing what care my grandfather had taken of them. Of course, it was my father who eventually put them in plastic sheets and hid them away at the bank, but for the first 70 odd years it was my grandpop’s pride and joy.
Spring is Sprung! …
We’ve been busy. Busy with work, extra work, travels, The Plan, dog(s), friends, and all the other joys that life has to offer. And in case you hadn’t noticed, we haven’t been that great about updating. But since we had time to put in our garden on Sunday, we thought we’d share. It doesn’t look like much now, but there’s here’s a huge batch of garlic, some broccoli, two types of lettuce, chard, cucumbers, tomatoes, and a variety of herbs. The only thing missing is the peppers section, which will be put in place in a few weeks, after it warms up. We’re hoping the garden won’t take too much supervision this year….as long as we can keep Haley out of it.
We’ve Made Our Beds …
After a long winter of doing indoor projects, it feels so good to get outside and dig in the dirt! Spring is here! It’s time to garden! Time to plant seeds, and pull weeds! Oh yeah, good old Mother Earth is gonna give up the goods, all we got to do is give her a stage for the performance.
Trouble is, the old stage had seen better days.
It is time for some new digs. A nicer place to raise our little urban vegetable crops. Time to celebrate the first days of spring by building new raised garden beds to replace the tired old rotting ones that we inherited when we bought the house. The old beds may have great soil in them, but the wood had seen better days.
With a little help from Sears, Home Despot, HGTV (natch), and Rick’s dad’s pickup, we are building two new garden beds and removing three old ones. We have pre-assembled all the parts for two identical beds, and we completed the first bed today. It is a lot of work, but it sure is fun too.
We’ve made our beds, now it’s time to grow stuff in them.
The First Porch Set of the Season! …
The weather was so nice this afternoon that we decide to take a risk and kick-off the porch settin’ season a little early. Well, earlier than last year, since we arrived in June—arguably prime porch settin’ season. However, before we could porch set proper we needed to do all our chores. But after we went grocery shopping, had our supper, put away the dishes, and grabbed us a few beers, we were gonna porch set! Besides, the house was kinda stinky. Not that it was our fault. The window fellers used some sort of stuff that stunk somethin’ awful. Honestly, the porch seemed kinda like the smart place to get away from all the fumes. But, once we were ready, I grabbed a porter, the wife got herself a Tecate—which she says is more like a “beer soda”—and we headed for the front door!
Happy Anniversary to Us! …
The cliché goes that time flies when one is having fun. In my case it is true because this past year has been the most fun I have had in my life. Heck, that even includes buying a house, and camping for 4 days with muddy hippies. This past year’s fun also included: a honeymoon in Harpers Ferry; a wedding bash for our friends featuring DJ Uncle Eric and Liquid Lobster; a roadtrip to South Carolina for Thanksgiving; our first (white) Christmas together, celebrated with friends; a birthday blizzard; a kickin’ housewarming party, and a trip to Colorado. Not to mention the day-to-day joys we have experienced that escape me currently, but will never be forgotten.
Yep, it has been on heckuva great year. I look forward to a lifetime of more wonderful experiences with my wonderful wife, who I adore. Thank you for marrying me, Sarah. I love you.