Sofia

Unfortunately for us, Sofia has gone home to Spain.

For those of you who did not get the opportunity to meet her, Sofia was a Spanish exchange student here to learn English. She was with us for less than a month, but she made a very large impression on all of us. We are a better family for her having stayed in our home.

Little did we know when she arrived late last month, that we would learn to care so much about this young Spaniard. I guess we figured that she'd be going to English class so much during the day that we'd never have much time to get to know her.

But as the month progressed, we noticed that she was in class a lot less than we'd bargained for. And we're all grateful for that fact. As you can see from the photos, we were able to go to New York City and to Washington, DC with her. She also went to a lot of Jacob's baseball games and Hannah's dance practices.

But it was more the times when we were just sitting around the house or doing something close to home, as a family, in which we really got to know and love her.

Her infectious laugh, her easy way with the kids, her effusive thankfulness for anything anyone did for her. It was easy to like her. Now it's much harder to love her, because she's not with us.

One day, maybe, she'll be able to come back. I think I speak for everyone in my family when I say, that day can't come soon enough.

Sending up Shoots - Part III

Walking briskly through the turnstiles at the Central Park North station, John gripped the satchel tightly and glanced quickly from side to side, expecting him to emerge suddenly from the inky shadows like an evil specter. He tapped his Red Wing postman shoes nervously as he thought about the past year and what it would mean if his secret were let loose on the wind. It was the worst episode in his life and he wanted to keep it that way. Dealing with Tony would be child's play compared to the pain it would cause his friends and family if his unimaginable secret got out. Pushing past the other weary travelers on the platform, John looked down the tunnel toward the oncoming light. The rumble of the train moved from the platform and entered his feet , moving rapidly from cell to cell until his whole body shook. The squeaky brakes yelled in his ears as a fat, hairy index finger tapped him on the shoulder. Wheeling quickly, John caught the savage eyes he'd now despised for nearly a year. They were a disgusting shade of green, almost like something you'd find in the subway restroom. Every time John saw them he felt like he'd taken a bath in sewage. "Nithe to thee you again, Johnny-caketh," said Tony in his awful mixture of lisp and South Bronx accent. The sound of it made John's stomach turn. Tony grabbed John by the arm of his coat and pulled him behind the others in the station. "You got the money?" he said. Without saying a word nor looking his blackmailer in his horribly deformed face, John opened the satchel and showed him the cash. The requisite $5000 lay therein, and it brought a toothy grin to the villainous thug's lips. "That'th a good boy, Johnny," he said, reaching for the bag. "Thame time nextht month?" John looked deeply into the eyes he'd so easily learned to despise. Narrowing his own eyes to try and block out some of the rest of the hideous face, John handed the satchel to Tony. "How can you do this?" he asked with the proper amount of disdain in his voice. "How can you do this evil thing to me every stinking month?" Tony laughed. Spittle hit John's face as Tony folded the satchel under his arm and put his nose at the tip of John's. "How could you do what you did, Johnny?" he whispered eerily. "From what I remember, you thaid it made you the thcum of the earth, didn't you? Seemth like what you did ith way worth than taking a few buckth from you every month. Wouldn't you agree, Johnny?" Looking at the shoes he'd so carefully shined that morning, John turned and walked toward the exit, Tony's harsh laugh echoing in his ears. Tears started to form in his eyes and he let loose the biggest sigh of his life. "When will this ever end?" he thought. "Thee you in a month, Johnny-boy!!" yelled Tony. "Ba ha ha ha!!" ------ Coming soon - Part IV

Gainesville National League All-Stars Greatest Hits

The Gainesville National League All-Stars (11/12) finished third in the Virginia District 10 in 2011, beating a good Coles team (3-2), Annandale/North Springfield National (13-0) and SYA West (16-13). As coaches, we are VERY proud of each of the boys. The following shots were taken during the Coles game and the Chantilly American game. Congratulations boys!!

Gainesville National League All-Stars - Part II

Pictures from the game against Chantilly American, 07/14/11

Sending up Shoots - Part II

Elizabeth dipped her clenched fist into the warm seawater and opened it slowly. She was not disappointed when the water before her became a roiling morass of orange, black, purple and yellow. It had happened the same way hundreds of times. Fighting each other for a share, Mamo, Kikakapu and countless other smaller fish jabbed and parried at the tiny niblets of fish food that laid in her palm. It was a really tourist-y thing to do, she thought, but she enjoyed it as much now as she had her first time there.

Elizabeth had been to Hanauma Bay a hundred times since her dad was transferred to Pearl Harbor in 1977. She was only five when he was promoted to captain and assigned duty on the USS Columbia. To ease the pain of leaving some of her kindergarten friends in San Diego, he'd bought her a Bugs Bunny diving mask and a matching snorkel on their first day on Oahu. She still had them in a box, stuffed in the attic. Numerous other pairs had found their way into her possession in the 25 years since, including the one she wore on top of her head.

“Excuse me.”

Elizabeth continued feeding the fish, acknowledging the voice with an almost imperceptible "Mmm hmm". It was another fat, sunburned tourist, no doubt, asking again one of the vapid questions she'd heard a million times before.

“Hi. Um, I have been watching you feed the fish," said the voice, "and was wondering if you could tell me where I can buy some of that food. It looks like fun.”

"I knew it," she said to herself, though barely silently. Closing her eyes to keep her frustration bottled inside, and shaking her hand to clear away the rest of the kernels, Elizabeth stood erect and wheeled toward the voice.

"Listen," she said impatiently as she turned. Taking in a large breath, she was ready to unleash it on the unsuspecting intruder. "I...I...I..."

Stammering in front of him, seawater just covering her knees, she wriggled her toes an inch deeper into the sand. He was the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen. His gray eyes shot shivers through her skin. The proverbial Hawaiian shirt he wore barely concealed a muscular, tanned frame that had been fine tuned in a garage gym. Playful dimples danced on his cheeks.

“I..I..I’m sorry?” she muttered, trying to buy herself some time to recover.

“The fish food. I’d like to buy some. Can you show me where to get it?”

Looking into her now empty hand, she laughed nervously and pointed to the kiosk on the edge of the beach. “Over there,” she spluttered. “Over there. It’ll cost you 50 cents.”

“Thanks,” he said, turning slowly and gracefully as he smiled and winked.

Elizabeth watched him intently for a few seconds before she found herself instinctively walking after him. She felt drawn like the needle on a compass. It was an attraction that reached to her most central fiber.

“Excuse me?” she called.

Stopping, he turned quickly towards her.

She looked quickly at the white, sandy beach. Instantly she was 12 again, asking Heath Gilbert if he'd like to go to the 6th grade dance. “Ask!” her brain shrieked at her. “Ask!!”

Furrowing her brow, she gripped her courage with all her might and said, “Would you like to feed the fish with me?”

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Coming soon - Part III

Sending up Shoots - Part I

"That's not a real word!" she exclaimed, setting her Diet Pepsi back down on the table with a sudden plop. "Crapulous? Come on! There's no way that's a real word."

John smiled. "You going to challenge it?" he asked. "I'm warning you, though. I just got that word on my word calendar a couple of days ago. Trust me," he added, with a villainous gleam in his eye.

Yea, trust you, she thought. She loved John more than life, even waiting anxiously for him to pop the question, but trust him? In a game? "I don't think so," she said.

Sliding the Webster's toward her, he watched as she flipped the cover open and thumb quickly toward the C's. "Are you sure?" he said, baiting her. "You'll be sorry!"

The sound of his patronizing tone grated her nerves like 40-grit sandpaper. She hated it more than anything she could think of, but it was worse during competition. John had this air of superiority slathered all over his 6 foot 1 inch frame and it never ceased to make her feel like she was trying to catch a greased pig.

"Crap!" she said as finger fell upon the word. She could feel her one remaining nerve twitch. "It's no fun playing Scrabble with you," she whined.

"Why? Because I'm so devastatingly handsome?" he asked, smacking his hands together and leaning over for a kiss.

She peered at him through slatted eyes and paused ever so briefly before leaning over to reciprocate. "No," she muttered. "It's because you're so smug."

Though nearly imperceptible, John noticed the slight hesitation and it pierced him like an ancient sword. She wasn't the first to slight him in such a manner, but that whole series of unfortunate events had taken years to be excised from his heart. Now he felt the pain again like an aching fire.

He had searched his soul on countless occasions, hunting for the right words to tell her about his past. He'd wanted to confess the foul deed to her a thousand times, but the courage always seeped away before he could get the secret out.

"What is it, John?" she'd ask him quietly in some of their most intimate moments. It was like she was looking through him with a magnifying glass, examining every dark corner of his existence. She always had that way about her. Though never intrusive, she could get to the real subject of the matter with amazing alacrity.

"It's nothing," he found himself muttering on more than one occasion. "Really, it's nothing. I'm fine."

Tonight, peering anxiously for rescue out the back window of his studio apartment, John could see the Empire State Building glowing like a lighthouse warning lost souls on a foggy evening. She cuddled up next to him, letting her hand rest on his and accidentally spilling half of the Scrabble tiles on the floor.

"It's beautiful tonight, isn't it?" she said, looking toward the radiant monolith.

John sighed. "It's always beautiful," he replied, looking deeply into her soft blue eyes. "Always."


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Coming soon - Part II

Gainesville National League All-Stars

Pictures from the game at Coles, won 3-2 by Gainesville.