Thursday, February 19, 2009

Can I Share A Few Thoughts?

The pace of life has picked up here in the last few days so alas, I’ve been away from Blog World. This post will be a hodgepodge of thoughts, alliterations, filler, pontifications, and the epitome of a “bail out plan” blog style.

Saturday I was stressing out over a situation close to my heart. The good news is that the folks that were involved showed up, allowed God to show up, and good things are happening. Can I get a witness out there!

When I was at my zenith of stressing, my son who has been infected by the “sickness” (a condition requiring mass quantities of guitars for an ever growing need for the release of endorphins) asked me to go with him to what these poor people consider the “New Jerusalem,” “Guitar Center Stores” of which this one happened to be in Orlando. When I sat down in Steven’s car he looked at me with amazement. I’m sure he was thinking, “How could one going to a GC / NJ be stressed?”

Whether he was or not is irrelevant because he looked at me and said, “Dad, why are you stressing? This is “Holy Ground” and we’re going to worship,” and that’s what we did for 40-something miles. He played a variety of Contemporary Christian Music, most of which we sing and play at church. We sang, we worshiped, and I felt God’s Spirit begin to calm me. I then received a couple of texts and phone calls that told me that God was at work.

What was really working was the face to face time Steven and I were having. Our schedules are so divergent that spending 4 hours with each other unless we’re both horizontal and its night, just doesn’t happen.

O.K., are you guys ready for a “Greg (http://gregengland.com/) kudo?” The guitar that Steven was looking (Schecter C-1 Classic) for, the one that G.C. always carries is no longer carried by G.C. Yes, there is a chink in the G.C. armor! There is sin in the Camp or in this case, a lack of certain guitars in G.C. Steven was disappointed but I told him, “Hey, if anyone can hawk down this

guitar, its your Uncle Greg. We called, Greg checked, he delivered, we ordered, and the boy is happy.

Anybody up for baseball? It’s not the Angels (http://intentionalwalk.blogspot.com/) Steve but it is baseball albeit High School baseball. I’ve been announcing some games already and I heard an interesting story. Without giving away too many details there was a baseball game in which some of the players were warming up near the bull pen without protective gear during a game. Neither one was a pitcher or catcher, just potential fielding replacements so they were warming up their arms. An umpire saw them and told them to get some protective gear on even though the activity they were doing didn’t warrant such action.

The good part – the Umpire then told the players' coach to “take a lap,” in the middle of the game. Fortunately the Coach thought he was kidding until the Ump told him again in a more demonstrative way. The Coach didn’t take the lap but can you imagine – how about a MLB Ump telling the firy Chicago White Sox’s Manager, Ozzie Guillen to take a lap? I hope my wife doesn’t get any ideas. “Honey, you forgot to take out the trash – give me a lap around the block and don’t stop until (a line an old coach of mine use to use) I throw up.”

Speaking of wife and squimish subjects– I’ll end with a first in her 28 years of teaching Kindergarten. WARNING – IF YOU’RE A BIT SQUIMISH – you may want to leave this blog.

She was walking her class to lunch which is tantamount to attempting to straighten famous the world's crookedist street, Lombard Street in San Francisco. As she was trying to get the troops in the back of the line to catch up with the folks in front, a student in the front of her line came up upon what appeared to be “black berries.” If you’ve ever owned rabbits you know what I’m talking about.

In a scene reminiscent of a scene from the 70’s T.V. show, “Kung Fu,” she saw the boy bend down and sniff the evacuated material. As she was running and yelling, “Noooooo,” the student put their tongue on the evacuated material. Now you might expect some “evacuation” might have taken place on this student’s part but it didn’t. When my wife asked this student the eternal (Why?) question that has gotten scores of men in trouble when asked by their wives, “Will you do so and so for me,” the reply was, you know, 3 words, “I don’t know?”

I’m happy to say the student is O.K., there are no coaches taking laps during ball games, and I’m somewhat at ease with the world.

Take care.

Comments:
What a great post, Cecil! Really uplifting. And sweet. And (for Greg) about a good friend.

And, then . . . hysterically funny.

You should have such thoughts to share with us EVERY day!!

Love, Dee
 
Any baseball story is a good story. And I would actually like to see the fallout from a ML ump telling Ozzie to take a lap. In my opinion, most umps these days are waaaaay too full of themselves. Call the game, blue. Just call the game.
 
You know that I've spent my time in and around baseball diamonds with Josh's various levels of the game and I have NEVER heard of an ump telling a coach (or a player) to "take a lap." I'm fairly confident that cannot be upheld by anything in the rule books. Thurman8er is right ... too many of those guys are "waaaaaay too full of themselves"!

What you didn't tell the gang is that my computer decided to whack out about the time Steven called, but we get the mission accomplished, which is what matters. That is a nice sixwire with some pretty good reviews, if you keep in mind most of those reviews on MusiciansFriend.com are written by kids younger than Steven who don't play as well as Steven! I have a Schecter guitar (does that surprise anyone?) and they make a good product. I'm anxious to hear how Steven likes it and if it's going to require an additional expenditure of $$ to have it set up. The last guitar I ordered (a Fender Telecaster) came in so messed up I just took it back to the store. Got a Gibson SG instead.
 
Okay. Now I'm selling my rabbit. I don't want to be tempting little kids to do something that would make ME sick.
 
Okay...I will share with you and your bloggers. When Mark was 2 or 3ish...but around then (Mark is now a junior at Oklahoma Christian); well, him and his brother were playing in the back yard. Brian(1 year older) saw a dead mole on the grass (this was in our back yard, I was sitting on the porch watching the boys play). Well, Brian picked up the dead mole, made a face and dropped it. Mark, of course being the younger brother, picked it up and dropped it. Life is good...except, Mark repicked it up and put it in his mouth...yes, the dead mole in his mouth....of course I jumped from my seat, ran to the mole eating child, had him spit it out. Took him in the house...used mouth wash and anything I could think of while I was dialing my doctor...who after he stopped laughing said I did all I could do and if he starts throwing up, bring him in.
 
Dee - What a great comment. Your comment picked up my day. I think Greg and I go beyond the definition of good friends in a "guitar" ( :) ) kind of way.

Steve - You should have seen the guy behind the plate tonight. Some "blues" have mechanics that are barely apparent. The home-plate ump tonight at times looked like the "Karate Kid" doing the "Crane move."

Greg - Yes, "we" were able to push through the "G.C. sin" and the crash of technology on your coast to procure this "blue baby." Steven said, "I wish Uncle Greg was here to hear me play this baby."

Brady - You might be the first to start a world wide "bunny-ban" to save our children. :)

Lauramay - Now I know why Mark kept looking at those Colorado Marmots in a strange way. :)
 
Two of my heartbeats have baby bunnies as we speak. I THINK they are old enough not to put anything foreign in their mouths!

Enjoyed this post. You have such a sweet heart, it's great when you share it. Glad you're more at peace.

As for baseball...........I gotta get through March madness before I can think about it. The UofM Tigers are doing quite well.......something like 52 or 53 CUSA wins! Coach Cal and the Tigers rock!!
 
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