Lesson 707: DaBoys at DuBois

Hello there, Readers.

Eloise is back at the Lamp Post writing,

after a whirlwind tour of PA,

thanks to Little League baseball.

Our days spent at the Stern Field facility

in Dubois, PA

at the PA State Little League Tournament, 

will be long remembered as the best of times.

Sam and his Junior League baseballers

had a great season.

Through their dedication and hard work

they achieved their team goal of making it to 

the Pennsylvania State Tournament

for the third time.

They won their first game 19-0

and were well matched for the following games.

They ran into a pitcher in the last game,

a 13 year old 

whose arm could only be described

as a buzz saw,

and our States Run was ended,

 coincidentally,

by a team from

Warrior Run.

They gave it their all.

And sometimes your all isn't enough.

Life is like that sometimes.

Their time together 

will most likely be remembered as legendary.

Their friendships,

indivisible.

A little ice cream afterwards 

brought some smiles back.

A visit from an old friend was a joyful surprise.

And this photo,

just may wind up being

 the capture of the year,

on my 2021 Lamp Post Year in Review.

Oh, the secrets this moment holds!

The City of DuBois had more to offer

than just a beautiful baseball field.

During a rain delay, we explored the city.

We found this memorial brick garden.

I want to find Shoes of Champions

on a future visit.

Chickie,

you are a lucky one.

Luigi's Ristorante--

you take the cake,

or rather,

the pasta.

A huge shout out to our sports buddy, Rick!

Thank you for the recommendation!

This lovely church

and the Beaver Meadows walkway

were my favorite places to visit.

For Eloise,

it's back to the Olympics.

We found this old picture of my dad 

in the archives.

Grandma found the shorts and passed them to Sam.

I'll close tonight with a TikTok 

by Yours Truly.

CLICK HERE

The lesson to be learned is found on my perfume bottle.

I've been wearing this scent 

every single day

for over a decade.

Please read,

especially if you are a member

of the Harborcreek Junior League Little League Team.

How you climb the mountain,

is just as important as you get down the mountain.

And so it is with life,

which for many of us

becomes one big gigantic test

followed by one big gigantic lesson.

In the end,

it all comes down to one word,

grace.

It's how you accept winning and losing,

good luck and bad luck,

the darkness and the light.

Eloise

Lesson 706: Charmed

Hello, Readers!

Happy weekend!

We traveled to the little town of Smethport,

nestled in the big woods of Pennsylvania this week

for Section play for Sam's Little League baseball team.

We left yesterday completely charmed.

My mom has been planning a trip to Smethport

ever since she found and clipped this newspaper article about 

the mansions that are there.

Upon close read (teacher term) of the article,

I found the map and the dogs and I walked the town.

One house was as beautiful and well manicured as the next.

This one was my favorite, with the bellied out porch.

I stopped to admire it a moment or two longer.

Then I looked down to discover that Hazel took a giant dump

in the front yard.

Yes, I had doggie bags

I didn't get to the jail because of time,

but truthfully,

 I was not taking chances with a ghost.

The historical society of Smethport really has done an outstanding job

of documenting historic places.

It seemed every ten feet there was some sort of marker.

Except for here.

The humor of the owners of The Cottage House Restaurant was clever.

We encountered a heck of the storm on the first night of play.

Boy does that place get cold!

The best part was I ran into an old friend I haven't seen in many years.

My blast from the past is in pink in the far left.

The thing that I noted, 

other than that she had barely aged,

was I remembered so clearly this night at a friend's wedding.

I was having a terrible time choosing a dress to wear

because I thought I looked fat.

Lesson of the week:  #wastedtime! 

Love the body you are in.

Sam and his team encountered the most intense play of their short lives.

They played a FIVE HOUR game into the wee hours of the following day.

They worked hard and played as a team

They captured the title

and will move onto States next week.

They've made it this far twice before.

Third time is the charm.

To get a real feel for the play

check out my first whirl with TikTok.

I've been a user and admirer of the creative content I see there.

The time was right for my own try.
Thanks for the inspo, boys!

Click the link below to see my first attempt!

Eloise's first TikTok

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Eloise