The ride to McCausland this afternoon was a bear. Actually, the ride to McCausland was kind of fun. It was the ride home dead into the 15-20mph breeze that killed the positives. Heat, hills and headwinds are biker's dreads. Welcome to Summer.
My health report includes a Saturday pretty much spent on the couch. Contrary to the tweet from 3 that there must have been bad shrimp involved, that was definitely not the case. I ate late on Friday night, didn't sleep well, woke up with the heebie-jeebies, and couldn't shake it all day.
We did do a little deal at my place with 2 (but no Winniferous) and SRH to recognize 2's birthday. Finally. That required me pulling the BBQ out of the garage for the first time for the year. Chicken breasts. A steak for 2. Steamed broccoli. Some LtPC-made-from-scratch traditional salads-in-a-pot. Some Hy Vee sides. Hard to beat. Didn't even consider opening vino.
My first entry for the Eleven Days in May....
It's been written about quite a bit lately that jargon from various sports has crept into the vernacular of US English, regardless of the topic. Politics. Religion. Travel. Business. Entertainment. You name the discussion, and pretty soon someone will be talking about a company hitting a home run, a political party doing a media blitz, or a bunch of lawyers doing a full-court press on some case. The references are everywhere. Everyday.
I admit to being a bit biased, but I think that baseball provides the most fertile field (eh, already?) for this phenomenon. He struck out with the girl. The Liberals were shut-out in the elections (well, maybe they will be). The TV show threw a curve-ball to viewers. So my latest literary effort here will be using the baseball metaphor for some structure to the next few posts.
My idea is to spend some time these next few days talking about life, mine mostly, I suppose, using a baseball game's innings as the reference point. Now whether we play six innings like I did in Little League (age 8 - 12), seven as we did in Babe Ruth (age 13 - 15), or nine from American Legion (16 -18) and college ball will all depend on the creative juices that flow here on Maplecrest Road during this attempt. Here goes.
The First Inning
Batter up!
I suppose that The First Inning doesn't provide a particularly unique metaphor. The start of other games include such recognizable terms such as, the kick-off, the tip-off, and the face-off. But those games tend to get down-and dirty right away. And most (save your critiques, yee fans of tennis, golf, and NASCAR (?)) are on a clock. The First Inning goes on for a while. Even if the pitchers are throwin' "nasty stuff.
We have all enjoyed(?) lots of First Innings. That first few days of high school or college. The first car. A new job. A new relationship. A new home. A new family member. There was a time when 4000 Days had a First Inning. I think that we all probably do a little a little re-tweaking each January 1st as we start the new year with new goals and objectives.
So for this posting on my thoughts on The First Inning, I'll offer a Top Ten list on my life's First Innings. This is just an easy way to get the game (eh again?) going. So don't necessarily expect lists when we proceed to the next inning. And keep in mind, that these are First Innings. Not a list of great or worst moments for the Lt. But maybe some are.
1. First day at work for Arthur Andersen in Chicago. September 1976. Here you have the farm boy headed into The Big City, taking a commuter train, wearing a suit (my first one, ever!), and trying to operate a 10-key calculator. Before that day, I didn't know what a 10-key calculator was, let along how to use it. Of all The First Innings in my life, this one was the most intimidating and unsettling. Those fast-balls they were tossing at me sounded a little low. I just couldn't see 'em! In the end (four years later), AA & CO, and Chicago generally, was a great experience.
2. First day in the US Air Force. June 1971. Wichita Falls, Texas. I was so ignorant, the NCO's at sign-in had to take me aside and tell me that my Lieutenant bars were to be pinned horizontally on the collar my Summer uniform rather than vertically as one trickster had instructed me. It could have been a TV episode. The training over the next 12 weeks allowed me to settle in. I had the guidance of a guy a few years ahead of me who took me under his wing (a major doing a cross training gig) and I survived. Again, the USAF stint was ultimately an okay three+ years.
3. The move to Davenport. August 1980. We end up taking a flyer on jobs in Davenport. With a new child. A new house. A new town. No friends to speak of. Stuff you do when you're young. It was an interesting year or two as we settled in, but I think that it is fair to say that the move worked.
4. Fatherhood. 1's arrival changed everything. Obviously, 2, 3, and 4 added to the circus. But that first week or two of having another person in the house was a different experience. (Of course, SRH will note that I was gone most of the time, but that's a small factoid.) The girls' lives continue to remind me that I don't know much about much. Keeping my head down and keeping the bike on the road is my best position.
5. Tearing up my knee. Village of East Davenport. Spring 1989. The pain was excruciating. The surgery was a completely new experience. The re-hab was awful. But what would I have done with myself these last 20+ years without the bike?
6. Electing to become securities licensed. A stock broker. Are you kiddin' me? Fall 1999. This was a career move motivated by necessity, financially and psychologically. After having done mostly tax work for 25 years, I was burned out. Plus, the business had changed, and I needed to react. Today, I m like everybody else in the business, do we need to buy or sell? I wish I knew. But the decision was a good one, and my business continues to be successful.
7. Buying the house to take care of Mother. 7-8 years ago. I can't remember. In retrospect, I learned more about myself over those few months than in any other time of my life. Nothing that you that you can put your finger on specifically. Or a specific time. But after she was gone, I was different. In a good way. Her last gift to me.
8. The frst semester at ND. Fall 1967. In the over all scheme of things, I didn't really learn all that much at ND. I was too immature, and I spent so much energy succeeding at baseball, the lessons that I learned later in life about what's really important didn't make it on to my radar screen. But I got the degree, it was good paper in Chicago, and it remains a vivid memory for me. I wish I had taken more advantage of the learning opportunities that were most certainly there.
9. Starting my own business. Fall 1982. It's worked, but it certainly hasn't been easy. It would not have been possible if SRH wasn't able to support the house through her teaching position. For at least the first couple or three years. (There will likely be more about this item as I move into entries about later innings. I mean, you could say that my business has had us in extra innings for way too long!) But kind of like the farm in Wapello county somehow supported the family for Phil and Margaret, this thing that I call my business has been able to accomplish the same thing for my (our) family.
10. The first entry to 4000 Days. It's been a great ride. Not sure if I'm halfway there or not, but it's been fun. Great release for me. I love the connectivity that it gives the fam.
Ok. That's my effort for The First Inning. Maybe too wordy. But I like the drift. I'll see if I can get to The Second Inning tomorrow.
BCOT
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