Fireworks Do-Over

You may or may not recall that the Canada Day fireworks hadn't been the best this year. I thought they just weren't great for me from my bedroom window, but, apparently, they were somewhat lacking for everyone. On Saturday, the town staged a Do-Over.

I returned to the trail bridge location from some of my past years' shoots. I like that I can include town hall from this vantage point. I took this ↓ photo before I got to the exact spot from where I would shoot because I liked the light on the former mill (now apartments) complex (left).

Although this is a good spot for the fireworks and to include town hall in the process, the building etc always turns out very black. I was hoping to do some light blending this time, and set up my camera and tripod to do so. Alas! when the fireworks began my plans were immediately scuppered (yes, Blogger, it is a word) because the fireworks were going off more directly over town hall this year. Sigh.

It wouldn't do to have the displays so truncated ↑ on the left side so I had to shift the camera and forego my attempts at light blending. (If you don't understand this, don't worry, it's not important.)

Below, are the photos that stood out to me on my first pass through the evening's shoot. There may be better ones that I will post later, but these grabbed my attention first. Sadly, the new bridge lights are still not operational. I was hoping, but was disappointed.

I began with two images that picked up some reflection in the water.

There was no reflection in these next photos, so I cropped the river out because it was pretty well dead space.

For the final two photos (for today), I did a lot more cropping, focusing more closely around the clock tower. A lot of the displays were very close to the tower with the rest of the sky being blank.

I had not been terribly enthusiastic when I set out because I have photographed from this spot before. However, I ended up getting some decent images, so I am happy that I made the effort. With all that has been going on in my life this summer, I have hardly done any photography at all, so it was good to force myself to just get out there and click like a crazed madman.

I r4eally did click madly: 146 times in all. As a result, I am sorry to inform you that I will be inflicting one or two more fireworks posts in the days that lie ahead.

A 3:30 Morning

Several things occur at 3:30 in the night. I need to visit the commode. I realize that I have sweat once again and decide it would be best to change my shirt. At the same time. I also have some uncomfortable body parts due to poor sleep positions, so when I try to go back to sleep, it doesn't work. Unfortunately, I just can't help some of the contortions that I get into when I am asleep.

That's a trifecta of issues that are not exactly sleep-inducing, particularly after about 5 hours of pretty sound sleep. Sometimes when nature awakes me at that time, I can get back to sleep, but last night, the three separate issues plus a decent sleep until then, causes me to give it up for a lost cause before 4 o'clock.

First thing is to start the coffee a'brewin. I set it up before I go to bed, so it is just a matter of pushing the switch.

Then comes computer time: checking social media, blogs and a bit of news. Although I caught up on posts before bed, there are a few more waiting for me. I write the post that I published yesterday. I am writing this after I have done everything else that I will go on to describe in this post.

At some point, I go downstairs and make toast. I usually wait until at least 8 o'clock for breakfast, but I am peckish this morning. I bring my toast up to my den and brew a second cup.

Soon, it is time to take to the chair, open the tablet, and have a go at my daily puzzles. I wonder how the games will go today. Will I be fuzzy-headed, or have I had enough sleep and coffee? I cannot tell ahead of time, but my daily sudoku challenge goes well enough. It is an expert level puzzle today — most daily challenges are expert-level. The few that aren't designated expert in the course of a month are still classified as hard. There are no medium or easy puzzles in the daily challenge.

I solve it in 23 minutes: somewhat under my average time at the expert level. 

Then I turn to Wordle. My start words do not give me much to go on, but I am pleased to get it in 4. For the sake of variety, I now often just choose start words at random. I used to begin with soare and follow it up with unity to cover all of the vowels and some major consonants, but now I often switch it up to whatever word pops into my pea-brain. The variety tends to keep up my interest.

I try The Mini. Although I have more of a Sudoku brain than a crossword brain, today goes well enough. Although not great for many, 3:31 is quite good for me.

I didn't think to screen capture the Across clues

Finally, I play Connections. As with crossword puzzles, I find that my brain does not tend to align with the puzzlers brain. In fact, I fail at Connections more frequently than I care to admit. But wonder of wonders, I get it today and fairly easily too. For  a change, I get 3 connections quickly. What I don't get is how the last 4 are connected. I know that they are, but I don't see the relationship. Then they tell me, Disney Characters, and I go hmm, for I am not familiar with some of the more recent characters. Who the heck are Scar and Stitch?

Finally, I play another game of sudoku. The daily challenge is done, but I tell the app to generate a random expert-level puzzle. It does, and I manage it fairly well. Apparently, I haven't taken a screen-capture although I meant to and thought that I had.

It is 6:16. I decide to compose this piece. For the second time in recent weeks, I choose to write in the present tense. I find this to be challenging, and it certainly requires editing, for I find myself slipping out of the present from time to time.

Sue is up and has come in to make her first cup and to commiserate with me over my very early morning. It is 7:08. I will add the screen captures: those that you have already seen, above, and will set this up to post tomorrow, Sunday.

Now, what to do or expect for the rest of the day? I won't have a ton of energy for sure. The make-up fireworks from the Canada Day disappointment will be set off tonight, weather permitting. After this early rising, will I have enough energy and stamina to drag my weary self out at 9PM? We shall see.

On the Lookout

We don't use our little backyard much. For one thing, it is hot as blazes during the day when the sun beats down relentlessly. For another, there is a busy road just beyond, so it isn't terribly pleasant at the best of times.

But I did sit out there for awhile last evening.

I was skywatching . . .

. . . because we had been alerted to a tornado watch. So, I sat with my after-dinner tea, looking westward, which is where disturbances would track.

As you saw, above, the sky did not look at all ominous. When I peeked around the corner, looking more north than west, there was a large vertical cloud, but it still didn't look dark and threatening.

After awhile, I tracked the storms via online radar, and I saw that the line of storms were passing about 10 miles to the north. (We are the blue dot on the screenshot.)

Sue had gathered crucial items by the basement door, but all was calm here in Carleton Place.

I see that a tornado did touch down a day earlier near Petrolia: a town far away in southwestern Ontario, near Lake Huron and Michigan. I taught there for a dozen years, and one of the students had a very close call with a tornado. Her older brother pulled her into the basement just before the tornado hit. A short while later they emerged to find that their house had been obliterated.

I knew the house and had taught her older sister, Lynn, but I didn't know how close of a call Tracey had until she wrote about it in an English assignment, several years later.

You can see Petrolia on the map, outlined in red toward the bottom right. The body of water to the top left is the mouth of Lake Huron, and the urban area just below it is Sarnia, where we lived for more than 3 decades. Port Huron is the Michigan town on the other side of the river, 

According to this article, there were no injuries, but there was some damage.

Did You Hear a Scream?

It was one thing for it to happen on my phone, but now the problem has also spread to my tablet.

I refer to the disconnect between apple devices and Blogger, specifically with regards to commenting.

To wit: I can't comment on most Blogger blogs on those devices. I can still comment on WordPress and other blogs. But usually not Blogger. Sigh.

When I want to comment, I am told to sign into Google.

Although I am already signed in, I go through the steps to sign in again.

It doesn't matter, for I am once again prompted to sign into Google.

It didn't interfere with me too much when it was only my phone limited me, for until now my trusty iPad was in working order. Although I usually post blogs from the computer, I prefer to read blogs and comment from the comfy womfy embrace of my recliner.

I am sure there's a workaround to be found somewhere or other, but right now I can't be arsed to try to track in down.

Meanwhile, I can post from the tablet, or at least I think I can. If I am wrong, you will now hear read a scream.

If you hear nothing, it worked.

Talents

Sha and the kids brought over their new Phase 10 game last week. Once we were done, Shauna had a heck of a time folding the long instructions up properly, so that she could fit back into the little box. After three tries, I told her to let Mom do it. Sue did it in one. She just unfolded it and folded it back up like there was nothing to it. I suppose, for her, there wasn’t. Sha was quite startled, but I wasn't the least bit surprised.

Sue has a knack for what I will call mechanical things. I don’t. There’s a little bit of role reversal with us since it is usually seems to be the guy who is more mechanically inclined. 

Another talent is her ability to see solutions while others, like me, don’t even know there is a problem. 

For years, I have been the main guy to attend to the cat litter. The litter pans reside on a landing on the stairs leading to the basement. Due to the vicissitudes of life, Sue has been the one required to do the job for the past few months. When I went down to begin to resume my old job, I was caught by surprise to see this.

Sue had cut an opening in the paper bag in which we keep the little poop bags (there's one poking out of the opening). I had been reaching up, in and down for lo these many years, but she had ascertained that there must be an easier way. 

I am also reminded of our days of line dancing. It was like a brand new dance made sense to her from the start. I would tease her that she could be given the music and the first few moves and that she would know the rest of the routine instinctively. Of course, that was an exaggeration, but none of the dances were instinctive to me, and I struggled mightily to learn them at first. I did get better as we went along, but those steps were totally foreign to my brain at first. 

Everyone has their innate talents. The trouble is that at the age of almost 76, I am running out of time to discover mine.

The New Do

You might recall this recent pic of the one-eyed boy.

He sported a brand new look when he came over on Sunday to help with the outdoor chores.

Doncha luv it? We also love his help in the garden. 

We took him out to mow the back easement. Look at the tall grass behind us. That's not our property behind us, but for almost 20 years, it has been left to me to tend to most of the easement. Unfortunately, I am not in a tending sort of disposition this summer, so I asked JJ to help.

He's really grown this summer, but you can't necessarily tell when he's standing next to me, as above . However he's surpassed both Danica and Sue. He's in his 15th year (ie he's 14), which is the year that I grew a lot. Maybe that is the prime year for most boys. I know that I started that year as probably one of the smaller kids in my all-boys class but was probably one of the taller guys when the next school year began. I’m not sure of my exact height then, maybe close to 6’ with probably a couple of more inches to grow. (I ended up close to 6’2”.)

He's slim, and so I begin to visualize my young self all of those 60 years ago. Our two 14-year-old selves are somewhat similar facially as well. This was not altogether noticeable with his previous coif, but we can see it now. I swear that those eyes and facial structure could be me. Not the hair though; I never had a nice do like that. In fact, I was probably trying to do a bit of a Elvis look at that time but my recalcitrant hair was obstinately defiant.

Right after his cut: quite a change but he loves it. We all do.

A few more snaps of Jonathan being our helper on Sunday.

Hosing off the mower after the job

Weed picking

He's been a great aide this summer when I can't do the weeding and when Sue shouldn’t either.

Caf and Garden

I had pretty well given up, but when I was least expecting it, I saw this. 

I call it Caf, which confuses people because it is actually DeCaf coke. I have never professed to be normal.

Ever since C19, which oddly enough hit us in C20, Caf disappears from the shelves for periods of time. This time, I think it was for 4 months. Suddenly, just yesterday, it was back. While I got along just fine without it, I sometimes like a little sip in the evening when it is too late for the caffeinated Diet Coke. I did try the Zero variety once, but I didn't prefer that taste, so I had done without.

It's not like finding it made my day, exactly, but the two cases that I purchased will keep me going for awhile.

========================

As I was pulling back into my driveway after the coke run, I noticed that garden was looking pretty good, despite our pathetic lack of attention. Even though the pots of petunias at the front were not planted this year, they are looking pretty darn alright as they have, evidently, seeded themselves from last year's flowers. Bonus!

It was too bright and contrasty for decent pics, but I took a few anyway, for the record.

front

back

It's amazing how well the flowers have done in this summer of benign neglect while yours truly has been taking a hiatus due to circumstances beyond his control.

Ketchup Chips

Who new that ketchup chips were [almost] solely a Canadian thing? Well, I did, but perhaps you didn't.

Some Americans like them too, but not all Americans would make the trip from Virginia to Niagara Falls, Ontario for them, like this Father and son.

News story: https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/us-father-son-ketchup-chips-canada

They bought 40 bags that, apparently, were meant to last the year.

It made the news, as in the above article and in this TV news video.

This particular Canadian doesn't prefer them, however. If I am going to consume flavoured chips, which I do on occasion, they will almost surely be sour cream and onion. Every now and then, I might grab a salt and vinegar if I want my eyes to water, but mostly I stick to plain, ole potato chips.

Adult Confusions

Here are some things that confuse me. I know there are many others, but I am too confused to think of them right now.

• I can look at my watch 3 times and still be unable to tell you the time.
  
  
• I can't, for the life of me, fold a fitted sheet.
  
  
• I can't remember the last time when I was only "a little bit tired."
  
  
• I am not sure what do when Word asks if I want to save changes to a long document that I am pretty sure that I haven't made changes to.
  
  
• I can't quite find the fine line between boredom and hunger, but I can assure you that I don't go hungry.
  
  
• I seem to instinctively understand when my undies and tees require washing, but pants/trousers leave me confused.
  
  
• I can open a tab on my browser to do X, but leave a half hour later not having done it because too many of the other letters of the alphabet grabbed my attention.

Meetups

Meetup 1

For the first time in awhile, we had a little family dinner this week, minus Danica, who is working many hours this summer. Sha and JJ introduced us to a new card game, Phase 10, which they learned on their recent holiday. The one-eyed boy and hairless AC are setting up to play it in the photo.

Meetup 2

Sue and I had a picnic lunch in the park. I guess this can be considered a meeting — for the purpose of this post, at least. This was our first of the summer. We had tried a few days earlier, but the wind was ferocious that day, so we ate in the car. This was a lovely day with gentle breezes and moderate temperatures.

I used Sue's phone to take a fairly wide selfie, so that I could get some of the river in the frame. I held the phone, and Sue clicked from her phone.

I think her phone has a separate wide angle mode that I could have used to shoot
even wider but I forgot about that as I don't have it on my phone.

Life drifted by on the water. Summer camp at the Canoe Club is in full swing.

Sue took a little video. It picked up a bit of a tune from my Celtic playlist.

Meetup 3

I met with the photo boys at, Deadly Grounds. the newest café in town. They certainly pick up on the deadly theme in their décor and food offerings, including skull-shape muffins that I am not going to show here as they were in a reflective display case.

The Three Photographer Amigos

Bob by the casket: we sat there for 2 hours without
realizing that it was a casket.

Nick and AC

A few of the decorations

The Garbage Wagon

Sue’s paternal grandfather was a character with a lot of sayings. He would play cribbage with Sue’s Dad, and expressions aplenty would ensue: Jehoshaphat, Jerusalem etc. They were said with great expression. He might declare, "Next week's tea and sugar," to describe a poor hand. A particular favourite of mine was, “After the Lord Mayor’s Show, comes the garbage wagon.” He would frequently recite this when a poor hand followed a good one.

His use of “garbage wagon” was somewhat euphemistic when you think of the cleanup that would have been necessary after a team of horses had paraded by. The Lord Mayor could put on a fine, ostentatious show, but reality would follow.

I am thinking of Grampa’s old saying this morning (written on Wednesday, to be posted on Thursday) as I reflect of my recent two nights of sleep.

On Monday night, I had a good Lord Mayor sleep — more than 7 hours. That is about as good as it gets in my sorry, restless life. Unfortunately, the garbage wagon followed last night. As I contemplated my sleep time this morning, I calculated that I slept maybe an astounding 3 hours. When I checked with my sleep app she/he/they pretty much concurred but gave me an additional 25 minutes. Gee, thanks.

It was one of those nights when I couldn’t seem to get comfortable. I couldn’t figure out whether I was hot or cold and had a tough time getting to sleep and staying asleep.

After not soaking through for two consecutive nights, I was back to my old ways last night. Sigh. Then, come 2:30 or so, I also experienced some cramps. Wouldn't you know, the cat then decided to hop on the bed. She went by me to get up onto the bureau by the window. I leave a treat there for her there when I go to bed, and she usually comes up for it sometime during the night. When I am deeply asleep (it does happen on occasion) I am not aware of her peregrinations, but of course, I was aware of her presence last night.

She has almost gotten to the point of not bothering me if I am asleep, but I twitched last night (this morning) when she went by, and so she came for a visit. I felt obliged to pet her. She felt obliged to bite me. These are love bites, you understand, and I appreciate them, but she got  extra lovey and actually broke skin — just one little mark from one little tooth.

It was 3:30. Resignedly, I gave up and got up. I published yesterday’s post, played Sudoku and Wordle, read some stuff and then decided to write this up.

It’s now 6:09 Wednesday morning. I am about to head to the shower to wash off last night’s sweat. That may be my last semi useful accomplishment on this garbage wagony sort of day.

==================

Sue's grandfather lived to be 105. We didn't see him for the last decade or so, but I understand that he remained compo mentis until the end.

Shooting Through

You may recall that I recently tried to photograph a daylily through the leaves of our lilac bush. It was only moderately successful — as is this new photo that I tried yesterday.

I don't mind the result, but I wasn't really satisfied either. Then, I thought I should try to get the camera closer to the lilac leaves.

I seemed to be onto something, for getting closer really gave a soft look to the image. But there is much extra stuff (that's the proper technical word) here.

I tried again, and I think this ↓ was the shot. 

It is a pretty nice image, large on my computer: not perfect, but what is?

I shall try to be aware of other opportunities to try this shooting through effect.

How the Americans Saved Wimbledon

How did the Americans save Wimbledon? Did Wimbledon, in fact, need saving? 

It wasn’t exactly like the Yanks stepping in to turn the tide in WWII, but they did make Wimbledon a lot better in the end. However, I wish, like in WWII, they hadn’t waited so long.

You see, for a week and a half, we watched a rather poor feed from Wimbledon. For one thing, there was much background static until point started. When the serve was tossed, the static stopped. As soon as the point was over, it started back up again. I kept asking Sue, “If they can stop the background noise for the actual play, why can’t they keep it off?” Sue was no help.

The video angles were not the best, and the commentary was so-so. Some commentating was good enough, but we saw at least one game with no commentary whatsoever. There were no panel discussions before or after matches, where play was analyzed, or where players were interviewed. I like hearing what the experts have to say about players and matches. It’s part if the experience or should be. It wasn’t, and I was disappointed. 

The experience wasn’t the same, not what I was used to, not what I was expecting.

Then on Wednesday, the Americans were back. That horrid noise was gone, and both the analytics and video were better. Of course, the commercials were back too, but it seemed like a fair price to pay.

We probably had seen some sort of generic feed early on, but when the Americans finally showed up, it was all much better. All of my favourite analysts and commentators were back, and I was able to soak up the experience, just as I had done for many decades.

Like Father like Daughter like Father

What an odd thing it was, with oddly synchronous timing!

We have a credit card that we don't use. Well, hardly ever. Somehow, it accrued a credit of $7 (rounded off, because we don't require the minutia of pennies for this narrative). Every month the cc company has been mailing to me a statement to this effect as the card sits unloved in the cupboard.

I don't keep this card in may wallet, but fully intended to settle this $7 for once and for all. That point came on Friday. I was going out to make a small transaction of $13 (as it turned out). I spotted the card in the cupboard at the last moment, grabbed it, and took it with me. Once the new transaction were to go thorough the books, I would then pay the difference that I would owe, and I would then be done with this card once and for all. Or at least, I would get the balance to 0 and, therefore, would no longer get a month mailing.

As chance would have it, it so happened that the normal monthly invoice was in my mailbox the next morning, Saturday. I opened it to find the standard $7 credit. 

But what was this?! There were four more purchases totalling $120. On a credit card that we don't use!

They were all from Amazon. I double-checked my account, but I do not even have this card listed with Amazon. I only have one card listed there, and it ain't this one.

At one time, Shauna had a copy of this card in case she had to purchase something or other for us. That was back in the days of yore before we could all easily etransfer money as required. She has not  needed to use this card in ages, and she reported to me that she had destroyed her physical copy of the card because her version was expired and no longer valid.

So, if we didn't use it, and she didn't use it . . . uh oh . . .  better call the company.

Meanwhile, my estimable wife noticed that the purchases had been made around Father's Day in June, and  the timing seemed to correspond, but Sue hadn't made those purchases. She had Shauna make them on her behalf. She often does it this way, so I don't get spoilers in my inbox or at the door about what a are meant to become gifts.

Some time ago, we reimbursed Shauna for the amount of what she had purchased for us, and that was that, or should have been.

What the sam hill was going on?

While I was on hold with the card company, I asked Shauna to check her Amazon account and orders, just to be sure. Sure enough, she has mistakenly used my card which was somehow still registered with her Amazon account despite her having cut up her physical copy.

Thank goodness, I was able to hang up the phone before having to explain this mixup to the company.

Look at the synchronicity of this. On Friday, I make a purchase using a card that I never use, just to get the balance cleared up. Then, on the very next day, I open an envelope showing me that the card that I never use had. in point of fact, been used four times in just the preceding month. Also odd was that, somehow, Shauna had used the expired card that she had destroyed to make these various purchases.

This would be something that I might do — use the wrong card and an apparently expired one too. 

I turned to Sue, and later also said to Shauna, that "She is definitely her father's daughter."

As a final point as proof of the last statement, I have more than once made online payments to the wrong company. They were substantial, but I had been able to reclaim them in due course.

So, I guess that I am my daughter's father.

Out and About and Up Too

Although I have made little forays into stores to pick up an item or three, I have resisted grocery shopping for ... I dunno ... maybe two months. But I have missed shopping — sorta.

I joke with Sue about the joy and zen of grocery shopping, but while she very much dislikes the experience, I don't mind it at all. And I certainly prefer shopping in person to ordering online.

I took a photo to commemorate the occasion. It's a panoramic sweep with my phone in the produce department. There was a guy walking through, and I knew it would make an interesting effect.

A separated leg and an elongated head and arm

This brings me to health issues, for it has been several weeks since I whinged* about my predicament. Of course that and the return to the grocery store indicate that I am doing rather okayish.

What I cannot quite get over are the night sweats. But they are better than they were. At the height of the sweats, you may recall that I soaked through four times in one night, which meant changing five times. And Sue had to do one or two extra washings of the sheets for a few weeks.

Well, I am still sweating nightly, but in modified form. For the most part, I am down to once-a-night sweating. On a few nights, I haven't bothered to get up and change my night clothes although I probably should have.

It disturbs my repose to get up and change during the night. Last night, I changed at 2ish and couldn't get back to sleep after fumbling about, trying to get my shirt oriented in the dark. First I had to get it right-side up and then figure out back and front. Try that in the dark when you're only half awake.

Then, I couldn't get back to sleep although I gave it my best shot. However, I was up drinking coffee by 4am, and here I am, almost finishing this past by 5 o'clock.

Last night aside, I had been sleeping somewhat better for almost a week. By that I mean that I have been tending to sleep for 6 hours or so, which is much better than 5 hours or less (fewer? — I think it is debatable — are you there, Grammar Guru Mary?). According to my sleep app, I even made it to 7 hours twice recently. That is about as good as it ever gets in my world and something that won't happen often. Unfortunately.

On this early morning, I have already read about Canadian slang here from dictionary.com. Canada is a big country, so even I don't know all of the words that were listed. However, I do use keener, eavestrough, bachelor apartment, two-four, tuque, rink rat, chinook, and loonie. How are you with those words?

But now it's still very very early, and I think I'll head over to my chair, play Sudoku and Wordle, check blogs, and perhaps read a bit. I have an Elly Griffiths' mystery that I stared last night. But it is not her Ruth Galloway series. I liked that series quite a lot, but I don't know about this, Harbender Kaur, series.

What I won't do is head out with my camera this morning. The day is breaking very nicely with a good sky, but no, I am not that ambitious. I was often keen last summer, but a year can make a difference.

*Speaking of Canadian English, I used the word, whinged, above. My American spellcheck built into my browser (or is it Blogger?) flagged it, but it is a perfectly fine word, meaning to complain persistently and in a peevish or irritating way, as in "Stop whingeing and get on with it!" Mind you, not many Canadians use whinge, but I do watch quite a lot of British telly.

Evening at the Park

Another evening (after the baseball outing) found us in the park by the river, still looking for sports and action photos.

Evening was getting on, but a lone kayaker paddled by. I actually envisioned this panoramic crop before clicking. I wish I had been able to get more of the wake, but I came close to getting the photo that I had wanted.

A little later, a dragon boat went by. It was farther across the river and my shutter speed was slower, so the people are a bit fuzzy if you zoom in. So don't zoom in. :)

We were hearing bagpipe music playing in the distance, so we went to another spot in the park in search of the music. The piper was found . . .

. . . and heard.

Outtakes

At the ball game, the umpire was one of those photo-worthy characters that one comes across.

Looks can be deceiving. He was a most affable fellow.

Sue was also taken with this character.

When we got home, didn't we spy two bunnies across the street. Since my camera was in the car with the long lens attached, I grabbed a couple of pictures. I cropped them very differently in post. Make of that what you will.

While it would have been much better to photograph rabbits in a grassy field, it was a brief and pleasant bonus to an already pleasant evening.

Daddy Plays Ball

Sue had a need for sports photos for her ongoing photographic daily picture project. It happened that the kids' dad was plying ball that night. It was a type of Slo Pitch, and Eric was his team's pitcher. The pitcher throws the ball in a big arc; if it were to hit a big board (much bigger than the traditional home plate) it would be a strike.

He hit the ball and headed to first base.

Eric, subsequently, reached second base and then headed to third. He went on to score.

It was a fun, little outing. Eric did very well for a 50-year-old; Sue got her needed pictures; and, Johnny Boy got some blog fodder.

=======================

Oops, Sue got some photos too. She uses her fancy collage app well. Does anybody recognize the geezer in the last photo?