Author: DJB

The Church of Baseball

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“I believe in the Church of Baseball.” So begins Annie Savoy’s opening monologue in the movie Bull Durham.  And after going through all the religions she has tried, comparing baseball to sex, and talking about bad trades (“Who can forget Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas for God’s sake”) she ends up with: It’s a long season and you gotta trust. I’ve tried ’em all, I really have, and the only church that truly feeds the soul, day in, day out, is the Church of Baseball. Today I needed the Church of Baseball, and it didn’t fail me.  Oh, I did get up and go to the 8 a.m. service at my other church…especially since we were meeting our new rector after an interminable period of transition.  But I’ll freely admit that I went to the cathedral at Nationals Park today to feed the soul. The Nationals have been on a tear.  Heading in to the home finale, they had won 11 of 14, including sweeps on the road of the Mets and the Phillies.  Tom …

So How Did Your Summer Go?

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Shortly after Memorial Day I wrote a post entitled Got Plans for the Summer? where I outlined ten things I hoped to accomplish during the Summer of 2011.  Well, Labor Day is here – and we’ve reached the moment of reckoning. While I was not a perfect ten-for-ten, I can explain. 1.  Play more music with friends – It is bad when you come up short right out of the box, but this was one item where I failed miserably.  We had a very busy summer, and this one just got away from me.  Luckily, playing music with friends isn’t bound by season…so I’ll try and schedule some fall play dates. 2.  Summer in New England – Technically, this was completed.  I did spend two days in Portland, Maine in early June and I’ve just spent 8 days in New England…but it wasn’t the vacation we planned.  To cut to the chase, Candice fell when we came here to Providence to drop Andrew off at school and she’s been in the hospital this week dealing …

Say Something Nice

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Greater Greater Washington is one of the best blogs in – and about – the DC region.  Andrew turned me on to them as he became interested in urban studies, and I check them out every day because I know they’ll have something smart to say.  Topics can range from why Amtrak tickets cost more than the Bolt and Mega bus services, to issues around design, planning, and historic preservation. Yesterday, GGW founder David Alpert posted a video and short piece entitled Ask, and people will say something nice.  As Alpert notes, little touches can make a difference in how people feel about urban spaces.  This little touch is from New York City, and it reminded me of our experience last March (see photo below) as we chanced upon a piano player in Greenwich Village.  The video is a fun way to spend three minutes of your time and  I’ve reposted it below.  Enjoy. More to come… DJB

The (Musical) Circle Never Ends

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This is a post about music.  But it begins with swimming. Earlier this summer, I wrote that I was going to savor the last swim team season.  And I did just that, up to and including adding an extra meet onto the calendar to watch Andrew and his relay mates set a new team record in the All-Star meet.  We were thrilled he got to compete in that best-of-the-best meet in a hotbed of swimming! But this past Saturday got off to a great start, helped by the fact that I didn’t have to be at the pool at 7 a.m. for the first time this summer! So here are a few remembrances from a nice summer weekend that kept bringing thoughts (and connections) back to music. Candice and I were at the local farmer’s market on Saturday, looking to get some great Evensong Farm eggs from our friend Julie.  (Quick aside:  I didn’t realize how tasteless store-bought eggs are until we missed our Evensong eggs for six straight weeks!)  Julie’s father is bluegrass bass …

Our gator era ends

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If you just want to watch Andrew singing the National Anthem, cut straight to the video at the end of the post. For those still with me, I promise I won’t be long (or maudlin).  But this week we’re wrapping up our time as Gator swim team members and parents, and it really is the end of an era in our family. Last Saturday was the final home meet of the season as well as “senior day” — so Andrew and Claire were recognized on multiple occasions.  A few pictures from the halftime ceremony can be found at the end of the video — although we look pretty wiped out in them.  (Quick aside:  Candice just yelled down, “Oh no, you put those pictures on there!”  Yep.  They were part of the video which was prepared by another parent.) Then this past Wednesday, we all went over to the home of the team rep for a party honoring “departing parents.”  Just glad it wasn’t “departed parents!”  It was great fun, and we were recognized for …

Passages 2

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Two weeks ago I wrote that life has a way of reminding us of the passages that await.  Over the past four days – in the midst of Claire’s beach week to celebrate graduation, travel, and planning for summer fun – life reminded us again of how fragile it really is. Reach out and tell a family member you love them.  Connect with a friend today. On Wednesday, Claire called as I was preparing to head to Tucson, to let me know that three friends in her class had been hit by an automobile while crossing the street at the beach.  Two were banged up with cuts and bruises, while the third had multiple fractures and was airlifted to a larger regional hospital, where she underwent surgery.  Everyone will be okay, but the impact one second can have on life was clear. The worse news came yesterday:  a call at dinner saying that a colleague and friend, who once worked as my executive assistant, had passed away unexpectedly after  complications from surgery.  Susan was 38 …

San Xavier Del Bac – A World Treasure

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My trip this week to Tucson was filled with meetings, tours of work-related projects, and presentations.  But one part of the tour allowed me to slip into full-tourist mode:  the visit to San Xavier Del Bac. A National Historic Landmark, San Xavier Mission was founded as a Catholic mission by Father Eusebio Kino in 1692.  Construction of the current church began in 1783 and was completed in 1797, when Southern Arizona was part of New Spain. This is – simply stated – a spectacular building of international importance, with masonry vaults and beautiful  interior artwork, the latter restored after $2 million was raised by the local community.  Little is known about the artists – most likely from Queretero in current-day Mexico – but their work mixes New Spain and Native American motifs.  The architect, Ignacio Gaona, designed what many consider to be the finest example of Spanish mission architecture in the United States. We had a great tour from Bob, one of the leaders of the Patronanto San Xavier, who recommended A Gift of Angels …

What’s wrong with sports

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Sports Illustrated had an online article this Friday that in one sentence encapsulates what’s wrong with the modern sports-entertainment complex. In writing that “It’s time to get rid of Wrigley,” Richard Rothschild quotes a Chicago Sun-Times columnist who says the following: “There’s still rust, the concourses still resemble dark alleys and people still have to elbow their way to their seats. … It’s a great park when you look at the field from your seat. It’s not so great on the way to and from your seat.” Isn’t the purpose of the ballpark to look at the field from your seat!?  Can I tell you how many BAD ballparks I’ve sat in where the view of the field was lousy; but hey, we have an arcade to distract the kids (they shouldn’t have to suffer and watch an entire game!), we offer a wide variety of sushi, and we have television screens in the bathrooms and team stores so you don’t really have to go sit in your seat. Jeez! Wrigley Field doesn’t need to …

Landmark alert: World’s best custard

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Travel has its benefits. I was in Milwaukee yesterday for the announcement of the 2011 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.  We had a terrific event with our local partners, pointing out the threat to a real national treasure:  the National Soldiers Home Historic District.  One of three homes built for Civil War veterans after Abraham Lincoln authorized them as one of the last acts of his presidency, the Milwaukee Soldiers Home is the only one to maintain the context of the historic buildings and landscape.  One of the veterans who spoke at our event said that this place was critical to his recovery from PTSD, noting that the two words most associated with the site by veterans were “peace” and “serenity.”  To lose such a place of healing would  be a travesty. On this trip my colleague Genell introduced me to another national treasure (though not endangered):  Leon’s World Famous Frozen Custard.  My, my!  What a wonderful frozen custard.  It was great to watch the employees pour a large bucket of milk …

Graduation Day

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When I graduated from high school, the year was 1973 and the future – even with war, inflation, and changing social values – looked bright.  For many of us it was. Fast-forward almost 40 years.  The world is a very different place.  But to Andrew and Claire, who graduated from high school this weekend, this is their rite of passage to a new world full of equal parts promise and challenges.  I can’t imagine even 1% of what their world will be.  Seriously, as recently as 10 years ago did you figure you’d be sending kids pictures to your family via Facebook or watching movies on smart phones?  Could we have conceived of the rise – and possible fall – of suburbia, at the same time that some cities are booming and others are losing population at an alarming rate?  How many of my generation – in 1973 – would have seen China as the biggest economic superpower in parts of the world?  Would we have imagined that the Boston Red Sox would ever win …