Sunday, October 30

My daughter attended a Halloween party after the previous day’s costume search. We are ready for tomorrow night’s trick-or-treating having purchased candy to give out, a pumpkin to carve and decorated the house.  We relaxed by watching Charlie Brown’s, The Great Pumpkin nibbling on candy corn.

Saturday, October 29

We joined friends for the Bizet opera, Doctor Miracle at Dallas’ Winspear Opera House.  Then we viewed Los Angeles artist Mark Bradford’s exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art.  The juxtaposition of a 19^th century romantic farce set in Padua, Italy then 21^st century painting and sculpture inspired by race and violent forces was at first disorienting then ultimately interesting, as all art is eventually relatable.

Friday, October 28

The baseball season is over.  The Texas Rangers have lost game seven of the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals 6 to 2 to end a fun and exciting season, but that concludes as it did last year without a World Series championship.  This year they came as close as a team can come without winning as they were one strike away at two different  points in game six.  All this from a team that for its first 48 years had never been to a World Series and only last year won its first playoff series.  Just wait until next year.

Thursday, October 27

Dawn announced itself with pinkish orange hues peeking over the white cloud covered horizon, backlit by the emerging sun.

Wednesday, October 26

Assisted my daughter with her 7^th Grade science project as we drove around town looking for drought resistant grass seeds.  They were hard to find this time of year, not being growing season and all.  Plus, many nurseries do not carry some varieties, like Buffalo grass, since most home owners do not think it pretty enough. Then two varieties have to be grown from trimmings, not seeds.  My daughter taught me that other varieties are;  Bermuda, St. Augustine, Zoysia, Bahia and Fescues.  Good to know.  These are the neat things you learn with a science project.  It is one thing to have a good idea, but then can you find your materials to execute it?  I think it teaches one to think ahead and plan for contingencies.

Tuesday, October 25

The St. Louis Cardinals have been to the World Series 17 times and won it 10 times (behind only the New York Yankees).  Should the Texas Rangers win in their second straight visit they will be the oldest franchise to win their first.

Monday, October 24

Rangers tie World Series with Cardinals at two games apiece.  Cardinals won the first and third games.  See-saw.

Sunday, October 23

I recently ran across this wonderful description by Charles Dickens from Chapter 54 of Great Expectations:

It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.

Saturday, October 22

Sonic makes a great pumpkin shake this time of year.  

This evening listened to the World Series on the radio.  My beloved adopted Texas Rangers (having gotten passed my beloved childhood Detroit Tigers) are in game three against the St. Louis Cardinals.  Albert Pujols ties three different World Series game records with one swing of the bat.  His solo home run in his last at-bat gave him three home runs for the game (tying Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson), six RBIs (tying Bobby Richardson and Hidecki Matsui) and five hits (tying Paul Molitor).  Cardinals win big, series at two games for Cardinals, one for Rangers, best of seven.

Friday, October 21

Weekend getaway to Clyde, Texas to get some fresh air and back to nature.  Dinner this evening with a live country western band that played a beautiful song called Wild Wood Flower.  It sounded great with that steel guitar, a song I had never heard before.  A local came over and told us some jokes.  Good food.  Afterwards we put out some corn so the deer would come at dusk, but no luck, though we watched a beautiful sunset.  Then it was a starry dawn with crescent moon.  Blackberry bushes.  Birds nests.  A frog.  The Baird water tower looming as sentinel above the land and fields.  Fried apricot pie.

Thursday, October 20

I have always found bohemian culture interesting, especially when it has identifiable geographic pockets like Greenwich Village in New York, where poet Edna St. Vincent Millay and reporter/writer John Reed (who chronicled the communist revolution in Russia) thrived.  Later the Beat Generation would call the Village home: Kerouac; Ginsberg; and Burroughs.  In London’s Bloomsbury district, intellectuals like writers Virginia Woolf and E.M. Forster and economist John Maynard Keynes flourished.   In Paris’ Left Bank of the Seine river, expatriates like James Joyce, Samuel Becket, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway wrote and were published by small presses that sprung up.  Later, across the ocean came the Beats Ginsberg and Burroughs to the Left Bank.  Their friend Lawrence Ferlinghetti had already left from his doctoral studies in literature at the Sorbonne to open City Lights books in San Francisco to provide a publishing outlet for the Beat writers.

Wednesday, October 19

George Clooney is making Robert Redford movies which is good because they were great.  I noticed it with Clooney’s Oscar nominated Michael Clayton which had a nice Three Days of the Condor feel and even starred Condor’s  director Sydney Pollack.  In Clayton, Clooney is a lawyer seeing the underside of corporate culture leading to murder.  In Condor, Redford is a CIA analyst seeing espionage paranoia leading to murder.  Now comes Clooney’s The Ides of March in which he is a candidate in this hard look at the moral compromises in politics/campaigning much like Redford’s senatorial candidate in The Candidate.  I propose that Clooney’s recent The American, about an assassin loner was in many ways like Redford’s loner skier character competing for Olympic gold in Downhill Racer.  I think it would be fun to watch all six films some weekend.

Tuesday, October 18

Went and heard State Representative Ken Paxton of McKinney speak about Right to Life issues at Prestonwood Baptist church’s Power Lunch series.  He has worked to get tax funding for abortions stopped.  Afterwards he confirmed when I asked him, that he is going to run for the soon to be vacated State Senate seat of Plano’s Florence Shapiro.

Monday, October 17

Our favorite chocolates were discovered by my wife during a trip we made to Victoria, British Columbia.  She spotted their ad as we were riding the ferry over from Seattle.  Rogers’ chocolates are so good because they are classic cream filled dark chocolate that come individually wrapped in beautiful red and white checked foil that crackles as you tear it away.  They are so rich we usually cut one in half and share.  Our favorite flavors are cherry, peppermint, maple, orange, coconut…well you get the idea. The original shop in Victoria is fun to visit, especially to smell and happens to be across the street from what may be the best independent bookstore in the world, Munro’s.

Sunday, October 16

After church service or Sunday school we go up to the Prayer Tower which is a room overlooking the church garden and fountain and we say intercessory prayers for those written prayer requests submitted to the church ministers for the week.  We spend an hour and have been doing so for 17 years.  An intercessory prayer is when you pray for another person and are asking God to intercede in their life in the area of their concern or challenge whether it be health, family, employment, etc.  My wife and I now take the kids too, and it is at least one quiet, reflective hour during the busy and hectic week.  Especially, serene is the time when the sun comes through the stained glass and the carillon bells peal a hymn just above us.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  Romans 8:26-27.

Saturday, October 15

A nice dinner at my sister’s with her husband and two granddaughters in town for the weekend, plus Mom, my wife and daughter and my other sister and niece visiting from out of town, as well.  We had prosciutto from Parma; provolone; mozzarella and tomatoes; olives; artichokes; red peppers; pasta with Parmigiano Reggiano and wine from the Abruzzo region of Italy where Mom and my sisters were all born.  My wife and I have visited there and met my many cousins and maternal Aunt while she was still living.  We looked at her wedding picture before dinner, along with Mom’s as they wore the same dress.  Dad was looking young and handsome in his suit and white gloves.  After dinner, my niece gave my daughter two books from her childhood since they both love animals, James Herriot’s  All Creatures Great and Small and All Things Bright and Beautiful which were titled from the Cecil Frances Alexander poem,

All things bright and beautiful.

All creatures great and small.

All things wise and wonderful,

The Lord God made them all.

Much like our evening when family is able to gather and share a meal and memories, all things were bright and beautiful.

Friday, October 14

Here is a wonderful passage from the preface of Jacob Soll’s book The Information Master:

Studying dusty archives can be both lonely and tedious.  Yet if they happened to be situated in the lands of the former Roman Empire, and if they give up their treasures, there is nothing more satisfying than leafing through parchment, reading lost texts, solving old mysteries, and then walking home to dinner through ancient streets, with the smell of cool old stone, hungry from the knowledge gained from a hard day’s work.  The world changes, but from what I can tell, this pleasure has remained a constant.

Thursday, October 13

My daughter’s 7^th grade volleyball team won their first game of the season which is at the mid-way point.  This is the first organized team she has ever been on.  I am so happy for her, as I remember what a great feeling it is the first time one wins a game on a team.  It was 7^th grade Little League for me.  I was at shortstop.  My Colts team unexpectedly (even for us) beat the Jets who were considered the best team.  Mr. Bird was our coach.  That night, after the game, I took the happiest bath of my life.

Wednesday, October 12

A great day spent with my sister visiting from Southern California and my niece visiting from Manhattan.  I took them to see some of my favorite places in the Dallas area including:  ManeGait, so they could see Texas horses on the ranch my daughter volunteers at where they use riding therapy for kids with disabilities;  White Rock lake which was especially beautiful as the sun came out after the morning rain and light streaks lined the sky ready to form rainbows; and the Southern Methodist University campus, including Perkins the New England styled chapel with its gold cross at the peak where my wife and I were married.  But the best was sitting outside having lunch and getting caught up with family.

Tuesday, October 11

Picked up at the library Kay Ryan’s, The Best of It, a collection of her poems over the years.  She is a former United States Poet Laureate and recent winner of a MacArthur Genius Grant.  I recently purchased two books by another winner of this year’s MacArthur Genius Grants, Rutgers history professor Jacob Soll’s books on how The Prince by Machiavelli came to be published and a history of information collection in King Louis XIV’s court.

Listened to a podcast of Radiolab produced by another Genius award winner, Jad Abumrad.

Listened on the New York Times book page to new Nobel Prize winner in literature, Tomas Transtromer of Sweden (yep that’s his name) read some of his poetry.

It is all very inspiring and daunting at the same time.  But I keep working on my own writing/creating writing like my yoga, each small, slow, move training the muscles to eventually and as if suddenly, stretch to new limits.

Monday, October 10

In my role as Vice President for Compliance of our homeowners’ association, I attend the first meeting of the newly formed committee to draft new parking regulations.  We meet in the evening at a homeowner’s home to discuss our current parking covenants, those of other homeowner associations and those used by the city of Plano.  Sodas provided.  Neighborhood governance in action.

Saturday, October 8

Prepared a meatless and no dairy dinner for our Vegan friends this evening.  I used my wok to stir fry in olive oil and soy: broccoli; sweet pea pods; red, orange and yellow peppers; asparagus; water chestnuts; bamboo shoots; and tofu.  Plus, I made brown rice and a field green salad with tomatoes, red onion, oranges and kiwi.  For dessert we had caramel apples, candy corn and dark chocolate M & Ms.  They do not drink so I served a choice of pomegranate juice, coconut juice, Pellegrino sparkling water and/or non-caffeine mango tea.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the meal.  I felt healthier, though still a bit hungry afterwards.  But I enjoyed cooking this way and being creative with two of the five main food groups not available.

Sunday, October 9

I am enjoying my “life-group” that my friend John and I lead in 7^th grade youth Sunday school.  It is all boys, as the kids are separated by sex and you do not have your own kids in your group.  So my daughter and John’s son are in other groups.  The group size is 12 when everyone attends.  The class starts with video music then live music, an activity, followed by the day’s lesson.  Next we break into our groups to further discuss the lesson of the day.  The pattern we have developed is John taking the lead then if the boys are not very talkative or into it, I chime in to fill and pad the silence.  We usually end up having a lot of laughs and good time with the guys.  John mercilessly teases them and I positively reinforce.  Good cop, bad cop.

Friday, October 7

My beloved childhood baseball team, the Detroit Tigers won last night, beating the New York Yankees and so will get to play my beloved adopted Texas Rangers for the American League Pennant.  My wife asked me who I would be rooting for? 

I lived 25 years in the Detroit area and remember the 1968 and 1984 teams that won the World Series.  I collected Tigers’ baseball cards.  My first baseball game was at the old Tiger Stadium with my Boy Scout troop?  I listened to Ernie Harwell on the radio.  My oldest and best friend and I were at one of Detroit Hall of Famer Al Kaline’s last games for Al Kaline Day the year he was retiring.  Can it get more nostalgic than that?  Plus, I have a dear friend who works for the Tigers’ organization.

I have now lived 25 years in the Dallas area (there were two years living in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts between graduating from the University of Michigan and attending SMU School of Law).  I watched the Rangers finally win a division and get into the playoffs in the late nineties.  I watched as they finally won a playoff game and series and get to the World Series last year.  I know their team much better than the current Tigers.  My wife (a native Texan, more of a football fan, she does like the Big Kahuna ice cream sandwich they sell at games) and I were at the old stadium for the last game when they ceremoniously removed home plate and drove it to the construction site of the new Ballpark in Arlington.  I caught a foul ball at a game there.  I have taken my children to Rangers’ games.  My oldest and best friend and I celebrated our 40^th birthdays by staying at the team hotel across the street from the Ballpark in Arlington and catching the Boston Red Sox play the Rangers, then watching them leave and watching the New York Yankees check in for the game we were going to the next night.

Writing this reminds me of other contrasts, like having grown up Catholic but now attending a Methodist church.  Detroit and Dallas provide contrasts, as Detroit is seen nationally as the unemployment capital while the Dallas area is seen as part of the new south, all growth and development.

So maybe it is not just about who am I rooting for, but also who am I now?

Thursday, October 6

Birds alight in sync,

Land in a perfect pattern,

What a miracle.

Wednesday, October 5

Yesterday afternoon the Texas Rangers advanced to the American League championship series by beating the Tampa Bay Rays three games to one in their best of five series.  Nothing better than October weekday baseball.  Cal Ripken, Jr. provided analysis on the pre-game show.  It reminded me of the great Baltimore Orioles teams just before he played for them, that I would rush home from school on an autumn day to watch.  They always seemed to be in the post-season.  I still have the baseball cards.  I can still see them.  Jim Palmer’s big leg kick then overhand fastball.  Brooks Robinson at third catching everything.  Boog Powell hitting home runs.  Earl Weaver chewing out the umpires.  That great four man pitching rotation that would win 20 games each in the same season.

Tuesday, October 4

Good haircut this morning in walking distance of the house from a barber shop, complete with barber pole and a hot shave cream, straight razor finish on the side burns and back of neck then cleaned off with a hot towel.

Sunday, October 2

Began a new book in our book club.  We pick spiritual themes and so this time we have selected a book on Romans from the New Testament.  It provides explanation and commentary on Paul’s letter to the Romans, as well as coming with a DVD that shows where in Rome certain events took place.  We meet in someone’s home once a month and have been doing so for several years now, taking the months of July and August off.

Monday, October 3

September 17  was United States Constitution Day, its 224^th anniversary and today is the first Monday in October, the traditional beginning of the United States Supreme Court’s yearly sessions to hear oral arguments on pending cases.

Saturday, October 1

Last night we joined our neighbors for some “Friday Night Lights” as we watched their daughter perform in her high school drill team during halftime of the football game.  It is quite a Texas tradition to be part of the drill team and execute those high kicks and splits in boots and cowboy hats.  The whole show is something to see with the batton twirlers and flag corp and marching band. Our neighbors were very proud when their daughter’s name was announced as having been selected the week’s “Miss Junior Perfect” for her efforts during the weeks’ practice and school work.  My daughter had some friends in the eighth grade band that performed in the bleachers during the game.  It was a great night for friends and family.