Baseball, Life, and Faith

My 2nd grade son is playing baseball with a recreation department team. The Mets play against other Columbia County teams composed of 1st-3rd graders in this machine pitch league. I'm amazed how quickly these children develop skills over the course of a few weeks. And we've got a good mix of parents and suppportive friends who keep the games how they should be for young kids. I'm reminded of some of the simple, yet outstanding, principles that serve our children well this season:

*Stick with the Basics
*Practice
*Keep it Fun
*Be Encouraging

It's good stuff that works in baseball, life, and faith.

Togo & Life Memorial

I'll end the Togo reflections with a story that was profound in it's emotion and impact. Three of our team members attended a memorial service for the patriarch of the family just hours before we caught the flight in Atlanta taking us on to Paris then to Lome. The grandfather had spent his first 9 years of life in Africa as a child to missionaries. They celebrated his life, and the celebration continued by extension of their mission.

I posted a number of pictures and a video from our busy Tuesday with the large crowd. During lunch the 3 went to a nearby mango tree, offered a prayer, and placed some of the ashes at the base of the tree. One of the locals, curious what was going on, went to them and asked what was happening. When he realized he too offered a prayer of blessing!

It was an amazing thing to watch as the week unfolded and as these 3 worked, and laughed, and lived. There was grief, yet it will continue to give way to celebration and to life.

Attack of the Slugs

I've been outside working on my house and yard recently with some vacation time and the warmer weather. By warmer I mean it's jumped up to the upper 90's to 100 F range, but that's a different story.

Anyway, you notice more when you get out more. Strange how lots of different things add up, and you should notice, which in retrospect you can't understand why you didn't catch the development. Plus my wife brought a recent disturbance to my attention.

Apparently we have unknowingly grown an army of slugs under our back deck. There are so many that they fight one another for leftover dog and cat food. Yes, we have been feeding our pets on the back deck. But they must have a taste for other things so they have also been sneaking into the house. Slugs don't take much of an opening to sneak.

It may have all started though with the gutter that was pulling from the house so that all the water was diverted to the low spot. That water then dripped onto the deck. Add to it that the water faucet (located where else? the back deck!) has a slow drip.

Simple math now-
1) the shade and hiding place of a deck
2) consistent moisture
3) a regular food source
4) some small openings into a house
5) equals a horde of slugs who slime the whole area and enter into the house under cover of darkness

The yucky parade trail has been visible in the mornings. And the dog and cat bowls are absolutely disgusting.

So, we had fought back. You know, with all those home remedy recipes that don't work. My favorite was to go outside at dark and empty a salt shaker on the deck. I'm not sure how fast a slug army grows, but even with my feeble attacks (Note: I was knocking out hundreds!) the invaders continued to attack our kitchen. That's right, I'd take the attack outside, yet the scouts would venture inside after we turned off the lights. Needless to say, the Queen of the House was not happy with this development. I even changed weapons a few different times, yet to no avail, as 4, 5, or 6 scouts would be found venturing into our kingdom.

Finally we had to bring in the big arsenal. The "bug man" had been here before the attack started. He returned, at no charge, to help us in the war with our under deck metropolis.

It was then that he pointed out the obvious to me- I was doing everything right to create the environment for the slugs. Then I was leaving us vulnerable with the small "open doors" to our home. Don't you hate that? I've got to accept blame, and do something about it.

As I took care of the problem instead of merely attacking the enemy it got me to thinking.

I wonder if there are other parts of my life where there are small, somewhat insignificant "issues" which eventually add up to real trouble. Hmm, I might need to think on that while I take care of some housekeeping which will help put our lives back in order.

Suburban Graduation Party Shenanigans

End of the school year parties are all around this week. High school and college graduates are celebrating their accomplishments. And anyone within earshot can hear the noise.

Well, that's what I thought of all the Saturday afternoon and evening noise behind the house. So, I tried to allow for the party which seemed to get progressively louder each hour after 4:00 PM. I tried not to get aggravated with the those youthful voices.

I mentioned earlier that we have been keeping our windows open day and night as the mild spring has been very enjoyable. With a medical mission team leaving town at 6 AM Sunday morning, I wanted to get a decent night of rest so I could get up a little earlier and see them off. With the cool night air, the ceiling fan on, and dreams of turning doors into tables, I went to sleep with graduate party noises in the background.

All was well until around midnight.

At 11:45 I jumped out of bed to a woman screaming!

The neighbor in the yard directly behind our house was yelling "What are you doing? Get out my yard."

She was so loud it sounded like she was in the room with me. You know that feeling of being instantly awake, not groggy at all, but not sure what is going on? I ran to the window to see what was happening. And heard her scream the same phrases again. Then I heard the noises of someone coming over our 6 foot fence, and our dog and the next door neighbors dogs going crazy. While our back yard light was off, the yelling neighbor behind us had turned hers on. I could see movement in the back corner of MY yard. Sirens coming closer added to the Saturday night noises.

Racing out the back door, I flipped on the light, and ran off the deck. I was just in time to catch an older teenage boy in the middle of my yard. He was blocked going out the yard gate since our dog was in that path (he barked a little and then hid but that's another story as we might need a "back up" dog who will bark and possibly bite). The side neighbors have two massive dogs whose barks alone keep everything out of that yard. I was yelling "what do you think you're doing?" and for my wife to call the police.

Like a scared rabbit, all he could do was find a dark, quiet hole and hope for the best. I heard the noise of him attempting to get over another 6 foot fence facing the road in front of our house. I ran through my house, and coming out the front door, found the police in front of the next house (with the large dogs) talking to another neighbor. I was still yelling, and the cop asked if I'd seen anyone. When I went around the corner the boy was hiding behind my air conditioner unit. Hiding in the dark, almost like a child playing drunken hide and seek, hoping to avoid capture. Caught, his confession was quick, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He walked out on his own, and I left him to his captors.

I went to survey the damage and see if anyone else was in my backyard as the police handcuffed the suburban party boy.

It was hard to settle back down even though the morning's work was soon to come. Adrenaline was flowing fast. Aggravation was close behind. Uncertainty about the people around us wasn't far behind.

The damage included some plants he'd stepped on as he climbed my fences and then attempted to hide. My tomato, cucumber, and squash plants I'd started from seed and cared for since February were the casualties. I'm not sure about our peace of mind, though quickly after the regular quiet night returned I could hear our local owls talking to each other. I wonder how the rest of his night turned out?

Strange Songs for a New Day

Last night we slept with the windows to our home open. We don’t usually do that, but this is a wonderful spring when the days reach the 80’s and the nights are in the 50’s. It’s the season when it’s not too hot and not too cold. So, we enjoy the breath of fresh air that restores body and soul.

But sometimes you hear things that you don’t normally hear when the house is locked down tight, the windows are closed, and all the entertaining electronic devices are on. Recently we’ve enjoyed hearing owls in the evening and morning hours. We hear the sounds of nature as the world responds to the rhythms of the day. We awaken connected to the world and refreshed.

This morning everything sounded different. An unusual songbird awoke me from my sleep. It sang an odd tune that I did not recognize. It sang long before the dawn, in those dark hours when I usually enjoy a deep, peaceful sleep. But no sleep was to be enjoyed this morning.

That strange bird disturbed my peaceful rest. Just outside my window it screamed its odd verse, and then quickly changed to another strange tune, and then another. The sounds were like suddenly waking up unexpectedly in a distant country. My head was spinning as the awkward music struggled forward. I was ready to scream at the new day for the bird to shut up! That feathered squawk box was waking up the world with its unusual tunes. I had never heard those mixed up songs before, and could not identify the bird or follow its verse. All I could do was listen, even though all I wanted to do was sleep.

Though I was in my most familiar place the voice of one crying in the dark grabbed my attention and moved me out of slumber. What will this strange day bring? Will there be other mysteries and new songs that break through the routine?