Michigan recap Part 2

I think there were 8 or 9 other guys in the attic sleeping along with me and I was the first to awake. I somehow managed to change clothes, gather my notebook, and walk across the wooden floor and down the stairs with no one waking up. I headed outside and got to experience a great sunrise. A bunch of people swam across the lake and back and while they did that, I decided to walk up and down the road for a half hour or so.

After having breakfast around 10 am, and loading the boat up on the dock or something, everybody just kind of hung around. Court and Christine got officially engaged, which I knew was coming. But after a few hours and nothing too exciting happening, I felt a little restless. A boat went out and they took off before I could grab a seat and I decided to get away for a while. I took my Ipod and went off by myself, first to the front yard and eventually to my "bed", where I caught up on my sleep. I remembered feeling that old feeling. Retreating to isolation and grabbing sleep. It's like Johnsonburg, Idaho Falls, Pawley's Island, Lake Geneva, and Tijuana all over again. I listened to Blueshirt Banter radio where I got a kick out of Rick Carpiniello telling old stories. But I was so mentally out of it, I actually skipped lunch. I guess that's a sign I'm not feeling too great. But I was scared that I was blowing the weekend. And it was amazing considering how good I felt that morning. I had felt like I was really progressing and growing that morning, and a just a few hours later, I felt like that scared little boy again.

Eventually, Court and Bobby grabbed me and we walked to a field and kicked the soccer ball around. I don't think I had touched a soccer ball since Ecuador in 2004. Not the most accurate kicks, but I guess I got through it. And man, did I sweat! Then Jared and Josh showed up and we played keepaway. Josh, in particular, was brutal to play against. He had some mad dribbling skills. But when Bobby tried to get fancy, I was able to take the ball away most of the time. Hey, I primarily played defense for 8 or 9 years.

So we went back to the dock and my feet and ankles were not feeling too good. I noticed Steve getting the speedboat ready for tubing. They may have already been doing it in the morning, but I wouldn't know. Though I was a little uneasy, I volunteered to go first along with Joe, and it was my first time trying this. Now Joe apparently had been doing this for a while and he asked Steve for a challenging ride. Steve obliged and my eyes bulged. I'm thinking what the hell am I in for. I guess it was an omen when it took me 3 or 4 minutes to get in the damn tube, which was embarrassing enough.

So we started with Kelsey at the back of the boat taking photos. Somehow, that gave me incentive to act a little more confident. We started out and on the second turn, I knew I would need a ton of strength to get through. Steve loved to make these sharp turns, sending Joe and I bouncing off the water like springs. Midway through, I yelled out to Joe "If one of us doesn't come back, I hope it's you!" But I was holding on pretty well and I was feeling pretty good. This was fun, a ton of adventure, and a decent challenge. So I showed off for Kelsey a little. I stuck my tongue out, then I took one hand off the handle. I think that's when she turned behind her and said "Dad, crank it up." Two minutes later, on hard left turn, I wiped out. Five minutes later, the ride ended and at thee end, I wiped out yet again, crashing upside down into the lake, leaving me a long ten-minute swim back to shore. As I sidestroked back, I wondered why I wore a white mesh shirt, seeing that it was now covered in black muck.

Here's what scared me though. As great as the rush was, I found myself thinking about wiping out twice. I knew that was not the right thing to do. I mean, I made a lot of successful turns and I know other people wiped out too. Maybe I should have tried it again. But instead I tanned on the dock.

Later on, we all got ice cream at this plant shop/trading post/convenient store. They even had Hot Pockets, which I made sure to mention to Alex and Amy... What was cool is that the kiddie size is $2 and consists of two scoops. I had orange/pineapple and enjoyed it very much. I would have selected a cherry flavor, since we were in Michigan. But of course, the only cherry option had chocolate as well. NO GOOD!

After getting back, everyone started to look a little tired. But Jared and I rallied the troops and we played sand volleyball. Of course, on the way back into the house, I slammed my right big toe on the ledge, busting it wide open. So we played long six games and I played with a bandage on my foot. Somehow, I don't think open wounds like sand. I had some solid serves, though my jumping wasn't great. For three straight games, I played in the front court with Steve and Josh. I guess they have that father/son dynamic. Every time Josh set the ball, I knew Steve was getting the chance to spike and not me. I didn't mind, I just thought it was ironic. Court and Jared played very aggressive for their team. For ours, Bobby took three games to put a serve in play, Kesley hit some great shots, and Steve loved launching these serves way up in the air. With the sun setting right in our faces and the wind blowing moderately, they must have been brutal to return. We won the first 3 games before, before they won 2. Finally, we played 4-on-4 and we won the last game. We walked 10 minutes back tot he house.

Now covered in muck and sand (got a few dives in there), I really wanted a shower. As Amy saw me come in the house, she somehow figured out what I had in mind. She beat me out. But that was fine. While most everyone else played Aggravation, I welcomed the feel of soap and water.

We had dinner around 8 p.m. and I must have had three plates of baked pasta and salad and three pieces of garlic bread. And since we had well water, I drank a ton of that H2O right out of the sink. I guess that's what happens when I skip a meal. As I was walking back towards the attic, I passed a computer and noticed a slide show of photos from the last two days. I started sifting through them. Kelsey showed up and we looked through a few of them. Why does someone else's silver shine so bright?

A little later in the evening, we took this slow barge boat, or whatever it's called, on the lake. It was just a long, slow cruise on a deck-style boat. Jared brought his Ipod and he and I "sang" some Queen songs. "Bohemian Rapshody", "We Will Rock You" and I think one other that I can't think of. We then did Dream On, thought it was a little late in the evening to hit those high notes. About halfway through "Love Shack", B-Jeff decided he had enough and told us so. We got quiet. Had one more molasses-ginger cookie after we got back, probably my fourth of the weekend.

So at the end, it was myself, Court, Jared, and Kelsey lounging on four separate recliners, footrests elevated, facing each other. We sort of wanted to play a game of some type, but no one was really willing to organize anything. Anyway, we all hit the sack. But on the couch, I saw a copy of Saturday's Detroit Free-Press and looked for a Mets score. These geniuses didn't even have the scores of the 7 pm games! Now if the California games are missing, I can understand. But to just have the one afternoon game's result in the next day's newspaper is just emBARRassing. As it turned out, it was probably for the best that I didn't know anything that was going on.

After waking up kind of early the next morning again, I went back to the dock to enjoy one more sunrise and revel in the sparkling water on the lake. After eating some sort of egg casserole and baked granola, we had a brief worship service on the back porch. After that, we all headed out back home.

I guess Court wanted to get back for Bible study and softball. So I went with him, Christine, and B-Jeff. Speaking of the latter, he and I had some really good talks that weekend. He is a wise dude. The drive up took 8 hours. The drive back took maybe 4:45.

It's now been 9 days since our two day trip ended. It feels like a lot longer. There were a lot of fun moments. I would like to think it was a good thing that I came. I guess other people can have opinions about that one. I really wanted to not think about certain kinds of expectations or hopes on this trip, but it was a struggle at times. I think I've identified a few issues I want to be better at. Acceptance still seems to be one of the big ones. But trying to get it through other people's approval is so fruitless. A chasing after the wind, as Ecclesiastes might say. And to have character and attitude that does not depend on circumstances is so important in this cruel, unjust, cynical world. I hope I can reach that point one of these days.

3 weeks

1) I have had no urge to write. Oh, things have been going on. Sometimes, I need to have nothing else going on at all and enough emotion stirring me up, whether positive or negative. This is damn negative.

2) Suffice to say, I have no idea how my parents make such brutal decisions regarding their lives after they divorced. I know they mean well, I know they love me, but good Lord, I hope I do certain things the exact opposite of how they have.

3) Softball continues to be going mediocre. We have a roster of 18 players. On average, between 6-8 are showing up each week. When I was gone last week, they went 1-1. they squashed a team that has won nothing all season on Saturday before dropping a 15-12 debacle to team we really should have beat on Sunday. So that put us in 12th place going into the weekend.

Naturally, we had another rainout on Saturday, leaving us to play my old team, FBCG 1, who had not lost a game yet. We had 7 guys show up and we had to borrow three players from FBCG 3. We trailed most of the way until the top of the fourth, when we scored six runs. As I recall, that gave us a 6-4 lead. But we thought we were up four. That would prove critical.

They came back with four in the bottom of the sixth. Somehow we tied it with two in the top of the seventh. So we thought we were up up two, but we were actually tied. With one away (I made the catch), they loaded the bases, thanks to a hit and two of our typical errors. They knock a two-hopper grounder back to the mound that our pitcher couldn't field, and they scored the game-ending run. We lose a great game in a brutal finish.

As for me, I batted 3rd and went 2-for-5, reached on an error, and scored twice. My hitting wasn't the best, but it was pretty solid. And I must have made six catches in left field. But the bottom line is this. We play two games next weekend, one against St. Peter's and one against FBCG 3. If we're going to qualify for the postseason, we need to win both. And it would be nice to see 10 of our own guys show up for a change. May sound crazy in this culture, but commitment actually means something to me.

4) OK, that was long. Here's a short one. The Mets are driving me up the freakin' wall. I'm now focusing on the Jets defensive line depth.

5) One more semi-long one. Ring of Honor recap. I would say this was a solid show that kept getting better and better. That building was incredibly hot and it may have been the first time I drank a bottle of water before intermission. Austin Aries returning to the ring in Daizee Haze's ring attire was one of the more disturbing, hilarious sights I have seen in ROH. The two best matches were Colt Cabana and El Generico vs. the American Wolves as well as the world title match between Tyler Black and Kevin Steen. Some heavy blood and some great back and forth action in that last match.

As for Rosa's, well, another double decker pizza hit the spot. On the mike, Q did three songs on his own. Eddie did the same old, same old. Pearce did "The Time of My Life" with a girl about half his size. Necro Butcher brought the house down when he sang "My Way" and Pearce had me sing the female lead on "Afternoon Delight". In his words, I am now a legend.

Michigan recap Part 1

Well, the Facebook invite said we were leaving at 12 p.m. I've done enough of these group events to know better. Without a set arrival time, I knew people would be arriving at 12 p.m. Long story short, we had to wait for Alex to get out of work. So we watched "Will it Blend" videos on You Tube, made smoothies, and finally left Geneva around 2 p.m. We picked up Kristen's brothers in Mokeno, outside Tinley Park. The story of the trip to Mecosta were quick food and traffic. Amy turned Alex and I on to salt and vinegar chips. Reminded me of Boston. After Alex made a wrong turn in that 80/94/294 mess, we lost at least an hour trying to get back on course. The traffic slowed so much Jared, Alex, and Court were tossing Sourpatch kids and cookies to each other from driver's seat to driver's seat.

The CD options were limited to show tunes and Christian music. I think there were a few times I put my Ipod on and zonked out. There was one burned mixed CD and I got to sing Grapevine, a cover of "That's Life," and there was even a Mindy Smith song on the CD as well. I really marked out when "Fighting For It All" came on.

We passed though Holland (thought of Ingrid), Rockford (my first time there in 15 years), and Grand Rapids. Going through Holland, I-196 only had one open lane traveling in each direction, slowing our route down even further. It wasn't until about 6:30 we got off the interstate and started taking a series of backroads north and east. We reached Remus, a town of maybe 300 people. Their downtown consists of four square blocks. Low and behold, there was a parade going through. Amy made me laugh when she exclaimed she had been driving for 20 years to Michigan and this was the first time there was anything going on in Remus. So we had to re-route. We eventually arrived in Mecosta at 8:30 EST.

The house was set right on a lake and was surrounded by other small vacation houses and near a campground where people had parked their trailers for camping. So it had very much of a getaway feel to it. We parked right next to a barn and walked across a small road to the house. There wasn't much room for 20 people to walk around, but we were made very welcome by the Hill family, especially her mom. I took my duffel bag upstairs and found the attic, where a dozen mattresses were laid out in two rows. There was just a little room to walk right down the middle, but we all had plenty of space. And thankfully, we had a fan up there. On the other hand, there were only two bathrooms in the house with one shower, so I knew hygiene would be hard to come by!

Bobby had brought a huge white plastic bucket along. It was filled with marinating chicken breasts and he grilled it while I headed down to the dock and stared out at the lake. B-Jeff was already there with his rod and reel. Of course, being a newlywed, he had to check in with his wife every half hour! Anyway, there was still a little light left and I could see this quiet island about two miles out. There were several different kinds of boats to use as well. Court and Jared soon joined me and we began lighting Roman candles and setting off bottle rockets on the water. I hadn't done this since summer camp days, if ever. The constant sparks and pops probably caught the attention of a few neighbors. Then we had dinner. Of course, Christine did a ton of cooking as well and she made a really good potato salad to go with the Buffalo-spiced birds that thankfully did not contain much mayo.

Afterwards, I headed down to the backyard. Emily, Amy's wacky cousin, was preparing a bonfire. The fact that she admitted she was a pyromaniac didn't surprise me, although she may have been kidding. Amy told me in the car that afternoon that she was a trip and her dry sense of humor and bluntness were on display. Josh, Amy's brother, came down with his guitar and he played a bunch of worship songs while we sang. When we got to "How Great Is Our God", I had to think of Mom. She would have liked hearing that.

By now, it was approaching 11:00. And I realized my cell phone was dead yet again. So I had no way to tell time. Not that I would need to, as things would turn out. We headed back up to the porch and hundreds of mosquitoes tried to join us. So we moved inside and about a dozen of us stayed behind and played Aggravation, a board game involving marbles and decks of cards that I ahd never played before. The match was myself and Amy against Alex and Jared. People told me it took twice as long as it should have. I got off to a great start, but Amy just drew some rough cards. Alex finished first and I came in second. Though we were one card away from losing on several occasions, Amy and I finally rallied to win. I let out a pretty notable scream; not sure if I woke anybody up. I think when the game ended it was around 12:30. Not sure if that's Eastern or Central. Anyway, I headed up to bed. Of course, my body needed a night to adjust to the mattress. I really don't think I was ever totally out of it all night long. I was in that annoying state where I tried to convince myself that I was asleep, but I knew I could open my eyes at any moment.

Ribfest recap

I left work at 12 p.m. on Thursday, July 1 and snuck in an hour of tanning by the poolside. Even if I'm not thrilled with my physique, I do feel healthier when my skin is tanned.

I drove an hour south to Cowlishaw Elementary school and took the school bus by myself to Knoch Park. After paying my $12 admission and entering the North gate, I was struck by the new geography. Previously, one stage was much larger than the other. Now both the north and south stages are the same size, giving a little balance to the entire park.

Since I hadn't eaten, I headed straight for the meat. Half of the vendors were located in the north end and the other half in the south end with a load of sponsor tents and the carnival placed right in the middle. I started with a roasted ear of corn, a $3 tradition. A very sweet ear, covered in butter, salt, and pepper. And I was very happy I brought along the dental floss. I headed to Pigfoot and Camp 31 for a couple of samplers. I wasn't thrilled the price was now $6 for 3 bones.
I had eaten at Pigfoot (West Salem, OH) a few years ago. They have an apple flavored BBQ sauce, and while I don't care for its strong sweetness, I like the concept. I stuck with the mild sauce and while they weren't very warm, the meat was very juicy and the meat fell off the bone. As for Camp 31 (Castleberry, Alabama), they were the one new vendor at this year's fest. The bones I had were very meaty and moist. I wasn't too thrilled with the sauce, which was very tomatoey and didn't have a very notable smoke flavor.

I headed back to the South stage and listened to the Steepwater Band perform for an hour. They are a power trio that plays an aggressive style of Chicago blues. Good stuff, but nothing I would spend my money on. I think I just laid on my beach towel with my shirt off tanning some more.

I headed back towards the north stage, where the West Side Winders, another trio played for an hour. These guys specialize in classic rockabilly and surf music. I sang along to songs like "That's All Right" and "Not Fade Away." The crowd seemed pretty apathetic though. Since Los Lonely Boys were set to start a half hour after the Winders ended, I headed back toward the north stage around 5:45.

With two fresh lemonades down, I was ready for round two of ribs. I hit Smokey Joe's (Mansfield, Ohio) for a sampler. I was very impressed with their juicy meat and spice blend. And bonus points for having cornbread available. Texas Outlaws is my traditional favorite and while the flavor was great as usual, I believe the ribs had to have been sitting out for a while. They were too cool in terms of temperature and that's a problem. Needing a break from the meat, I also grabbed some sweet potato fries with cinnamon sugar. Freshly fried, they were a great break from the pork.

Then Los Lonely Boys began their set; this was the second time I had seen them at Ribfest. "Senorita", "Nobody Else", and "Crazy Dream" were all great. I would have like to hear "My Way" or "Hollywood", but in 90 minutes, it's not possible to play every song. Henry Garza plays a soulful blues guitar and Jo-Jo and Ringo keep up a solid rhythm section. Also, Mom showed up and hung for a while. I give her props for buying me a water bottle, which I was desperate for after consuming all of that food. It amazes me how humans really desire to have thirst satisfied when lacking water.

Mom left just before "Heaven" began, so it was up to me to shout the lyrics. It is such a sweet experience with thousands of people singing "How far is heaven?" in semi-harmony. I'm sure I wasn't on-key as usual, but whatever. It's all about heart and soul in this case.

I had 30 minutes before Charlie Daniels began his show on the South Stage, which meant another 6-8 minute walk across the park. But I decided to grab desert. Now I could have gone with Dippin' Dots. Could have had some great Oberweis ice cream. Could have had a carrot cake cupcake from Hugo's Frog Bar. But I went with something special. Something unique. Something I couldn't get from many other palaces. I ordered a $4 deep fried Twinkie. It tasted like a funnel cake with a ton of powdered sugar and a hot creamy filling inside. A definite guilty pleasure. It was probably the one time I will ever eat that, but I'm glad I had the sack to try it one time.

So I continued my path south. I dropped my backpack and folding chair at the front of the stage and got to watch the whole show from the right of the stage in the front row. Charlie and the band played an incredible 90-minute show.

First, he played the same opener as three years ago which I don't know. Then he launched into "Drinkin' My Baby Goodbye", "The Legend of Wooley Swamp", and "Simple Man". As the band played these songs, a few people near me in the crowd, mostly teens and a few families, started staring at me. I was singing just about every lyric. One was a 45-year old drunk blonde gal, showing quite a bit of cleavage. She was with a guy and dancing kinda dirty with him. Then she got close to me. I knew the deal, she was one of those who was so out of it, she just wanted the feel of a younger guy. But I know better than that. I'm used to that sort of thing, so I didn't do much.

The band played an instrumental, "Black Ice", that included one of the best drum solos ever. It must have lasted 5 or 6 minutes. "Long Haired Country Boy", "Folsom Prison Blues", and "In America" also got their time. Then came the finale, albeit way too soon. "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" got everyone dancing, if they weren't already. Following the final fiddle solo, Charlie hollered into the mike, "That's how you do it son!", paying homage to his famous Geico commercial. The songs I wanted to hear and didn't included "The South's Gonna Do It Again" (I have no idea how they could leave this off), "Boogie Woogie Fiddle Country Blues", and "Trudy".

As the show ended, I knew I had to beat the audience since I was standing in the front row and I also had to travel the entire length of the park since I had to reach the North gate. That took about 10 minutes or so. With a little bit of running, I caught the first bus back to Cowlishaw and eventually arrived home around 11.

Epilogue: I hit the gym the very next afternoon, I stepped on the scale, I had gained four pounds.

20 lonely songs

On those summer nights when I'm feeling alone, I like turning to my music. Here are 20 of the songs I play for those rough times. I guess it could be considered a countdown.

1. "Dreamin' Again" Jim Croce
2. "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" Al Green
3. "Drinkin' Me Lonely" Chris Young
4. "A Good Year for the Roses" George Jones & Alan Jackson
5. "Somebody Else's Moon" Collin Raye
6. "Fire and Smoke" Earl Thomas Conley
7. "I Never Go Around Mirrors" Keith Whitley
8. "Baby Blue" George Strait
9. "Silver Springs (Live)" Fleetwood Mac
10. "Last in Love" George Strait
11. "You'll Know Love" Kenny Rogers
12. "Second Hand Heart" Gary Morris
13. "Tired of Being Alone" Al Green
14. "More Than a Memory" Garth Brooks
15. "Alone" Bee Gees
16. "I Wish I Could Say That" Kenny Rogers
17. "Love Lost" Mindy Smith
18. "Who's Counting" Ronnie Milsap
19. "Lonesome Town" Rick Nelson
20. "It Was Almost Like a Song" Johnny Hartmann