I Really Am Going To Get Back Into This

I promised to get better, but haven't had much success. I can only plea your forgiveness for my laziness because here in Alabama it has been HOT. Hot is normal for this time of year, but it is oppressively hot. Today it was 104 and about 98 percent humidity. It has been that way for a week, and there is no sign of relief. Add to that a severe drought that earlier this summer dropped the lake levels almost 20 feet below normal, and that explains my reluctance to make any effort for anything whatsoever.

Our thoughts and prayers here for the miners in Utah. While I is difficult to imagine their still being alive, God works in mysterious ways.

My daughter stated her senior year in high school yesterday. It seems like I just finished high school myself, and she will be going to college in less than a year. It seems like I just made a payment on my student loans yesterday...wait, I actually did that. Time has a funny way of changing. I dont know if Einstein had a theory for the way that time accelerates as you get older, but it sure is a reality. When I was young, 104 degree temperatures were just a way of life. Summer vacation lasted forever, but now the time just flies by. I guess that is for the best. When you are young and carefree, you can enjoy each day. As you get older, it seems there is barely three meals between mortgage payments.

Today is also my son's sixth birthday. We actually had a big party for him this past weekend, and he and I spent our first real father/son shopping time together. I took him to see "Transformers" last Saturday afternoon, and then we went shopping for a baseball glove and a bat for him. I threw in a new glove for me, so that we can play catch and practice. His old man was a fair ballplayer back in the day, and has 4 little league tropies as well as 2 little league all-star honors. In high school, the old man had a 95 MPH fast ball, and a decent but not noteworthy batting average. Yes, I did have a 95 MPH fastball that I could throw on a consistent basis. I also had a decent slider to go with it, but the term "hanging curveball" was coined by my high school coach...lol. I think the opposing hitters hitting average on my curve ball was somewhere near 100%. No, I never broke into the ranks of anything above high school. I know, a 95 MPH fast ball should have been enough to propel me into stardom, but there was one problem. I couldn't control the stupid thing. I could throw it like a rocket, but there was no telling where it was going to go. I don't think I could have promised to get in the strike zone, much less signal inside/outside.

So, my son got a glove and bat, I got a glove, and a realization that the important moments for my children pass by so quickly that I am going to wake up tomorrow and wonder how in the world my six year old is moving into a dorm room or frat house. We came home from the trip and went outside to play (in the heat, no less) and I was showing him how to hit. (I had bought some whiffle balls to practice hitting. I hate replacing windows) The very first one that I hit went straight, unlike my fastballs, to my son's nose. It reminded me of a similar incident when I was about 12 and my dad hit me in the nose with a pitch when he was my coach one year. It seems like only yesterday that happened.

I guess that is why I am so introspective about time, and if you have endured this topic this long, I thank you. With my son trying to become a man, the silliness of politics just isn't important at the moment.