It was an ordinary day. Watching the Barnstormers play the Road Warriors with my two sons, Derek and Tad as well as my grandson Caden at Clipper Magazine Stadium. The Woods' boy's day out. The Barnstormers are Lancaster's professional baseball team and they play in the Freedom Division of the Atlantic League. The Atlantic League is divided into the Freedom and the Liberty divisions and each division has 4 teams. The Road Warriors have no home ball park and play all their games on the road. The team is necessary so that there are an even number of teams in each division. The Atlantic League is an independent league, not associated with any major league baseball team. Most all of the players have played in organized ball with quite a few of them making it to the big leagues. Many are in their declining years and just love baseball too much to give it up while others were in the low minor leagues and were cut, but hope by continuing in the independent league, they will get called back to the minors. A few days ago, the shortstop from the Barnstormers was recalled to the minor leagues and Lancaster now has a new shortstop. The manager of the team is Butch Hobson who played third base for the Boston Red Sox and eventually became their manager for three years. Other managers that have been in Lancaster were former second baseman Tommy Herr and outfielder Von Hayes. Lancaster has a beautiful stadium that can hold somewhere between 5,000 and 6,000 fans. Today there are maybe 1,000. Place looks dead! And, today is Cylo's birthday. Cylo is the team mascot and looks much the same as the Phillies Phanatic, only a bright orange-red. Really neat costume and the kids love him. Matter of fact, so do the adults. People line up to have their photo taken with him and to get his autograph. As with the Phanatic, he does not speak. Well, the game started and some very young boy sang the national anthem. Great job! An hour later, as the game was dragging on and getting more boring, the dark clouds rolled in. We were sitting in a sky box. Are you impressed? Tad works for Intelligencer Printing Company and he got free tickets for us for the game. All the popcorn, chips and peanuts as well as sodas, ice tea, lemonade, and beer that you wanted for free. Almost. The beer was gone in about 10 minutes and then you had to buy your own. There were 16 people in the box and it was directly above the third base bag. Great seats. Well, when the rain came we decided that we were done for the day. Game was only in the 5th inning with the Road Warriors ahead by a few runs. We did have a good time and I managed to walk around the park for an inning taking photos, which follow. It was really a big event for the family since it was Caden's first live professional baseball game. And, he's a real fan already. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - photos follow.
Cylo delivering the 1st pitch on his birthday.
View from centerfield of the stadium.
View from behind homeplate of the stadium.
Barnstormer pitcher Cesar Carrillo, former major leaguer, delivering a pitch.
Barnstormer getting a hit.
Dragging the infield between innings.
An encounter in the hall with Cylo.
One of the many things that you can do at the game.
Caden enjoying himself at the game.
Stadium as we ran to the car after the rains came.
ms that the same gentleman has collected the money for the last 10 years. I'm not sure how he got his nickname, but he is called the "Boat Nazi." His left arm is disabled, but doesn't keep him from blowing his whistle and collecting the money. He still pilots the boats to Pinel and barks directions the e
ntire way. "Last boat back is 4:00 PM. Don't be late or you'll have to wait until tomorrow to come back. Don't stand up or try to get off before I have the boat against the dock." Blowing the whistle the whole time!! How he does all this with one arm is amazing. Seems to really enjoy what he is doing. Knows he has the advantage over his passengers, since he controls the ferry! My kind of guy. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - photos from the top are: "The Boat Nazi", collection of the passage fee, boat load heading to Pinel.
net Avenue at 8:00 AM relaxing before my brother Steve and I would have to get dressed for the wedding. Steve was my best man that day. I have written about my wedding before and the fact that I swore it was at 11:00 AM when it really was at 2:00 PM at St. James Episcopal Church in downtown Lancaster, PA. Hey, I may have forgotten the time, but I have never forgotten the date! Bought my card a few weeks ago to give to my lovely wife of 44 years and even picked up a double jar of peanuts at Costco for her. Pretty neat gift, huh? We did som
e jewelry shopping during our recent visit to St. Martin for our anniversary, so the peanuts will have to fill the bill for today. Every Sunday in the Lancaster Sunday News they feature a section which lists engagements and anniversaries. Fun to see who has been married for 50 years. Used to be you had to have been married for 50 years to get your article and photo in, but with the recession, they will take any amount of years as long as you got the money to pay for it. Every now and then someone will announce their 5th or maybe 10th anniversary. Hey, that's not a milestone! Now 50, 60, 70, etc., they are milestones. When Carol and I celebrated our 25th, our kids gave us a party which wa
s really neat, but we wouldn't have thought to put it in the paper. Not 50, yet!! In six more years we will do that. And those years will come and go quickly. We need to search for a photo for the paper that makes us look really young!! Happy Anniversary, dear. Wow, how old are we?? Don't even want to think about it. Besides, we're only as old as we think we are, and I feel young today. Love, LDub. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - pixs from the top are: the bride before the wedding, getting coated with punchings from a computer machine, and waiting to leave the church to visit Carol's sick Grandmother at the hospital. Check out the Buddy Holly look-a-like glasses.
k and herbs. Taste is supposed to be quite similar to port wine and the color is a deep red. Rumored to be an aphrodisiac or the Dominican version on Viagra. It is also used for its medicinal value, especially as a flu remedy, digestion and circulation aid, blood cleanser, kidney and liver tonic, and to treat prostate and ovarian disorders. The bottle that I was holding DID NOT have the FDA label on it! The name, mamajuana, comes from the English word Demijohn, which refers to a large squat bottle with a short narrow neck, usually covered in wicker. Since the name refers
to the container that holds the brew, rather than the brew itself, the recipe for the mamajuana varies from one maker to the next. Some brewers add, in addition to the rum, red wine, honey, tree bark and herbs, things such as cinnamon, raisins, molasses, and lemon or lime juice. The result is generally 40% proof or 20% alcohol. Well, the time has come for us to sample the concoction. Got out our decorated shot glasses and poured a small sample into each glass. You see, I was making Jerry and Just Sue drink a sample with us. OK, down the hatch. Wow! Pretty smooth. Tasted like cedar! It certainly was a deep red color. I waited and waited to see what it would do to me, but all it did was make me sleepy. The next morning I felt some of the results. Cleaned out the digestive tract pretty good! Not sure when I'll have more, but if you're in the neighborhood and want a taste, knock on the door. It was another extraordinary day in the life an ordinary guy.
ing the terrorist attacks on 
C and reading our favorite novel. I doubt if we were in the 3%. Looked to the heavens a few times during the day and at one point saw a few nasty clouds, but zero everything else. Seems that the day was an invisible judgement day. No earthquakes, storms, plagues, or even another day of rain during our vacation. Harold should have been with us for the whole vacation and maybe we would have had better weather. OK, now he tells us that May 21 was only a t
rial run for THE REAL THING. That's going to happen on October 21! Gives us a few more months to prepare for it again. Should I live it up until October 21 or should I be praying harder each day? Oh, the choices! Then I checked my calendar and low and behold, I'll be on another beach on October 21. Probably Bottom Bay beach or Crane Beach in Barbados. I hope Barbados is excluded from his prediction, but just in case, I'll be watching the skies again as I sit on my chair, under my umbrella reading my book. Oh yeah, with a drink in my hand. Hope it won't be a "Dust in the Wind" ending! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
Marine Park, which means that jet skis and fishing are prohibited. Moorings that are placed by boat owners are done so with the OK of the Reserve Naturelle so as to help limit damage to plant beds. Ashore you can walk along the botany path, sit on the spit of salty land that protrudes from the north-west side, shop in the Boutique, walk to the deserted other side, or snorkel the trail that has been established. Since 2002 Carol and I have been taking a day trip every year to Pinel because of the calm, beautiful water and the pure white sand. There are three concessions on the sandy side which are Yellow Beach, Up on the Key, and Karibuni. All c
harge for two chairs and an umbrella, with Up on the Key giving two free drinks with their deal. Guess which one we head to when we exit the ferry. We have snorkeled the trail and enjoyed the beach, but we have also, every year, climbed to the top of the island and taken a photo of the sandy beach where we always sit. A
nd, we're worried!! The first digital photo I have is from 2004 and when I compare it to the photo we took on our recent journey in 2011, it seems that the island is disappearing. The sand is being moved from the beach and spread out into the waters around the beach. You can walk at least 50 yards or more from the 
sand into the water and it will only be up to your waist. Hate to see the beach disappear. I'm sure the concessions do also. Maybe some day the tides will change and will bring some of the sand back to the salty piece of land. It 
was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - photos from the top are: Pinel beach as you are arriving from French Cul-de-Sac via ferry, the "King of Pinel" who runs the Boutique, back side of the island which is usually deserted or use as a nude beach, beach photo from 2004, beach photo from 2007, and beach photo from 2011.
