No Line On The Horizon

November 14!

Team Rip Your Heart Out and Shove It Down Your Throat

When we first started the season and they were assigning us to our different teams and coaches, I gave the lady Jacobs name and she said ""Ok, he is on Team Caring". "What?", I said. "Are you serious? Team Caring is the name of our team? That has to be a joke! Why not just call us Team Lame, or Team Rainbow Lambs and Flowers? You name your ball team after some kind of ferocious or noble animal like, The Lions or The Stallions, not Team Caring!!" Ok, I didn't really say that to her, but I did think it.

We never spoke of that name again. I don't even think the boys ever knew that was the name of their team. How could I reveal such shame to them. They enjoyed the season though, and as you can see they "won" medals. I don't know what they did to win the medals, seeing as everyone else received one also, but I think it has something to do with paying the $55 to play T-Ball. Now I only wonder if later when they actually accomplish something and win a medal it will mean just a little bit less because of this.

Last Game...

Ok really they have one more game. A make-up game on Saturday.

T-Ball

Jacob and Ethan started t-ball this year. They are on the same team which makes things easier for the whole family. I forgot to bring a camera to the first game so these pictures are from their second game. This week there was much improvement about not running to get the ball if it is on the other side of the field and then tackling everyone else in order to get the ball first. You can see an example of that in the bottom picture.

The games are pretty simple. We only play 2 innings. Everyone gets to bat each inning and everyone plays the field (it gets a little crowded). There are no stikes or outs and we don't keep score. I guess if we did keep score the team with the most players would win since everyone gets to run the bases.

Mr. Intense

The ball went right into his glove.

Jacob Batting

Ethan Batting

Not much to say

I remember a Seinfeld episode where Jerry walks into his apartment and hits play on his answering machine to hear "It's George... uhh, I don't have anything to say" Click.

Thats me. Sorry it has been so long since I posted anything.

The Rise of the Rest

Here is a rather long article but well worth the read. If you are depressed about world news give it a try b/c it is very optimistic. If you can take the time I would love to hear what others think. I am sure for some it will raise red flags about a one world government, but that isn't what globalization is about and I think it is very sad and disheartening when Christians end up on the other side of supporting billions of people rising out of abject poverty! Below is a quote near the end of the story that gives a good summation to conclude the article. Mainly I like his optimism and talk about the "growing pie".


‘The Post-American World’ or 'The Rise of the Rest'

Americans—particularly the American government—have not really understood the rise of the rest. This is one of the most thrilling stories in history. Billions of people are escaping from abject poverty. The world will be enriched and ennobled as they become consumers, producers, inventors, thinkers, dreamers, and doers. This is all happening because of American ideas and actions. For 60 years, the United States has pushed countries to open their markets, free up their politics, and embrace trade and technology. American diplomats, businessmen, and intellectuals have urged people in distant lands to be unafraid of change, to join the advanced world, to learn the secrets of our success. Yet just as they are beginning to do so, we are losing faith in such ideas. We have become suspicious of trade, openness, immigration, and investment because now it's not Americans going abroad but foreigners coming to America. Just as the world is opening up, we are closing down.

Jacobs 1st Piano Recital

Jacob started piano lessons with Calana in January. Today he had his first recital. This was the first time he has ever done anything in front of a large group (about 50 people) by himself. I was very impressed with how he handled himself. Later he said he really liked it and when asked said that he wasn't nervous at all.

Here are the 2 songs that he did.

512 Ahhhhhh!!!!

Possibly the coolest license plate ever!!!

The Waiting Place...

Waiting for a train to go
or bus to come or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a YES or NO
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting."

Nuclear Power & The Environment

I have liked Patrick Moore for a while now. I think for an environmentalist he seems to have a pretty level head and realistic attitude towards how we should balance energy needs and protecting the environment.

Greenpeace founder now backs nuclear power

"Greenpeace founder Patrick Moore says there is no proof global warming is caused by humans, but it is likely enough that the world should turn to nuclear power...." more >>

The Good News: I didn't cut my arm off

Welp, I survived another tree trimming season. Every spring I have to get out my chainsaw and take care of the jungle in our backyard and every year I am afraid of cutting off one of my own limbs. Last year while I was working in the backyard a neighbor two houses down was in his backyard using his chainsaw. I just happened to look over and see him cut off a branch and his later fall out from underneath him. I jumped up on one of the kids toys and yelled over to see if he was ok. I didn't hear an answer right away so I ran over to climb the fence when I saw his wife come out of the house and another guy who must have been with him frantically yell up to her to go get some towels. Now, any time someone is using a chain saw and there is an accident where someone yells "Go get a bunch of towels", that is not a good sign. Soon the paramedics arrived and he was taken to the emergency room. I never did find out what happened but the incident did nothing but confirm my fear for my chainsaw.

This year I just took care of some minor trimming myself and we hired a professional service to "lift the skirt", or whatever dirty metaphor it is called, on our 2 big maple trees. My goal is to be able to grow grass in our backyard. Right now all we have is dirt. you know the growing conditions are bad when even the weeds can't take root. If you remember, last year I planted grass and it came up nice until we got about 8 inches of rain in a month. It flooded the yard for too long and the grass died. Apparently swamp like conditions are not ideal for grass. This year I decided I would give it another try. I have a 2 fold approach. First, I realized that a raised garden bed along the back fence was working as a dam, so I removed the railroad ties and leveled the ground. Second, we trimmed the trees quit a bit yesterday morning and hopefully that will give the ground the sunlight that it needs.

It is amazing how hard it can be to recover just a small piece of land from years of neglect. It has taken us 3 Spring/Summers to finally have the backyard in what I would call respectable shape. Mostly it just needed A LOT of pruning and trimming. Even though I had already done a lot over the last 2 years, the entire ground was covered with branches when the trimmers were done. It took 2 of them at least 30 minutes just to load what they cut and the brush pile I already had onto their flatbed.

I hope to plant the grass in the next few days. I will keep you updated on the progress or lack thereof, but the weather doesn't look like it is going to make it easy for me.

Water Fight After the Rain Tonight

"Ethan don't shoot me I have my camera!"

"Can you hold still for just 5 seconds so I can get a picture of you that isn't blurry."

Shooting the spider on the back of my car

Wishing he could run with the big boys