Category: Nostalgia

There’s No Wicking in Baseball!

As a runner, I’ve become hooked on so-called “wicking” fabrics like Coolmax and Nike’s Dri-Fit. The stuff uses capillary action to draw moisture away from the skin and toward the outside of the garment where it can harmlessly evaporate, leaving one cooler, drier and less chafed. And if you’ve ever gone running in 90 degree weather while wearing 100% cotton, you know what a big, bloody problem chafing can be (I’ll spare you the gory details).

But et tu baseball?

As USA Today reports, Major League Baseball has announced that beginning opening day this year, players will be tossing aside their wool caps for a newer high-tech, moisture-wicking polyester blend lid that, in theory at least, will keep players drier and more comfortable on the field.… Read the rest

Souvenirs

Number Three Son recently returned from a golfing trip with his grandparents. They traveled around Florida and up into southern coastal Georgia hitting a few courses and making a few tourist stops along the way.

And of course, when there’s a trip, souvenirs usually follow. Number Three thoughtfully killed two birds with one stone, combining my love of both kitschy knickknacks and coffee into this particular winner:

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But the one that really floated my boat (or submerged it in this case), was this:

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As it turns out, Number Three visited the St. Mary’s Submarine Museum in Georgia and found a patch with my Dad’s old boat, the USS Cubera.… Read the rest

Shall We Dance? Part III

From the oldest of times, people danced for a number of reasons. They danced in prayer or so their crops would be plentiful… They danced to stay physically fit and to show their community spirit. And they danced to celebrate, and that is the dancing we are talking about. Aren’t we told in Psalms 149, ‘Praise ye the Lord, sing unto the Lord a new song, Let them praise his name in dance.’ It was king David that we read about in Samuel, and what did he do? He ‘danced before the Lord with all of his might, leaping and dancing’… Ecclesiastes assures us that ‘there is a time for every purpose under heaven.’
… Read the rest

Shall We Dance? Part II

Students are not allowed to social dance or go to dance clubs, bars or other inappropriate places of entertainment.

—Harding University Student Handbook, page 11

Another crowd of souls is led in their wantonness to abandon themselves to clumsy motions, to dance and sing, and form rings of dancers. Finally, raising their haunches and hips, they float along with a tremulous motion of the loins.

Arnobius c. 305 CE

Social dance–a major category or classification of danceforms or dance styles, where sociability and socializing are the primary focuses of the dancing.

–Wikipedia

Since the early days of the church, Christians, such as Arnobius, have struggled to make peace with the reality that they must live their lives in material bodies, complete with urges, instincts and natural cycles and rhythms.… Read the rest

Shall We Dance? Part I

dancing.jpgA short survey early on this frosty morning:

If you grew up in the Church of Christ, or some other conservative evangelical denomination, were you allowed to dance?

If not, did you dance anyway?

And lastly, if you have children of dancing age, do you allow them to get out on the floor and shake their little boo-tays?

I’m just asking. And yeah, you can bet I’m heading somewhere with this.

Shall we dance? In Part II, we shall see that some Church of Christ kids already have.… Read the rest

Which is Better, Then or Now?

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We optometrists are notorious for asking such mind-torturing questions. Perhaps some of you have figured out by now that what we’re really aiming for, after all your hand wringing, nervous sweat and labored breathing, is a false dilemma. The words we want to hear is that both options are “the same,” for equality marks the end point of the refraction and the beginning (hopefully) of 20/20 vision.

I asked myself this same question as I looked back upon a recent trip to our alma mater (Hail!) Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. I often feel that I’m caught up in a time-warp when I travel there, so thick are the memories and so slow the pace of change in that sleepy college town “near the foothills of the Ozarks.”… Read the rest

Blogging the Wonder Years–Weighing In On Watergate, Chapter VI

gerald-ford.jpgWith the recent day of mourning in honor of President Gerald Ford, it seemed fitting to revive my dormant series, Blogging the Wonder Years.

What’s the connection? Well, as you may recall, in my personal journal that I kept for Ms. Fine’s 7th grade class at Burnt Chimney Elementary School in Wirtz, Virginia, I not only dealt with my “touchy-feely” emotional side, adolescent angst and roiling hormones, but I also responded to the issues and events of the day. Previous excerpts included reflections and rants on my personal emotional and psychological growth during my first 6 years of elementary school, guys with long hair, so-called friends who called me “shorty,” cussing and the 70’s music scene (highly recommended since that was my highest comment post ever).… Read the rest

Make That 47

True story:

In the fall of 1984, I was a skinny, malnourished first-year graduate student in clinical psychology at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. This was just shortly before I realized that I wasn’t cut out to be a psychotherapist and needed to work with something I could actually fix–like eyeballs–but I digress.

Moving back to Blacksburg had reignited some childhood allergies which in turn had set off a touch of asthma, and that was the reason that I was in Ellett’s Drugstore on Main Street looking for drugs–any and all, please–that would give me a few moments of relief. After scooping up and paying for enough OTC medications to anesthetize a herd of charging elephants, I started out the door.… Read the rest

Going Home

We had the pleasure recently of attending Homecoming festivities at our alma mater (Hail!) Harding University. Here are some shots of the recently retooled campus quad, including the old administration building, the revived and functioning-once-more Lily Pool and the gleaming edifice of the renovated American Heritage Center:

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Number One Son had a chance to look around again as he continues to mull over his college choices, and Eyegal and I had a chance to see old friends and make new ones. I had the pleasure of meeting in person for the first time fellow blogger Full Professor Mark Elrod over a delectable (and dirt cheap) breakfast at Bobby’s Family Restaurant on the courthouse square.… Read the rest

Rain, Rain Go Away

Wednesday night’s Game Four of the World Series was a rainout. Play will hopefully resume today, which means we’ll be listening to the game on the radio, at night, as we travel to Arkansas to visit my alma mater Harding University (Hail!).

I’ve always enjoyed driving at night and having my pick from seemingly hundreds of radio stations whose signals skip across the lower atmosphere from sea to shining sea. Although my overly visually-stimulated sons would disagree, there’s something particularly dramatic and exciting about listening to a baseball game on the radio, especially at night. Without the visual cues, one is left to fill in the gaps, and radio announcers tend to be very expressive and excitable as they call the play-by-play and react histrionically to home runs and 6-4-3 double plays.… Read the rest

Sweet Lou and Mr. Tiger Too

The Cardinals gained a 2-1 game lead in the 2006 World Series last night behind a gem of a pitching performance by Chris Carpenter. The Cardinal ace lived up to his Cy Young Award credentials, tossing a 3-hit shutout for a 5-0 Redbird win. The victory was overdue relief for longsuffering Cardinal fans who had not witnessed a World Series game victory in the Gateway City since Ronald Reagan was president (1987).

Currently, one of the most popular Cardinals player is “Sir Albert” Pujols. Before that, the fan favorite was Ozzie “The Wizard” Smith. Are you picking up on a trend here?… Read the rest

A Mound of a Man

“I guess you could say I’m the redemption of the fat man. A guy will be watching me on TV and see that I don’t look in any better shape than he is. ‘Hey Maude,’ he’ll holler, ‘get a load of this guy and he’s a twenty game winner.'”

–Mickey Lolich

Since last January, I’ve lost almost 40 lbs. I had packed on some weight gain from a combination of middle age sloth and a nearly 3 month bout with bronchitis; when I tipped the scales at just over 200 lbs, my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

With some inspiration from my buddy Ed, I discovered ways to change the way I eat (along with how I think about food) plus I increased my weekly running mileage to 25-30 miles a week.… Read the rest

Meet Us In St. Louis

rogers.jpgWe’re heading back to “The Gateway City” for Game 3 of the World Series on Tuesday night. Not surprisingly, the Tigers bounced back last night with a 3-1 victory over the Cardinals behind the strong pitching of 40-something Kenny “The Gambler” Rogers. Normally I like seeing “old guys” performing well on the playing field because it gives me hope, but I don’t like it as much when they’re wearing the opposite team’s uniform.

One thing’s for sure: Rogers missed the lesson in kindergarten about washing one’s hands before a game. In the first inning, Fox Sports commentators spied a dark spot on the thumb and palm of Roger’s left throwing hand.… Read the rest

Old School is Cool

The Cards got things rolling last night, jumping all over the Tigers for a 7-2 victory in Game One.

The biggest surprise of the night was the stellar pitching of Anthony Reyes who silenced the doubters concerned over his low win total (5), the fewest ever for a Game 1 starter in Series history. Reyes is old school–he wears his socks high and his cap brim flat (the better to see the catcher’s signs, he says). With players these days wearing their pant legs so low that it seems like they would trip over them running down the basepaths, Reyes is a blast from the past.… Read the rest

A Different Kind of Card

johnny-bench.jpgI made clear my citizenship in the Cardinal Nation in yesterday’s post. But as we head in to opening night of this year’s World Series, I should tell you in the interest of full disclosure that there have been other “cards” in my life.

Growing up in Southwest Virginia, I rooted for a different shade of red–The Big Red Machine of Cincinnati to be precise. This came about as the result of an event that took place one Sunday morning in 1970 on the way to church.

My grandmother used to go to church with us back then, and one Lord’s Day she handed me a small card wrapped in thin, nearly transparent paper.… Read the rest