Thanks to my colleague Tom and Section 313 seatmate Kim (she’s the one who added the Woo! to the Section 313 cheer as noted in this Washington Post article), I now have the perfect addition for any Washington-area cubicle. 2014 National League East Division Champs indeed!
N-A-T-S, Nats, Nats, Nats, Woo!
And since we had a weather postponement tonight, here’s another recent Post story that’s about the logistics of taking care of the Nats over a 162 game season. Recommended as a good rainy-night read.
I am in the midst of a brief work trip to Galicia…and if you don’t know where that is, well neither did I just a few weeks ago.
Galicia – the Switzerland of Spain – is the small portion of land that blocks Portugal’s northern border from touching the Atlantic Ocean. It is hilly (hence the Swiss reference), with a fascinating landscape that is matched by its unique history.
I am here, with colleagues from around the world, for an executive committee meeting of the International National Trusts Organisation (or INTO). We are being hosted by one of our member Trusts – the Tesouros de Galicia – and several of my colleagues joined a contingent from Tesouros de Galicia in completing 140 kilometers of what may be Galicia’s most famous pilgrimage: the Camino de Santiago that ends at the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.
After a much too complicated trip to arrive (never fly Ryan Air – for those of you old enough, think a bad People’s Express experience), I joined my colleagues in Santiago de Compostela for our first meetings at the Facultad de Geografia e Historia, Praza da Universidade. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t have any facilities in my college that looked like this – and especially not the History and Geography departments!
We left later on Saturday to go to Mondariz, a beautiful little town that along with Santiago and the nearby city of Vigo, made up a trio of must-see places for the Edwardian tourists of Britain in the early 20th century. Thanks to our hosts, we were able to stay in the beautiful and historic spa known as Balneario de Mondariz. The spa put us in a bubble in the middle of the troubled Spanish economy, but it didn’t take a long walk away from the town center to see the abandoned homes and poverty.
The spa features the waters that were once enjoyed by the King of Spain and Edwardian tourists from England. The buildings are beautiful and nestled in the countryside. This view of a chapel in the mist was what I saw when I opened my window shades in the morning.
There are several wonderful buildings once – or still – associated with the spa, including the old hotel, and the grounds.
The springs themselves are highlighted within a publicly accessible building, seen at the top of the post and here (where the water bubbles beneath the sign).
After our meetings wrapped up, we toured two local Galicia landmarks: a late Medieval castle, and a wonderful set of ruins – the Castro de Trona dating back more than 2,000 years.
And yes, when the meetings and tours were over, I was able to “take the waters” as they say, at Balneario de Mondariz. What a relaxing way to end the day and prepare for dinner with good friends and colleagues from St. Lucia, India, England, Scotland, and more.
Yes, I was floating around somewhere under that dome. Ahhhhhhhhh.
Perhaps I’m now ready for three flights and all-day travel to get home tomorrow evening.
I had the good fortune to work last weekend in this heartland city that is thriving in the midst of an amazing renaissance. Over the course of three days, we saw the rich arts district, built on the foundation of a beautiful Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts surrounded by artists living and working in older and historic buildings. Incredible historic homes – like the one at the top of the post – were opened to us so we could visit the treasures along the city’s famous boulevards. In this particular home, the retractable roof over the courtyard was opened for songs (by the Kansas City Chorale) and dinner.
There is a great deal to highlight, but because my time is limited I’m going to post a few pictures to give you a flavor of the weekend. Do yourself a favor – find a long weekend to visit this thriving, alive city.
We began our visit focusing on J.C. Nichols’ landmark Country Club Plaza, the nation’s first shopping center designed to accommodate the automobile. Our overview included this panoramic view.
The relatively new home of the Kansas City Ballet – located in the re-purposed historic power house of Union Station – was a marvel to behold. The light that came into the studios highlighted the beautiful space and the wonderful architectural details. We were able to sit for a bit and watch a rehearsal in the main studio.
Later that day we stopped in to hear a rehearsal of the Kansas City Symphony in the wonderful Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. This Moshe Safdie-designed complex is stunning – inside and out. The acoustics are amazing (the same acoustician who did Disney Hall in LA). And the views of the city cry out for a panorama. My shots were all taken with my iPhone on a rather gray day. Do yourself a favor and Google the Center and click through the images. You’ll be as amazed as I was. (And for those near KC, I noticed that Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer are playing on Thursday, September 25th! How often do you get to hear two MacArthur Genius Grant winners play together on stage?)
This city is filled to the brim with arts and cultural center, one of the best known being the Nelson Atkins Museum, with its famous shuttlecocks.
We saw so much more during the weekend, but I hope this whets the appetite. I hadn’t been to KC in about five years, and I was astonished at the vibrancy one sees throughout downtown. Well worth the visit.
No more discussions (or articles) about the Nats being a World Series team. Not after tonight.
And it all started with such promise.
I showed up to our regular seats in Section 313 with my work colleague Paul to find the new sign the Lerners had posted over the recent road trip.
N-A-T-S Nats, Nats, Nats, Woo!
Our section’s cheer! Emblazoned on the ballpark! How cool is that?! Thank you, Kim (a 313 regular who suggested it to a Nats marketing staffer).
With two runs in the first (thanks to Adam LaRoche’s home run), we had the chance to use it early and often.
Woo indeed!
Stephen Strasburg is cruising. My new score book is getting a work out due to the great offense. Strasburg leaves after six terrific innings with a 5-1 lead. One inning later, it is 7-2. Atlanta gets battered tonight, cutting our magic number by one more. We had a chance to gain a game in the standings. What could go wrong?
Rafael Soriano could go wrong, even though he wasn’t alone. Three errors weren’t helpful. Bryce Harper and Denard Span decide to run into each other on a fly ball that either one could have caught. But two of those errors occurred after the game should have been over.
Soriano should be the closer for the AAA Syracuse Chiefs after this evening. (Oh, the Chiefs’ season ended when they lost a 4-0 lead in the playoffs? Well, there goes that plan.) The Nats struggling (to put it mildly) closer gave up two home runs (to two players who never hit home runs) and three runs in a meltdown of a ninth inning. It was so damn painful, because you could see it coming.
So, I’m sitting here wondering what jinxed it. Boswell’s World Series article this morning? Our new Section 313 sign? My new score book? Something must have caused this meltdown. As I wrote earlier this week, we’re into a whole new level of anxiety this month.
It is a good thing the Nats play again in less than 24 hours. This would really hurt if we had to wait a week like they do in football. Perhaps it is also appropriate that Saturday’s game is billed as “Faith Night.” We’re going to need some prayers after this loss.
Since I left Facebook about 18 months ago, I miss 99.5% of the silly contests, lists, and challenges that clog the social media world. And even when I was on FB, I would occasionally take one of their lists — such as the five albums I’d most want on a desert island — and expand that into blog posts (as in album #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5).
But the other day, my sister Debbie put up a list of ten influential books in her life, and asked Candice to do the same. The challenge was to come up with the list quickly. Both Debbie and Candice had great lists, and that made me think about what my list would look like.
So…here is my off the cuff list of twelve books that I’ve read (and usually re-read, and re-read). Since this is my blog, I’m not going to be bound by the FB convention of ten. And, in fact, you’ll see I’ve thrown in a bonus book or two along the way. Through the years these works have influenced me to various degrees. And I present them in no particular order.
1. If Everybody Did by Jo Ann Stover – This 1960 book is the first I really remember reading as a child, and it has stuck with me now for some 55 years. The premise is very easy to understand, and the illustration at the top shows it perfectly. On the left page is a cute drawing of one kid doing something that probably – to him or her – looks perfectly harmless. Such as squeezing the cat. Or making a splash in the sink. Or dropping tacks on the floor (one of my favorites). Then, on the opposite page is an illustration that shows what would happen if everybody did that particular thing. This book is still the reason I pick up garbage as I walk along the sidewalk and then invariably think, “This miscreant needs to read If Everybody Did.”
2. The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs – Another book from the early 60s (1961 to be exact) where writer and activist Jacobs turns her fire on modernist city planning and architecture that turned its back on what made cities great. This is a terrific book for preservationists and those who love urban communities. One of my great joys in life was when our son Andrew wrote his college essay on how Jane Jacobs changed his life.
3. All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren – This classic 1946 novel about corrupt Southern populist Willie Stark is as fresh today as when Warren first put pen to paper. I re-read this about once a decade and am reminded that the more things change, the more they stay the same. It was also turned into a great movie, starring Broderick Crawford as Willie Stark. When told there is no political dirt on an opponent, Stark replies with the classic line, “Man is conceived in sin and born in corruption, and he passeth from the stink of the dydie to the stench of the shroud. There’s always something.” Read Nixonland or Invisible Bridge by Rick Perlstein and you’ll see what Warren means. Heck – and you just got two more great recommendations wrapped up in one selection!
4. How Life Imitates the World Series by Thomas Boswell – You just knew there would be a baseball book. The Bos’ first book of baseball essays, published in 1982, is still his best. How can you not love a book where the first chapter is entitled, This Ain’t a Football Game. We Do This Every Day.
5. Truman by David McCullough – David McCullough has many excellent histories and biographies, and I have read them all. His John Adams ranks right up there, but I still give the edge to McCullough’s 1992 biography of a president who – until this massive work came out – was seen as an accident between the two titans of FDR and Dwight Eisenhower. That historians no longer view Truman in this light is due to McCullough’s scholarship and storytelling abilities.
6. Two-Part Invention by Madeleine L’Engle – This is the one book that is on Candice’s list and mine. Perhaps when you read the subtitle – The Story of a Marriage – you’ll understand why. The jacket blurb describes it well: “The story of a marriage of true minds and spirits–a brilliant writer’s tribute to lasting love.” While I don’t always hit the mark personally, I am always blessed when I read L’Engle’s short but lovely book. L’Engle’s book Glimpses of Grace is also a favorite. As one reviewer says, “she affirms the virtues of imagination, intuition, and intelligence.” No small feat these days.
7. The Complete Stories by Flannery O’Connor – The eccentric yet incredibly talented Southern writer Flannery O’Connor wrote best in the short story format. O’Connor’s stories are spiritual in a very unique way, and this work captures them all. I’ll still pull it down on occasion and read A Good Man is Hard to Find or some other wonderful tale. For those who want to delve deeper, check out The Habit of Being, a collection of O’Connor’s letters, and the hilarious Living With a Peacock from the 1961 Holiday magazine. This latter article is the only one I’ll quote from extensively, because it ends on such an exquisite line:
“Some people are genuinely affected by the sight of a peacock, even with his tail lowered, but do not care to admit it; others appear to be incensed by it. Perhaps they have the suspicion that the bird has formed some unfavorable opinion of them. The peacock himself is a careful and dignified investigator. Visitors to our place, instead of being barked at by dogs rushing from under the porch, are squalled at by peacocks whose blue necks and crested heads pop up from behind tufts of grass, peer out of bushes and crane downward from the roof of the house, where the bird has flown, perhaps for the view. One of mine stepped from under the shrubbery one day and came forward to inspect a carful of people who had driven up to buy a calf. An old man and five or six white-haired, barefooted children were piling out the back of the automobile as the bird approached. Catching sight of him, the children stopped in their tracks and stared, plainly hacked to find this superior figure blocking their path. There was silence as the bird regarded them, his head drawn back at its most majestic angle, his folded train glittering behind him in the sunlight.
“Whut is thet thang?” one of the small boys asked finally in a sullen voice.
The old man had got out of the car and was gazing at the peacock with an astounded look of recognition. “I ain’t seen one of them since my granddaddy’s day,” he said, respectfully removing his hat. “Folks used to have ‘em, but they don’t no more.”
“Whut is it?” the child asked again in the same tone he had used before.
“Churren,” the old man said, “that’s the king of the birds!”
The children received this information in silence. After a minute they climbed back into the car and continued from there to stare at the peacock, their expressions annoyed, as if they disliked catching the old man in the truth.“
8. Good to Great by James C. Collins – I usually have a management handbook somewhere in my reading pile, but the one I return to year after year is Jim Collins’ 2001 classic Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t. When you hear me talk about confronting the brutal facts or the flywheel effect, you’ll know I’m quoting Collins.
9. The Edmund Morris trilogy on Theodore Roosevelt – These are three books, but since it is my blog post I’m counting them as one. This massive work, beginning with The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, followed by Theodore Rex, and ending with Colonel Roosevelt is a biographical tour de force. The middle volume, when Roosevelt sat astride the world as president, is probably my favorite, but that is only at the margins. You should read them all.
10. Lincoln’s Greatest Speech by Ronald C. White, Jr. – I’m going to end with my own Civil War trilogy, beginning with a little known book on Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address. This is a book that historian David Herbert Donald has called both “learned and accessible,” and I agree.
11. Lincoln at Gettysburg by Garry Wills – This winner of the Pulitzer Prize is better known that White’s book, and the speech it covers is more famous. This is such a great book that speaks to the power of words. Highly recommended.
12. Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson – Still the best single volume history of the Civil War, now more than 25 years after it was published, Battle Cry of Freedom is still incredibly popular. A recent interview with the author explains why:
“The book’s popularity is not hard to explain. McPherson miraculously manages between to recount the origins of the war and its progress in virtually every theater of fighting through its entire four years, explain the political maelstrom that engulfed both the North and South, touch on heartbreaking stories of individual warriors, follow the machinations of government officials, and describe the military, cultural, and social consequences of the greatest cataclysm in American history, all while carrying the reader along within a brisk and vivid narrative.“
13. SUMMER READING LIST BONUS: The Last Best League by Jim Collins – No, this is not the same Jim Collins of Good to Great. This Collins is the former editor of Yankee magazine. His Last Best League is a wonderful, loving tribute to the Cape Cod Baseball League – with its small towns and wooden bats – and the book is a delight to read on a summer night…or as you prepare for the playoffs. I recommend reading this book and watching the movie Bull Durham (Best baseball movie ever. Period.) during the same month. You’ll never want to talk about football again.
So there you have it. A (rather) quick grab-bag of reads. I hope you find something to enjoy.
…you are passing the peace during a Sunday service, and all of a sudden you find that two other parishioners around you also check the west coast baseball scores when they get up in the middle of a night for a bio break. (And no, I was not the person who started this conversation.)
…you curse the schedule makers who put so many of your team’s games on the west coast during a period when you’re trying to catch up on sleep.
…you turn to the sports pages (on your iPad, of course) to find the latest Tom Boswell column about – what else – pennant races.
…you want to call everyone you know to ask them if they saw Bryce Harper barely miss the “Hit it Here Cafe” target at Safeco Field on Sunday – a monster blast off the cafe windows.
…you curse the schedule makers who obviously gave the other team you are battling in your division (I’m looking at you, Atlanta) an easier September schedule just to make it tough on you.
…you are thrilled that because of extensive travel in the early part of the year, you have three home games in September in your season ticket group.
…you begin to wonder if you scheduled too much travel in October, not thinking about the consequences of your getting playoff game tickets as part of your season ticket group.
…you hope that the St. Louis Cardinals don’t make the playoffs. Then you wonder if the Nats have to go through St. Louis to exorcise their 2012 demons. Then you stop thinking.
…you fret about whether Ryan Zimmerman can return in time to get his timing back, and whether his insertion into the lineup will disrupt what has become a pretty efficient team.
…you actually begin to think you’d like the DH in the National League, so the Nats could put Zimmerman there most nights. (NO! Banish the thought! It isn’t real baseball.)
…you wake up thinking about which pitcher you would drop to get to a four-man rotation for the playoffs. (See previous note about Gio and you go back to sleep pretty quickly.)
…you worry that you’ll jinx your team by thinking about a four-man rotation for the playoffs, the St. Louis Cardinals, and other teams this early in September.
…basically, you worry about everything. As Boswell says today of the Nationals and Orioles:
…losing your mind, screaming and booing, sacrificing sleep to watch West Coast games, second-guessing managers and consulting oracles — all the manifestations of late-season baseball insanity as the Sept. 1 bell-lap arrives — that’s not a player’s task. That’s our job. So let’s get started.
Today I spent about two hours on an errand. In a car. After driving 4,590 miles in August, I’m not looking for more time behind the wheel. Plus, it was an errand that should not have been required. The fact that I had to take the time to do it was affecting my blood pressure.
Then, out of the blue, I found out why I was in that car today.
In driving down into Virginia by myself, I put my trusty playlist on the car system to become immersed in the music. Soon came a voice that I could listen to sing the phone book. But today his song was much more profound than the yellow pages.
Time is a river with no riverside Space a sea that has no tide I can’t get across, no it’s too wide If you have loved then you have cried
And then the second verse:
We are dust that was made in stars Now we roll off to work in cars When we were young we spilled our dreams in bars Now we clean up the mess
There I was…cleaning up the mess.
John Gorka is a wonderful writer with a beautiful and soulful baritone voice. He’s been on the folk circuit forever, it seems, but his following is still small (when you consider that Lady Gaga gets 79 million views on a video).
His tune Riverside is on the 2003 album Old Futures Gone, and by the time the song ended, my attitude had significantly adjusted.
A little bit of thought can make a lot of sense And every little day can make a difference Yes I’m speaking in the present tense Where my faults and seams wear through
And yes, sometimes it does take a lot to get through to me.
I can be more than, than a little dense You’re gonna get splinters if you ride that fence I do like the way the river bends When it flows back to you
We called it gravy, never called it sauce Better learn something if love gets lost How hard the hurt, how high the cost How all the smooth goes to rough
Time is a river with no riverside Space a sea that has no tide I can’t get across, no it’s too wide If you have loved then you have cried
We all make mistakes. We all have loved ones who have made mistakes. And while we may think we know what’s best, everyone has to make their personal choices. And yes, some of those will cause us to cry. I appreciate Gorka’s help in pointing that out to me today.
So that you can hear the voice as well as read the lyrics, I’ve embedded a video of Riverside. Enjoy the tune and enjoy the ride.
During August, I’ve seen four major league games in four different cities and was able to cheer four home teams to wins.
For the Nationals, they are on a ten game winning streak. Five of the last six have been by walk-offs.
Last evening those two streaks converged.
Candice and I had tickets for Thursday’s late-afternoon game between the Nationals and Arizona. The Nats came into the contest having won 9 in a row, including a terrific walk-off win the night before. We arrived early enough to pick up our Ian Desmond bobble-heads (Desmond is the one to the right of catcher Wilson Ramos in the photo at the top of the post) and with great anticipation for another magical evening.
But while picking up the Desmond bobble-head was easy enough, the Nats needed someone to pick up their offense. They hit well enough – until a runner touched second base. Then the Diamondback pitchers all turned into Cy Young. Twice the Nats left the bases loaded, for crying out loud.
With one out, Denard Span – who is finally playing like the complete baseball player we all hoped he would be after we sent Michael Morse to Seattle – got a solid single, keeping that .300 batting average on the rise. With Anthony Rendon at the plate – the guy who won the previous night’s game with a walk-off hit – Span stole second to get into scoring position. It was absolutely the right move at the right time, keeping the pressure on the Diamondbacks. And they crumbled under the pressure.
Rendon hit a sharp grounder to third baseman Jordan Pacheco, who threw the ball past first baseman Mark Trumbo, allowing Span to score the winning run.
As usual, Tom Boswell has the best advice for Nats fans:
Pay attention. This doesn’t happen every decade, even every generation. Wherever you sit during Washington Nationals games, on your favorite couch in front of the TV or in the bleachers on South Capitol Street, don’t change seats. Eat the same pregame meal. Lucky charms — don’t lose ’em. How far can this thing go?
Nothing in baseball is more pure summer fun, mixed with just enough tension to be deliciously fretful, than a long winning streak.
Nothing, indeed – unless it is mixing that streak with a bucket list road trip and seeing baseball in four wonderful stadiums (Cleveland, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Washington) with your daughter and wife.
As the signs at AT&T Park in San Francisco demonstrate, baseball is a game for memories. And this has been a great month for making more baseball memories.
Tuesday, August 19th (and day #19) – is the last one of the cross-country Not All Who Wander Are Lost tour. Later this morning I’ll be flying home. I can’t wait to see Candice and Andrew (who leaves for his senior year in college on Friday morning).
But I also want to put a wrap on the wonderful two-and-a-half weeks Claire and I had on our exploration of this amazing country we live in. It has been an experience I’ll never forget.
I’ve had several parts of this series where I’ve thrown together random thoughts that I’ve entitled Observations from the Road. For those who want to see them in order, you can find them here as:
So this grouping of random thoughts wraps up the Observations From the Road posts as well as the series on our cross-country tour. I’ve entitled it The Thankfulness Edition, for we could not have driven 4,590 miles and passed through 13 states without the help of many friends, family members, work colleagues, college acquaintances of Claire’s, and strangers. I’ll miss some who should be thanked, but I hope to capture the vast majority. And I have book-ended this post with the first (above) and final picture taken on our trip.
The first person who made this all possible was Candice – When I mentioned several years ago I wanted to drive cross-country, Candice never made anything but supportive comments along the way. When I asked if she wanted to join us, she said, “I’ve driven cross-country before, and once was enough.” However, she could see the excitement building in Claire and me as we began to plan out our route and get closer to departure, and then she became our #1 cheerleader along the way. Since I’ve left Facebook, Candice regularly allows me to posts items I put on More to Come…. With this trip, she took on the responsibility of seeing that the posts were up as soon as possible after I wrote them, and she talked up our trip with friends at church, family members, and others she saw over the past couple of weeks.
The other thing that made this trip possible is that our family financial planner (again, that would be Candice) never once questioned the cost of the trip…even as the Visa bills kept coming in and a certain rental car company (Enterprise) didn’t honor their quoted rate for a one-way rental and drove us to another company that treated us fairly…but at a cost than was higher than my initial estimate. Early on she said, “This is a trip of a lifetime for you and Claire, and I don’t want you to worry about money.” This means a great deal to me, as I count on Candice to keep our family budget in line. She simply said, “We can do it” and that was the end of the conversation.
Thanks to those who made suggestions – Sometime about 2-3 months ago, I sent around a sketchy itinerary to some family, friends, and colleagues and asked them for thoughts on things we should see. And did they ever respond! So many of the great places we visited came about as a result of suggestions. Then, once we got into the trip, others emailed additional suggestions, and we took them up on a few of those as well. So – at the very real chance of leaving someone out – I want to thank these terrific itinerary planners: Kathleen and Herb Crowther (for the Cleveland area); Susan Morse (for her Chicago recommendations); Genell Scheurell, Janet Hustrand, and Oakley Pearson (for several thoughts in the Midwest and Great Plans – with Oakley getting special points for the “Ball of Twine” recommendation); Liz Welsh McGonagle (for the Minneapolis thoughts and for making the Twins game happen); Barb Pahl (for numerous route suggestions and individual place recommendations in the Great Plains and Mountain regions – with special points for pushing us to go way north and visit Glacier); Jeff Grip (who made our magical day at Taliesin possible); Mark Huppert, Kevin Daniels, and Anthony Veerkamp (for a host of suggestions in Seattle, San Francisco, and all along the west coast); Constance Beaumont (for the Portland tour and especially for the Astoria suggestion); Sheri Freemuth (for Idaho and eastern Washington thoughts); Jenny Buddenborg (who suggested – among other things – the fantastic University of Mary in Bismarck and then helped make arrangements for a tour); and Jackie Tran (who passed along suggestions in San Francisco). If I have forgotten others, please forgive me. Kyra Stone made great food suggestions in Madison (which led to an immediate weight gain of five pounds on my part). And – as I’ve mentioned numerous times – a big thank you to those who comment on Yelp! We couldn’t have eaten so well without you!
Thanks to our Hosts – Just when we thought we couldn’t take another hotel room, one of our friends or family members offered up a place to stay. We got three of them in photos – Kathleen Crowther (husband Herb was taking the photo) in Cleveland; Claire’s Aunt Susan and Cousin Zoe in Chicago; Bruce and Shari Shull in Gig Harbor, Washington; and Constance Beaumont in Portland, Oregon. Somehow, we were having so much fun with Constance that we forgot to get a picture! Nonetheless, thanks to all of these wonderful people. Claire and I loved seeing you and getting to know you better. It was a true highlight of our trip.
Thanks to the Readers of More to Come… – Every day I would hear through comments on the blog, emails I received, or from comments Candice and Claire were receiving on Facebook and Instagram, about how many people were reading – and apparently enjoying – these updates on our progress. Your kindness spurred me to try to capture the true wonder and fun of our adventure. A special thanks to Janet Hulstrand – who is a wonderful writer. Janet would send along comments and suggestions for places to visit, she encouraged her twitter followers to read the series, and she would simply “like” virtually every post that came up during the trip. Janet’s praise is high praise in my book. In addition to Janet (who has followed the blog for years), I had some 5 or more new bloggers begin following More to Come… after reading a post or two in this series. Finally, it was great today to have virtually everyone who came up to give Claire a hug on campus say something along the lines of “I’ve been following your road trip and it sounds amazing!” The fact that a couple of Claire’s friends even characterized the old man as “awesome” was just icing on the cake!
I’m thankful for this amazing country – I’ve written about the plains, mountains, valleys, coast lines, Great Lakes…you name it…so I won’t go into any of that again. But to look at our landscape day after day, as it changes going east to west and then north to south, is an incredible experience. I saw so many places and things I had never seen before. Every mountain range we crossed was unique and breathtaking. Our rivers, lakes, and oceans are incredible. And – unfortunately – we have destroyed much of what is wonderful about our landscapes through horrible development decisions, greed, commercialized farming (have you ever seen a commercial livestock feed lot – you’ll never eat McDonalds again), extraction of oil and gas, and the list goes on and on. I’m thankful I had a chance to see it in this condition, and I’m thankful that the mellennials of Claire and Andrew’s generation appear to be bent on trying to undo our destruction. Let’s hope they have enough time and political will to succeed.
I’m thankful for how taking things off a bucket list leads to new thoughts on adventures – Claire and I talked about bucket lists on several occasions. Claire decided that the 47 Things to Do While You are At Pomona would be a good start to a bucket list, and I agreed. Then, we started talking about all the states we had visited: 13 on this trip (11 of which were new to Claire). That got us to thinking about how many states in general we had visited, and the number was 48 for me and 34 for Claire. So guess what’s now on our respective bucket lists? And we decided while unpacking today that our next road trip would begin in Alaska – which is one of the two states I’m missing. (Nevada is the other.) I love a sense of exploration so early in life.
Finally, I am eternally grateful to Claire – I would be hard-pressed to come up with a better traveling companion. If you have to spend 18 days in a car with someone, it had better be someone who is intelligent, quick-witted, funny, thoughtful, inquisitive, curious, flexible, and loving…and I could throw in a dozen or more descriptors except that her face will already be turning red. It also helps that she’s a good driver and likes to try any local IPA that the bartender suggests! (Those two things do not happen at the same time.) We had some serious talks along the way, as Claire was dealing with a couple of issues that she’ll be facing her senior year in college. Not once did she speak ill of anyone or try to blame others for her situation. Instead, she always looks for the good, and then builds off that perspective. This doesn’t mean she is naive – far from it. But she has an inherently positive and expectant outlook on life. I wish I could capture a small piece of that perspective to use in my dealings with others, as I would be a far better person.
Claire is not one to judge. I know she wants to help me with my (over) eating and exercise, but her way of talking about it is only supportive and loving. When I think of how she made the decision in high school to only eat healthy food and to become physically fit, I marvel at her discipline. But she doesn’t push her way of living or point of view on her father, her family, or her friends.
Claire is open to what she can learn from others. We shared “playlist” time from our various iPhones during the majority of the trip, and not once – even after 10 bluegrass songs in a row – did she reach for her ear-buds. Imagine that – a 21-year old going 18 days in a car with her father without once tuning him out with the old ear-buds trick. It is my experience that this is almost earth-shattering in its precedence!
So I’ll end by quoting myself – in the Central Time edition of Observations from the Road:
Claire is a wonderful, sensitive, and thoughtful individual – which, of course, I knew in the Eastern time zone before I left on this trip. But I just wanted to say it again today. She is one in a million.
I know that every father thinks that about his daughter. I’m just glad that I had the past two-and-a-half weeks to confirm it – once again – about my daughter. I’ve loved every second with Claire and I’ll never forget these memories.
More to come…
DJB
Image: Claire and DJB chowing down in Claremont at the end of our tour.
I have to admit – of all the planning I did for our cross-country tour, I had not given much thought to how emotional Day 18 of our Not All Who Wander Are Lost tour would be. But Candice seemed to know, when she sent a text this morning that indicated we should “guard our hearts as you step out of this special time together.” Claire, of course, just said, “Dad, you’re not going to cry are you?” Well, of course I am.
Claire said she felt she was “back home in Claremont” when we went to Eureka Burger last evening for dinner. I felt that way when we picked up our sliders at Some Crust Bakery for breakfast. I can’t tell folks on the east coast how wonderful Some Crust is…but you just have to take my word for it. And Claremont is one special little village. We fell in love with it the minute Claire visited Pomona, and we take every opportunity to come to this magical part of Southern California. Some Crust is one of about ten places our family visits on every trip to see Claire at college. Union on Yale, where I’m having dinner tonight, is another. When she graduates next spring, we’ll have to make up reasons to come back here.
The morning was spent getting the key to Claire’s dorm room, checking out the new digs, and bringing up boxes from storage. The two photos above show her new bed (a double – finally!) and the common room in her four room suite. The senior dorms are only 4 years old, and they are fantastic. Back in the day (when we had to walk through a foot of snow to get to school) we certainly didn’t have anything this plush. I told Claire and a friend that they shouldn’t get use to this…it is probably the best housing they will have for the next ten years.
The exterior (above) is pretty terrific as well. This is a “green” dorm, full of environmentally sensitive elements. I think it is just about right for my Claire’s senior year at school!
The contrast with moving in three years ago couldn’t be wider. Then, all four of us were here feeling our way as freshmen parents (as well as freshmen twins). We were racing around buying this and that, trying to locate the key buildings on campus, and generally attempting not to act like we were completely clueless (at least in front of Claire). This time, Claire and I took the items we had brought cross-country up to her room (in about two trips) and then drove over to the storage bin to pick up a few other boxes, which we quickly dispatched into her new room as well. Then we stopped by to say hello to the swim team coach, we watched the football team running laps in 95 degree heat (waving to an ex-boyfriend in the process), picked up a friend to join us for lunch, and dropped off Claire’s bike for its yearly tune-up. At noon we were settled into Full of Life (another village favorite) for our sandwiches and a final tour lunch (which we captured in the photo at the top of the post). Afterwards, we helped another friend move some boxes (a car is a valuable commodity this time of year on campus), stopped by a local store to buy me a new pair of flip-flops (since my old ones blew out on this trip), and found some local craft beer for the fridge.
In the midst of all this, Claire made some progress on unpacking, and making her new dorm room a home.
Then came the time I’d been dreading. It was clear that I wasn’t needed at this point, and that Claire was ready to focus on getting her room together before her meeting tonight with the other orientation counselors. (They are called OA’s, but I can’t recall what the A stands for.) Our cross-country adventure really was ending. Yesterday, Rosanne Cash’s version of Miss the Mississippi and You came up as we neared Claremont, and I told Clare that I would miss her. She said, “Really?” (How can you not love someone who doesn’t even realize how wonderful she is?) I said, “Really. You wear well as a traveling companion.”
Today we hugged, laughed, I cried, and left.
It was fantastic, my love. Have a wonderful senior year. See you later this fall.
MORE TO COME... 