A Great Sports Week

This a picture of Morgan and Colin and Tippe playing in the water with Dan on Father's Day. More on that later.

Usually, good sports weeks occur in the fall, during football season. But this week featured a diversity of sports, mostly off the radar for a lot of folks, with thrilling contests and great results.

It started with U.S. Open golf. The rain delayed the tournament, so it finished on Monday. The golf was interesting all weekend, but the final round had great drama, several golfers in contention, and quality golf. Lucas Glover, the champion, is as humble a golfer as I've seen in a while, and I hope he's able to parlay his win in a major into big success.

Meanwhile, in South Africa, the United States is playing soccer in the Confederations Cup. (You don't have to like it -- I do.) Last week the U.S. lost two matches to Italy and Brazil, and looked pretty pathetic in doing so. But Sunday they came up with a 3-0 win over Egypt. This exact result, combined with a 3-0 Brazil win over Italy, is what the U.S. needed to get into the semifinals. But the opponent was Spain, the number one side in the world. On Wednesday, though, the U.S. beat Spain 2-0. It was a spectacular match, and maybe the U.S. can do better Sunday against Brazil in the final than they did in the group round.

But by far the most important sports story was the LSU victory in the College World Series. It started on Friday night, when, thanks to a rain delay, I got to watch the end of the victory over Arkansas with Clay. It was a blowout. LSU came back in the ninth to win in the first game of the best-of-three championship series on Monday, and Cara and I were IM'ing all the way through. It was a very intense game. The Tigers were flat on Tuesday, and the result was a 5-1 Texas victory, setting up a winner-take-all Wednesday showdown. I went over to play cards at Wayne and Tina's. When the game was 4-4 in the sixth, I pushed all in, because I could no longer concentrate on both the cards and the baseball game. I went outside to watch the game right about the same time LSU blew the game open with a big sixth inning. The final score was 11-4, and another championship for LSU.

In other news, I spent Father's Day weekend with Matt Parrish and his family. (I'm headed to see my dad next week when Cara is in town from California.) On Saturday Matt and Carrie and I drove down to Alexandria to have dinner with Ben and Jennifer and their boys. We had a great time catching up and hanging out together out for the first time in a while. When we got back to Natchitoches, we picked up Lindsey, Matt's sister, and went out to have a beer. We met Matt's brother Andy and his girlfriend Ellie at the bar. It was a fun evening.

Tippe and I went back to Natchitoches Sunday for a shrimp boil with the whole Parrish clan. We had a blast. I am grateful that they included me in their celebration, and that they have been so kind to me for so long. It's hard to believe that I have now known the Parrishes for at least 17 years, and I have come to love the like my own family.

The last thing I have to add is a bit of culture. I went to a performance of Clue at Northwestern State on Thursday evening with Larry, Kayla, Linda, Julianne, Joe and Carole. It was a musical dinner theatre murder mystery based on the board game. The play was fun, though the ending was a little nonsensical. My favorite part was the interaction with the actors during the breaks. Professor Plum even thanked me for being a good audience member.

Happy and Sad and Regular

I've had a pretty good week this week. Of course, it's been a while since I had a bad week. Lucky me.

Sunday after church I was determined not to sit at the house all afternoon. I twisted Rob's arm, and convinced him we should go spend a couple of hours on the lake. And we did. We caught a few little fish, but mostly we just enjoyed the sun and the water and the quiet. The most impressive part was that we got the boat in and out of the water without any hassle, even though I was backing the trailer up into the water. On the way home we both decided that we are excited about the float trip in the fall.

Work was work Monday, but I did catch a little of the US-Italy soccer match. Our boys looked good in the first half and even went ahead one-nil. In the second half, being a man down caught up with them, and they lost. After work, I threw together a meal with a huge zucchini I got from Chuck and Linda. Robert came over to eat my casserole concoction and watch the LSU-Arkansas CWS game. The food was OK, the ballgame was a complete success. Chuck also came by, and we chatted about the float trip and how much fun we were gonna have.

On Tuesday evening the sad part of the week hit me. Robert's dog has not been well for some time, and when he got home Tuesday she could not stand up on her hind legs. He has been struggling with the decision of whether to continue to treat her or put her down, and decided that now was the time to let her go. She was obviously uncomfortable, she had lived a long life, and it made no sense to prolong her agony. I happened to get to Dr. Boudreaux's house just as they were making a final decision, so I sent Rob and Crystal home in my truck and helped the Doc do the deal before bringing Belle home and helping lay her to rest. As an aside, the ground is really hard in Many right now because it hasn't rained in a couple of weeks, so digging a hole in the dark was not easy.

I got to go play cards Wednesday and had a great time with the gang -- Wayne and Tina, Sammy, Tammy, Deb and Dave, Ruth and Tim. It was cool because the people I like were there, and the ones that aggravate me were not. I also won a little money.

Yesterday was normal and uneventful, except that it was Ernest Rodrigues's birthday (72 or 73, depending on who you ask) and I went over to sing Happy Birthday and eat cake. I hadn't seen Ms. Shirley in a while, as her health has made her a bit of a recluse, but she looks good and I was happy to see her. We had a fine time until Larry decided to shoot a gun, and it scared the fire out of Tippe. She literally tucked tail and ran to a safe place behind Kayla's chair on the porch. I laughed at her.

Now it's Friday morning, I went walking with Rob at 5:08 am for the fourth time this week, and I am going to be alone at work today. Good thing, because I won't disturb anyone when I am watching the LSU game this afternoon. Fluffy is up in the yard to cheer for the Baseball Bayou Bengals -- Geaux Tigers.

Catching Up

OK, so I meant to post more regularly when I came home from vacation, but I have failed. The last two weeks have been eventful.

Last Wednesday night, three young men were killed in a one-car accident in Many. The whole town was in shock. They were drinking and going too fast, the road was wet and narrow and winding and dark. One of the guys, Wesley Eaves, was a member of my church, and I actually taught him in catechism a few years ago. I went to the funeral Saturday morning. The church was packed -- the pews, choir loft and aisles were full, and some folks had to stay outside. The saddest part for me was watching Wesley's younger brother and sister. It tears your heart out. Wes was a great kid, and he and his friends made a series of stupid decisions with tragic consequences. Please keep Wesley, Cody, and Brandon and their families in your prayers.

Last Friday I went out to the lake with Buck, on Saturday I went to Bob and Carolyn's for a fish fry, and on Sunday we had steaks at Chuck's. It was good to catch up with good friends, some of whom I had not seen in a while.

This week I was in meeting hell. Father Joe asked me to represent the church at a meeting for the 2010 census on Tuesday. It was an hour and a half meeting that should have lasted about thirty minutes. I got to visit with Tanya Ford, so it wasn't a total loss. The monthly Knights of Columbus meeting was Tuesday night, which was pretty uneventful. We had elections, but everyone decided to keep their old jobs, so all I have to do is continue to keep the minutes of the meetings.

I had my first Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors meeting on Wednesday. I also became a member of the Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday. So, I really was not up to speed, and someone suggested an orientation session for the five new members, which we agreed was a good plan. I was surprised to find that there is tension amongst some of the folks, but given the strong wills involved, I guess I should not have been. Later that night I went to a Ducks Unlimited cooking, which was less meeting and more farewell party for Steven VanSickle. That was fun, and I met a few new people.

I went to Hannah's last softball game of the season on Thursday night, which they lost to league champion and chief rival Florien. On Friday night, I went to Randy and Mary's for the first time in a month. Randy made some manicotti that was really good. It was nice to hang out with them again.

Now it is Saturday, and I have no plans except to watch LSU in the CWS this evening. I'm ready to go do something, I just don't know what that something is yet. I'll let you know.

Finally, I am proud to say I got up at 5 am and walked with Robert at least seven out of the last ten weekdays. I'm starting to get used to being on a seventy-year-old farmer's schedule.

VACATION

I've been on vacation for the last week. Before I left Many, I went to dinner last Friday at Archie and Regina's. I was driving down the road and got invited to eat dinner, so I did. I had a great time visiting with them and Archie's sister, and the food was outstanding. On Saturday I spent the day washing clothes and cleaning the house in anticipation for being away for a week. I hadn't been to Pride since the beginning of March, and I was ready to get out of Many for a little while. After Mass Saturday I went over to Bob's and had steak with he and Ted. Their wives were out of town on a girls' trip, and we just hung out. Sunday morning I woke up and packed. After Robert got out of church we went and put the barge in the water so he could get the trailer fixed. We finished all that by about noon, and Tippe and I got on the road heading south.

Our first stop was Jacob's house in Galvez. Once we got there, I couldn't wait any longer to get JP's tractor set up so he would be able to ride it. Mom and Dad and I headed back to Pride with Little Boy in tow so that Charmin could get some work done around the house. We had a fun evening. On Memorial Day, Mom and I went to run some errands with JP. We ended up at the mall to meet Dad for lunch. After hanging out at the playground, JP went racing down the concourse in whichever direction he decided. As I followed, he darted across the way, right up to a store window exclaiming "Thomas!" Stride Rite had put up a display of Thomas the Tank Engine merchandise, including boots, a raincoat, and an umbrella. Of course, our next stop was finding the Stride Rite store. He found the boots in the store and quickly asked his Maw-Maw to take off his sandals. He spent the remainder of the next two days in the Thomas boots. He likes him some Thomas. That evening we went out to Jacob's again. This time the tractor was charged up and ready to go, and he got to ride it. It took him no time to fill the trailer with footballs and Disney characters. He's got some work to do to learn to steer better, but he picked up the basics quickly.

Tuesday morning Robert called for me to go pick up some stuff at Tony's Seafood and deliver to Brian, who was on the other side of town moving Sara out of her house. I did, and then went to the bookstore at Perkins Rowe to pick up The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, which Bob had recommended. I then went to the movie theater and watched Angels and Demons. It was a bad adaptation of a decent novel. After the movie I drove back to Pride for some rest.

Wednesday I was tasked with cooking dinner, so I decided to make tacos. I went to the grocery in the morning for supplies. When I got home I prepared for the UEFA Champion's League Final between Barcelona and Manchester United, by which I mean I sat on the recliner and turned on the TV. Barca won, and I fell asleep in the second half. I cooked dinner, which was well-received.

Thursday I headed out to Galvez and picked up Brandon and his friend Eric for a trip to the movies. We got there early, so we went to the mall and ate Cane's and walked around a bit. Twelve year olds have the capacity to be more than a little annoying. They were never badly behaved, just annoying. We watched Night at the Museum 2, which I didn't think was as good as the first movie. It took too long to set up the story, and the climax was rushed and predictable. We had a good time anyway. I dropped the boys off and then headed back to Pride for dinner at Bobby and Kate's house. We had a great visit on the porch, and the shrimp and pasta Ms. Kate fixed was very good.

Friday I thought I might wake up and head to Many for the Chamber of Commerce banquet, but I got invited to the LSU-Southern baseball game. So I met Nanny and Uncle Be and we went to campus. The weather was beautiful, the game was close for six and a half innings, and the park was pretty neat. LSU won, and we went to the Pasttime Lounge for beer and poboys. I enjoyed spending the afternoon with them. I went to Galvez after that to watch JP while Jacob got some work done around the yard. We hung out and had a good time.

I also watched him Saturday morning while Jacob went to the store. We quickly decided to go play outside in the yard in the pool. We spent most of the day out there, in the pool and on the tractor and on the trampoline. Dr. Dan showed up in the afternoon, and Mom and Dad came over later in the evening. We had a very nice day, and it was a great way to celebrate JP's second birthday.

Sunday morning we woke up early and Mom and Dad and I went to Mass at St. Mark's in Gonzales. The music was very contemporary, and not to my liking, but the homily was good, and not too long. When we got back to the house, it was crazy time. Charmin and Jacob were running to and fro trying to get ready for the party. My job was mostly to stay out of the way, but Dan and I did set up the water slide for the kids. There were at least 75 folks at this bash. After all day in the sun Saturday and two nights on the couch, I decided I would sneak out early, before cake and presents. I figure that Cara and I already got him the coolest present, so I didn't need to see the also-rans. Plus, all those people and children were more than my senses could stand anymore. I got home and unloaded the car. Mom and Dad weren't far behind. We got all the work we had to do done before the LSU baseball game at 6. The Tigers won and advanced to the Super Regionals.

It is now noon on Monday, and I am going to pack up for the trip to Many. I am ready to be home!