2021 Moment of Joy, part 5

Not all family portraits include five ball players. Ours does.

Being a Whitecaps host family has meant I can call some 21 men my baseball sons. 

This fall, we took a trip to New York to see Niagara Falls, the Baseball Hall of Fame, and swung through Erie, hoping to see at least one of our former players. Instead, we saw four: Dane on first, Corey on second, Andrew at short, and Andre at third. As an added treat, we saw Andre’s parents and Dane’s girlfriend Mallory.

The lineup from 9/16/21

The reception from the guys was no less than amazing. Dave walked down to the field, and they all cheered and asked where Will and I were. I practically danced down the aisle and was greeted by each with a big bear hug. 

After the game, they gave me a game ball, and each of the boys signed it and presented it to me as a birthday present. Dane purposely broke a bat in order to gift it to Will. Andrew wondered where his Cinnamon Toast Crunch was. It's in the mail. 

2021 Moment of Joy, part 4

"It's winter fall.."

The final chapter of the Richard T. Button High School trilogy, the 80s prom montage

Me and Sandra after our nationals free skate

Again with the mixed bag. As noted earlier this year, mentally with skating I've been a mess this year.

But you know what? I did it anyway.

I made it to Adult Nationals and while I didn’t place well, I received the second-best presentation marks in my event and a level 2 for my spiral sequence. And huge props for being one of the best dressed skaters. And I got to share the moment with dear friend Sandra. And I was able to celebrate adult skater mom Arlene’s birthday.

And, and, and! This is a flip in attitude from June.

Speaking of June, I also competed at Masters Games, which was part of GRO. Because of judging right up to my event and covid shutting down the locker rooms, I was not well costumed or made up. But I had an enthusiastic audience made up of judges on break and parents from other clubs cheering me on. It was my first USFSA national gold medal (the others have either been ISI gold or silver-pewter). 

My next big event is the annual Christmas show, and I will be doing Queen’s A Winter’s Tale. I choreographed it myself, rom the music to choosing the elements. It’s a fresh, easy program with room to stretch and embrace doing what I love to do. 

2021 Moment of Joy, part 3

Maybe joy isn't the right word for it, but let's pull a typing out loud as I grapple with this one. 

I just found out Karen, a childhood friend of mine, died last year in September 2020. 

I'm sad to realize she's been gone that long without knowing. Admittedly, I don't think I've seen her in at least 20 years and we weren't in touch on social media; when reviewing her facebook page, I was surprised to note none of us from grade school were in touch with her.

It is unclear how or why she passed, but that's none of my business; I lost the right to know her private details long ago. But what I did discover is the story of a woman who was strong in her battle with addiction, surrounding herself in prayer and positivity. People were there for her. The photos I found were of someone who loved sunshine and smiles, rock music and flowers, and most of all, her daughters and grand daughters. 

She was loved.

I can offer this as way of a memorial that is far too late: 

• Memories of your birthday parties where mom Louise made some killer spaghetti; 
• Being on the 6th grade bowling team and singing Michael Jackson songs at the top of our lungs in the minivan; 
• Making treasures out of cigar boxes in Girl Scouts; 
• Riding bikes over to Maria's; and 
• The photo of us posing arm in arm in the school basement after confirmation with Rachel and Mina. I thought of you and that photo yesterday, before I knew, and wondered how you were. I hope you are at peace. 

2021 Moment of Joy, part 2

Wills has played baseball with the same group of kids for the last six years. One of the boys who struggled with a growth spurt didn’t get a hit until late into the season, one of those squibbers that died on the infield and the batter legs out to first from sheer determination. 

It counts, but it's weak. 

Into the playoffs, and this kid is still giving it 100%. 

And then it happens. 

He makes solid contact and the ball soars, flying free in the early Saturday morning mist, towards the deepest part of the field, over the centerfielder's head, and smacks into the chain link fence. 

Confusion on the base path quickly turns into an aggressive trek towards home. It's a two-run double. Coffee, water, and gatorade is spilled as the collective fans cheer for the no-doubter. That was solid, Gio.

2021 Moment of Joy, part 1

I’m attempting a pick-me-up type of post, as Covid has continued to drag, so have spirits. Add that to daylight savings time and nonstop rain or snow, we need some sunshine.

Take the sweetness of the Abby situation, then. Last year when the state figure skating high school championships were cancelled, I requested a list of graduating seniors to write congratulations letters. First was to Abby from Mt Pleasant FSC.

Fast forward a couple of months and Ginni, the pro at Mt Pleasant, asks if I know of any place for one of her students to live, as her school didn’t have dorms. Well, the minor league season was just cancelled, so why not us?

She was the daughter we didn’t know we were missing. We thoroughly enjoyed her time with us. We saw her blossom, try sushi for the first time, we went skating together, and was a shoulder to cry on. We ordered Chinese while watching Nationals, and completed a Special Olympics frozen 5k, above. 

She moved out at the end of her year, and decided it was time to be on her own. She’s still coming over for dinner when there’s chicken and rice on the menu and boys to talk about.

#500! Why Art Matters: Saving the Cassettes

How we come full circle. 

Back in 2008 when I decided to start this blog as a creative outlet, I was going to do reviews of the old cassettes in the basement, as I still owned a car with a cassette deck. 

Fitting that for the 500th post, I am talking about music, and going back to my cassettes, many of which are still in the basement, slowly dry-rotting from not being played. 

That won't do. So I splurged on a tape-to-MP3 converter to see if I could rescue the recordings. 

This experiment is a mixed bag. The fact is, the recording is only as good as your tape's quality. I tried first to record Paul McCartney's Unplugged, which features one of my favorite versions of Here, There, and Everywhere. It turned out pretty ok. 

Next, I tried to convert his solo greatest hits album All The Best. Oh no. First, the tape is a long player, so 90 minute instead of 60. Old, so the playback draaaaaaaaaged. No one wants to hear "Baaaaaaand on the Rrrrrrrrrun...!" at super slow warp speed. 

I moved on to J. Geils Band greatest hits. Screechy, tinny, noisy. Sigh. 

I still have some rarities, so I will continue to revisit the old school format, and figure if they are worth saving or worth free cycling to someone who still has and loves their cassette deck. 

Rescuing the Old World Glass Ornaments

I’m not much of a collector. But when I found an Old World glass ornament of a little basket of strawberries at the antique store, I decided then and there this would be my thing. Good thing was, I already had some in my possession to establish a collection.

These were given to us a long time ago, ornaments passed down through Dave's family. These ornaments in particular are ones he loved to hang on the tree himself. But the ornaments have long lost their luster. A trip to the dollar store for glitter and glue, and we were back in business. 

The top had hints of what the original color scheme was, but on two panels, I could only hazard a guess. Well, I had green, so green it is! 

The flower basket had the faintest bit of red left, and no idea what color the basket was or the leaves. Of all of them, this one sprang to life immediately. Pictures don't do it justice. 

The drum was frustrating, as the glue was clear and while I thought I was careful, I managed to get glitter everywhere. I tried to keep the blue as blue as possible, but the silver managed to attract the other colors to the top and bottom. It added a depth that I could appreciate. Stick on gems for added pop.