Play ball!

Warning: Shameless Mom bragging ahead! :)

It is now baseball and softball season here, which means I can just as well forget about cooking dinner or being home before eight two or three nights a week. Vinny and Nina love these sports the best, and I am more than willing to sacrifice time at home to see them play.

Yes, that is my #23 gracing the cover of the local newspaper this week. Of course I was just beaming when I saw it. After the starting pitcher gave up a few runs in the first inning of their first game, Vinny came in and did a good job for the rest of the game. And Thursday night he was starting pitcher and went the full game. They lost 6-2, but it was a good game and the opposing coach even complimented our coach about Vinny's performance.

A few notes about this team. We are a small, rural school, and there are only about 13 players out for baseball this year. They were sub section champions last year, but they lost a few good seniors. Of the 13 players, four are freshmen. There is no junior varsity team. Just about everyone on the team can pitch. BUT- Vinny has been to pitching camp, and has had many hours of practice in the back yard (we have worn out one pitch back, just ordered a new one). He takes his time, thinks the situation through, and mixes things up with a few different pitches. Which is why Vinny has quickly established himself as the eminent starting pitcher for the Eagles. Oh yeah, he can hit too. I haven't kept track of his batting average, but it is pretty darn good. He has been asked to play American Legion baseball this summer for a nearby town. More good games to watch.

I think I have a fun four seasons ahead of me. Wait, Joe is in fourth grade, so I have a good eight baseball/softball seasons ahead of me. Good thing I invested in a good folding chair.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

glorious days of spring

Calvin (Vinny) and Starflower (Nina) after the second to last ball games of the season

A lot of time has passed since my last post. Time filled with work on a lake in some cold, windy, rainy Minnesota spring weather, time filled with junior high baseball and softball games, a band concert, and little time for anything else. May is slipping by, and warmer weather is finally upon us after lots of waiting and false starts, Minnesota style. Things are running well behind last year; I just planted onions, potatoes, peas, and greens two days ago. Today it is 72 degrees and humid, with more rain on the way. It's a good day to catch up with indoor tasks, like playing music and blogging. I try not to do too much housework on Sundays. :)

Long time readers of this blog will probably barely recognize the pair in the above photo. I swear they have each grown several inches in the last month! For reference, I am 5'7 and between them in height. Yes, Calvin has surpassed me and I don't think he'll stop growing for a while. Starflower and I have been sharing footwear for some time, and I hope for her sake her feet are done growing, because it's hard to find shoes beyond size 10! I can't leave out Mr. Attitude; he's approaching five feet tall and just as full of attitude as ever.

When I started this blog six years ago, or at least some time shortly thereafter, I decided to use pseudonyms for my family members. I thought it only proper to protect their privacy online. A lot has changed since then. The kids now have iPhones and text messaging and Facebook accounts in their real names (after some good conversations about online privacy and some common sense reminders). Many of you who are on Facebook know them by their real names. So I think the time has come to start referring to them as such on this blog. Part of it is for my convenience; I have to stop and think about which names to use in which context. So may I now present to you: Calvin = Vinny (or Vincent), Starflower = Nina, and Mr. Attitude = Joe. The Hermit will remain The Hermit for the time being, because it fits him. ;)

I enjoyed watching Vinny and Nina play baseball and softball this year. Nina, sixth grade, was in her first year of school softball, and she decided early on she liked playing catcher and worked hard learning what can be a difficult position. Vinny, in his third and last year of junior high ball, was outstanding. I know, I sound like I'm bragging, but he has matured into a thoughtful pitcher, quick-reflexed infielder, and solid hitter. His coach told him and two other players that they could be playing some varsity games next year, as ninth graders!

Now for a couple random bird feeder photos. If you think that looks like wreckage behind those beautiful male goldfinches, you are right. We had one of those tarp-covered Quonset shelters, with perhaps too much random junk inside, but one March day it collapsed under heavy snow cover. It's pretty unsightly right now, but there hasn't been much time, or good weather, to sort out the mess. So it sits.

This has been the Year of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak at the feeders. For the last couple of weeks, we have had as many as six of them at one time. The front one in this photo is a first year male, and the other one is fully mature. In addition to these and the goldfinches, I have had purple finches, pine siskins, black capped chickadees, downy and hairy woodpeckers, red breasted and white breasted nuthatches, chipping sparrows, Baltimore orioles, and.......one male indigo bunting! A feeder first for me. Of course the camera was not available. Maybe some other time.

I have so much more to catch up on, and hopefully this post will break the ice and get me back in the habit of writing. For now, it's starting to rain and I think I hear a mandolin calling my name.

Real tomato ketchup, Eddie?

I could write about the wonderful fall colors that are quickly disappearing. I could even take some photos. I could write about the beautiful weather we're having, how we've gone nearly two weeks without rain (which, by the way, is a good thing). I could write about the multitude of green tomatoes I harvested nearly two weeks ago before the first big frost hit, which have been sitting on a table top in the entry way and have now suddenly decided to ripen, the day before we leave for Nebraska to attend The Hermit's daughter's wedding. That's right, I'm actually crossing state lines, and not just a quick foray into Wisconsin, which doesn't really count. I don't remember the last time I have been so far from home!

But, speaking of tomatoes, I wanted to share a culinary discovery I made last night. Of course I most likely did not discover it, there are probably a million recipes out there on the Internet, but I thought it was pretty cool. As I was preparing our baseball playoff celebratory meal (Go Twins!) of hot dogs, I suddenly realized we were almost OUT OF KETCHUP! Surrounded by ripe tomatoes, but no ketchup! I can stand a hot dog with mustard only, but when you're watching baseball it just ain't right.

While I was weighing the options, the least appealing of which was driving ten miles to the store, I recalled that I usually keep a small can of tomato paste in the pantry. Hmmm....What is ketchup, but tomato paste plus a few other flavorings? Using the ingredient list from the near-empty bottle of Annie's organic ketchup as my guide, I started mixing. A little vinegar here, a little Worcestershire sauce there, onion powder...Voila! Ketchup! I don't have an exact recipe to share, but those are the essential ingredients. Most commercial ketchups contain a lot more sugar or high fructose corn syrup than they actually need; I added a tiny pinch of sugar but it would have been fine without.

I don't have a laptop so I won't be blogging from the road, but maybe I'll have some time to compose some rough drafts with pen and paper. Have a great weekend!

Wildlife at Target Field

Thursday night's Twins game against Baltimore wasn't the most exciting game to watch on TV. A light rain was falling, and Joe Mauer was out of the lineup with a bruised heel. The Twins just couldn't seem to come through with hits when there were guys on base.

But there was one unlikely star of the show that night: a kestrel. Right in the heart of downtown Minneapolis. This bird decided the right field foul pole was a great place to hang out. After all, there were lights, and where there are lights, there are moths. And that means EASY DINNER!

The announcers and camera operators caught on to this spectacle in the middle of the game, and soon close ups of the kestrel were shown on the scoreboard and broadcast on TV. When the bird caught a large moth and started eating it (shown above), the crowd went wild.

Of course, birds and baseball are two of my favorite things, and I was thrilled to see the attention being given to an avian guest at a ball game. Actually, I am intrigued by the phenomenon. Maybe it's part of the novelty of outdoor baseball for a team that has played over 25 years indoors, under a dome on a sterile Astro Turf field. Baseball was meant to be played outside. People were meant to be outside. And if a small falcon can cause so much excitement, there is hope for humanity.

Play ball!

Well, the Twins have now opened up their new baseball field with a victory over the Red Sox, but baseball season for me officially began today with the seventh and eighth grade teams' first games. They played on the home field against my mom's hometown. The seventh grade team (Calvin is in seventh, by the way) was scheduled for the second game so I took my time getting there after work. I ended up getting there just in time to see Calvin come in as relief pitcher for the EIGHTH GRADE team! I guess they are a couple players short so they fill in with seventh graders. Calvin started for them in right field.

Calvin pitched a good inning, not allowing any runs. He had very good form; I could tell all those miles I drove to and from pitching camp this winter were not in vain!

This baseball season is going to be fun to watch!

Sunday night unwinding

I am recovering from another Sunday drive. The Hermit signed the boys up for a baseball clinic that meets for six Sunday afternoons...100 miles away from here in a suburb of Minneapolis. Furthermore, the boys need to provide their own catcher, and since The Hermit isn't quite up to squatting, kneeling, and everything else a catcher does, that would be me. They are receiving great instruction in the fundamentals of pitching. I am learning a lot too, and gaining a lot of respect for pitchers, and catchers. But when all is said and done, it eats up seven hours of a Sunday. Only two weeks left.

I want to thank everyone who contributed to I and the Bird 120, and everyone who came by to read it. It was fun putting the whole thing together, and I was able to reconnect with some old birding blogger friends and meet a few new ones.

I have my own budding young birder here. Mr. Attitude spotted three ruffed grouse in an aspen tree at twilight last night, and a short time later told me about a strange noise he heard in the woods. That noise just happened to be the saw-whet owl that's been calling for the last week! I showed him a picture of the owl in a bird book, then I presented him with a copy of a bird guide specifically written for kids. That book was a gift from a blogging friend, Cindy Mead, and unfortunately I don't have a link to her blog handy right now. Mr. Attitude sat right down and started reading. I would tell you of what he thought about the Roseate Spoonbill, but that is another post in itself, a post I hope to write this week!

Today on the way to baseball camp Mr. Attitude and I noticed several bald eagles and several red tailed hawks. We also saw a flock of crows mobbing a red tailed hawk.

I haven't had as much time for music as I would like, but in a rare moment when I had the house to myself I turned on the recorder and cranked out possibly the best version I have ever played on flute of an old favorite song. I will make it into a video so I can post it here.

Mud season is here. I can't complain about the weather, it's been sunny with highs in the 40's this last week, and it's expected to continue, but our driveway is becoming its annual mess. With a plan we have made, however, this will be the last year of impassable conditions on our driveway.

Our newest chickens have been stepping up egg production. It's nice to have three dozen fresh eggs in the fridge!

A week ago Saturday night, I was in the emergency room with Starflower as she got stitches above her right eyebrow. She and Mr. Attitude were messing around in Calvin's room, and next thing I knew she had hit her head. These things happen; now all three have had stitches and/or staples. Yesterday I took it upon myself to remove the stitches. It's not that difficult; convincing a kid that you know what you are doing (even when you don't) is the hardest part! That, and I could have used a pair of reading glasses. My eyes ain't what they used to be! But despite my visual shortcomings, everything turned out fine.

We now have a soprano saxophone player in the house. Calvin has played alto sax in the band for two and a half years, and out of the blue he started telling me he would like to try soprano sax. Cool! That has always been one of my favorite instruments. So I talked with the band director last week, and he just happened to have one available for Calvin to try out. He brought it home over the weekend, and I even got to have a little fun with it.

That's about all I can think of now. So many thoughts, so little time.

TWINS!!!

They did it!!! From 3 games back just 4 GAMES AGO, they won the AL Central Division title!!! And they did it in classic fashion, 12 innings in front of 54,000 loud fans in the Metrodome, where the last Twins game was supposed to have been yesterday. And they did it in twelve hard fought innings, which left me EXHAUSTED!

Nothing will ever surprise me, ever again. And I will NEVER give up!!!

last week of the summer

It's only the fourth inning of the Twins game, and it's getting dark. A waxing moon is rising, but still the kids are outside squeezing in another few pitches of homemade baseball.

I found a beautiful place today. Have you ever happened upon a place where you are immediately mesmerized, where you feel the need to come back and spend some time? I will, and I will bring a camera. Picture a stream cascading over ledges of sandstone in a small valley. I was there for work, but I will be back on my own time.

play ball!

(look at beyond the outfield. Nothing but woods! I love it!)

Calvin had his first baseball game yesterday. Although he is in sixth grade, the school is hard up for ball players so he is playing with seventh and eighth graders on a combined middle school team. That did not bode well for their first matchup; the opponents' team consisted of mostly eighth graders, or beyond. Calvin's team is about 50 percent sixth graders, most of whom have not played organized ball more than one season.

I won't dwell on the final score, and neither did the coaches. Calvin did get the first (of two) runs for his team, on a walk and stolen bases. He is third in the starting pitching rotation, so expect to hear a pitching scouting report next week!

The red winged blackbirds were reluctant to give up the field to human activities.

are we fans?

Ummm. yeah. Rabid fans at that.

Although the boys were actively celebrating, notice Starflower, lower left corner. She had had enough by close to 10 PM.

The Twins pulled off a ninth inning, two out victory over the Mariners tonight. Way to go Casilla!

Spring training

This made me smile when I uploaded it this morning. If you have your sound turned on, you can hear Sally bark and hear the crack of the bat.



On a sad note, Starflower's pet rabbit Cocoa died last night. Cocoa was the rabbit who had an eye problem last summer. Her eye never quite returned to normal, and I think it may have been bulging due to a tumor underneath. Cocoa had been losing weight recently, and last night she looked very listless. Poor thing.

backyard grouse

Yesterday afternoon, just before sunset, I looked out my back door and saw something in the tamaracks and birches. I took four photos, all blurry, but this one is the best:

Ruffed grouse! There were four of them (only two in the picture) eating buds. These are the first grouse I've seen around the house this year. They do tend to be more visible this time of year for some reason; I recall blogging about them before.

After I took the pictures, Calvin persuaded me to come outdoors to catch while he worked on his slider. It's spring training time, after all!

being Minnesotan means...

...playing on the ice once in a while. The kids wanted me to drive onto the ice, and there were several vehicles doing so successfully, but my common sense side prevailed.


...Getting out and having a little January fun with the Twins Caravan. Every year, groups of players and coaches tour towns and cities outside of the metro area to meet with fans. We saw pitcher Matt Guerrer, catcher Mike Redmond, and not-quite-Hall of Famer Jack Morris who pitched the best baseball game I have ever watched in 1991. No photo ops though; I had to settle for TC, the mascot. :)

...waking up to -22 degree weather. And actually going outside.

Mr. Cardinal now has a name

He is Stan. After Stan Musial, who I guess played for the Cardinals way back when. Of course, it was Calvin who came up with the name. Stan was there bright and early this morning.

practice

Let's forget about politics for a while. Time for a little baseball. (By the way, congrats Phillies, even though I was kind of rooting for the Rays.)

A little rough on the delivery...

Could work on the release...

Mmmm...that one's in there...

Oops... a little high...or is that a slider?

STeeRike Three!!!

May I present to you an aspiring Major League pitcher. He tries to explain to me the difference between a slider and a curve ball and a fast ball. It's all in how he holds the ball, how many fingers against how many seams in the ball. Go for it, Calvin. He sure is an inspiration to me; if I only went after my banjo or mandolin with that much intensity and dedication!

I might add, it's a good thing that baseball is so white. We have lost a few this year in the grass and brush!

Congratulations Twins...

...for a great season. You were in it to the end. And being beaten 0-1 in a one game playoff is nothing to be ashamed of. See you next year!

And thank you Joe Nathan for all the great saves. I wear #36 proudly!

So. freaking. sweet!

The Twins. swept. the Chicago White Sox.

Half. game. ahead.

Amazing!

I'm a fool for baseball

The Twins just beat the Tampa Bay Rays, I think the final score was 11-8. I think my kids were kind of embarrassed as I jumped and shouted during the top of the 9th inning, when the Twins pulled ahead, and the bottom of the 9th inning, when my hero Joe Nathan was pitching. I think I made a scene of myself. I didn't even notice when Sally ripped my boxer shorts. Oh well, Nathan is worth it. And so is the rest of the team. They'll just keep pushing for the title until the end.

Just to keep up with baseball

We now subscribe to Major League Baseball on DirectTv. And The Hermit just bought Calvin ESPN's Encyclopedia of Major Leage Baseball. Not that Calvin isn't already a walking baseball encyclopedia himself. This will just enhance his knowledge...

take me out to the ball game

Guess where I was yesterday? If you know me, you probably would not believe that I was part of a crowd of 35,000+ at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, cheering on the Twins as they swept a series with the Seattle Mariners. I drove Calvin and his friend 100+ miles so Calvin could experience his first ever major league baseball game. We were going to go as a family but we thought with Calvin's friend the SUV would be kind of crowded, not to mention the expense. We've got a family date planned at the ball park the last weekend in September.

To say Calvin had a great time would be a major understatement. He told me, "Mom, this is one of the best days of my life!" But the big surprise of the day was...I had a great time too. More fun than I ever thought I could have under the same roof with 35,000 other people. I really got into the game, and it was exciting enough to keep me interested, and in the middle of the 8th inning, in a tough situation, they brought in my favorite closing pitcher who saved the day. Calvin got his #7 Joe Mauer T shirt, I got my #36 Joe Nathan shirt. I've crossed some line somewhere...now I can truly call myself a baseball fan.