Lesson 738: Catching Up

It's the weekend, Readers.

Time to catch you up a bit.

We found this beauty in Frederick, MD last weekend.

I'm talking about the rainbow,

not the lamp post.

We traveled six hours south

to catch the Huskies in spring training.

 

Who is sporting number 8 this year?

That lefty is Sam.

Look how old he looks this year.

We caught a couple of games.

The team caught some time in Gettysburg.

We caught up with Cousin Phil and his family.

He is old friends with some of the coaching staff,

tracing way back to their own playing time at Academy High School.

We stayed with Cousins Phil and Beth

and explored around their town,

hitting up all our usual hot spots.

First stop:  Frederick High.

Cousin Phil teaches Phys Ed there.

He just retired from coaching this year

and his efforts are concentrated to his grandchildren

and Little League.

The baseball field is going to be named after him.

He led the team to a state championship in 2009.

We thought it was pretty cool they put names permanently on the scoreboard.

The bowling alley was the next stop.

A town doesn't count as a town 

unless it has a bowling alley.

We found parks and stronger signs of spring

in Maryland than in Pennsylvania.

We followed the rainbow back to Harborcreek

and Sam is now practicing under familiar March skies.

We were glad they got outside this week,

because more snow is forecasted this weekend.

That's madness!

This kind of madness is our favorite.

Sam (and Grandma) are always the biggest fans around.

If there is a party bus,

they are in the front seat.

We tried to beat the cold and dreary 

Friday evening doldrums with some retail therapy tonight.

We met Ellen on Peach Street

and she says Natalie is too influenced by Sam and his friends.

She's washing and wearing the same hoodie over and over

with the hood up!

Now is time to catch up on my sleep.

Have a great weekend.

Buff up the snow shovel, Erieites.

That would make two snows on the spring flowers.

We need three.

Eloise

Lesson 737: Making Up for Lost Time

 Hello, Readers.

What a difference a weekend makes.

We woke up to inches of snow accumulation last Saturday.

Six days later,

the sun came out in full force, 

almost as if it was making up for lost time.

The robins were hopping the yard.

The dogs were helping grandpa

pick up sticks

and put them in the burn pile.

That is the old barn silo foundation,

by the way.

The original barn on our property

was built before the Civil War.

We will welcome the spring season soon.

Hints of mother nature's awakenings abound.

New growth pushes past the remnants,

hurrying for life,

making up for lost time, so it seems.

We, too, are making up for lost time in this very post.

I discovered that in February I incorrectly numbered the lessons!

We lost 11 weeks!

We skipped from Lesson 736 to Lesson 747.

I guess blog pages do get stuck together.

We will begin our "time" series next week

until we are caught back up.

But right now, it's time for baseball.

The crack of the bats can be heard pretty far south of us.

Looking forward to seeing the guys play.

Have a great weekend, Readers.

Eloise

Lesson 749: March On

Hello, Readers.

It's mid March here in Erie.

That means the Lake Erie ice is breaking up.

That also means some days are like this.

Others,  like this.

Let's take tonight, for example.

Even though we spent most of tonight couching it,

dreaming of warmer days,

March marches on.

Last weekend was a beauty.

We took a drive to Red's for pancakes.

The guys thought they could beat the All You Can Eat 

Pancake Record, but 10 didn't even come close.

I think it's 49!

Sam and his teammates traded the basketball bench for theater seats

and went to see Harbor Creek's Seussical.

The high schoolers returned to stage performances.

When you march through all seasons,

either weather or sports--

it's an adventure.

We are starting to think about which trails

we will march through this summer.

Any Readers visited this place yet?

It's topping the list at the moment.

Ranking at the bottom of my list this week is this guy.

The stray cat Charlie who wormed his way into my parents' house

for rest and rehabilitation as he was rescued from the wilds--

skin and bones

but chock full of fleas and worms.

Charlie's now up to date on his vaccinations and is awaiting 

his snip snip appointment in a couple of weeks.

He wants nothing but to be outside.

He escaped.
Twice.

Charlie is looking for a girlfriend 

and has been causing a cat ruckus in the woods.

I ripped my favorite pajama bottoms 

grabbing him out from under a pricker bush.

Thanks to all the neighbors and park guys

who kept and eye out for him.

He's resting peacefully,

dreaming of...

well,

never mind.

We assigned Hazel to the task of guard dog,

which comes to her rather naturally.

Speaking of neighbors,

I was thinking of my neighbor who passed away several years ago.

If you are a Firman Roader,

a Clark Schooler,

or a Huskie Higher,

this true story will give you chills.

I begin my marches through the mornings quite early.

 I take Penny for a walk and pick up the newspapers

usually as the sun is just rising.

March mornings have a pinkish, frosty cast to them,

so unique to this time of year.

As the sun rises in the east,

it sometimes casts a pinkish glow onto the 6 Mile Cellars barn.

It also sometimes gives a soft glow to the house across the vineyards

which will be forever known as Myra's house.

It's been several colors in my lifetime,

and the new owners re-sided it in white.

This is it tonight in the midst of our Friday evening snow squall.

I've been thinking of Myra a lot in the last few weeks.

She was the Clark School secretary,

and in the later years, 

the high school secretary.

She was as unique as her name,

kind 

and sweet

and generous.

Myra was a lovely person.

Myra  deserved to live a long time

because she had so much love to give.

Instead, a sneaky cancer took her at age 51.

She passed away on my birthday--

not sure how many years ago it has been.

I turned 51 this birthday.

Perhaps that's why Myra has been on my mind so often.

The old farmhouse that was once hers was glowing pink one

morning this week.

I always see it as I head to school..

I remembered Myra 

and thought how she would have liked the new color,

and how I would have snapped a photo

and showed her how her house glowed.

I said aloud "I sure do miss your smile, Myra."

I thought about how unfair the world can be,

taking someone so sweet 

and leaving so many sour here on earth.

I settled into my day and went to my first period class.

On this day I was working in the first grade classrooms,

providing enrichment lessons to all of the students.

There are almost 175 first graders and I don't know all of them by name.

One little girl smiled as I entered her classroom.

Oh, yeah!!!! You're heeeeere!

First graders show me that kind of love.

Junior high kids....not so much.

I made you a picture!

I took the chunkily colored rainbow and pot of gold

and thanked the student for the lovely piece of art.

I glanced at the name atop the page,

so I could thank her by name.

Why, thank you......Myra. 

This is just perfect.

Eloise