Archive for June 7th, 2010

This is what bid us goodbye this evening.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Yesterday evening was a gorgeous ending to a nice day. It didn’t start well. A dark menacing cloud and front greeted our exit from a church we were visiting for the first time. Great music, a good message and very friendly people. It was windy and there were a few sprinkles but nothing like the dumping of rain I saw on the NASCAR Pocono race. Soon enough, before lunch, all the wind blew out the front and all that remained was a nice sunny, breezy day. While it was in the 80’s, the breeze kept it nice enough to work outside.

The wind died down and made for a truly nice evening to sit on the porch and watch the kids play. Soon enough I joined them and we started up a game of baseball. This time, rather than play it down by the treeline so the dogs couldn’t get the ball, we played closer to the house because my oldest daughter was fielding in the outfield.

When she got bored, as teens do, she silently put down the glove and headed inside. We continued play, but our black lab made it quite challenging. If any ball made it past me as pitcher, she would get it and run around causing a delay of game. But then an idea hit me.

I ran inside and cut up the leftover venison steak my son didn’t eat (which really surprised me) and put it in a plastic Lowes bag and tied it around my belt loop. Now whenever a ball would go in the outfield, she would get it and I would reach inside the bag and grab a little piece of meat and encourage her to “Come”. While it took a little while for the first several hits, she finally got the hang of it and it really enhanced our game. So now we have the kids taking turns hitting and playing catcher, me pitching, and the dog playing outfield (as long as I have treats to give to her).

I think this will work out nicely all summer.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net