Another Delaware Experience

Saturday Bill and I went with friends to the 53rd Annual Blue-Gold All-Star Game in Newark at Delaware Stadium. We left at 3:00 p.m. and returned home about 1:00 a.m. (These old bones are not often awake at that hour these days.) My friend Robin was born and raised in Delaware but has never attended the game. She said that we are truly fitting in because the game has always been a big activity in the State. The game itself is the culmination of months of activities involving high school all-stars and "Delawareans with intellectual disabilities." The all-stars are matched with "buddies" several months in advance of the game and they then spend that time getting to know one another.

To tell you just how big this activity is you can see with the above photo the Governor of Delaware, Ruth Ann Minner being introduced. She is followed by Lt. Governor John Carney, U.S. Senator Tom Carper and U.S. Representative Mike Castle. I am sure that U.S. Senator Joe Biden would have been there if he had not been appearing Sunday morning on Meet the Press. There were other dignitaries but with all of the introductions and festivities it was hard to keep track.

All-Star Band

Delaware Shining Stars and All-Stars, Special Needs Cheerleaders

All-Stars and "Buddies" Meeting at Center Field

In addition to the All-Star football players, there were All-Star cheerleaders, an All-Star band, Blue-Gold Ambassadors and, of course, the buddies and their All-Star groups. All of the All-Star seniors were recognized. The most inspiring moments came following all of the introductions and presentations. That was when all of the buddies came onto to field and joined their "All-Star."

The game was excellent. The half-time was good. The weather was almost perfect. It was all topped off with fireworks.

Out With the Old

The weekend came and the poor maple had to be removed. We got a new maple to replace it but it seems so small compared to the four year old one that was victim to the storms. Taking the old storm damaged tree out was a much harder task than we had imagined. Perhaps it is because we were looking through rose colored glasses or maybe because we imagine ourselves to be much younger than we are. So the story begins on Friday evening when we went out to select a replacement. Well, we got it home and watered thoroughly for Bill to put it in the ground on Saturday. After spending several hours Saturday morning and early afternoon the stump was still firmly in the ground. It would now have to wait until Sunday because we were off the Delaware Blue-Gold game in Newark (more in a later post).

Sunday morning arrives and Bill is out trying to dislodge the stump. It does not help that we rid ourselves of many essential tools when we made the move across the country. As his labors were not producing much, we decided that we should soak the area. Duh!! We should have done that on Saturday. The stump started to yield and after hours of work there was a gaping hole that had to be filled in some before the new tree could be set.

The mission was accomplished. Now let's hope that lawn recovers and the new tree grows tall and strong.

Not Much Happening Here

Life here has been pretty quiet the past few weeks. It has been as many say, LSD (Lower, Slower Delaware). Sunday was Father's Day and Erica came over on Saturday so she could fix her dad a special breakfast. Of course, Bill really took it all in and gushed about the pancakes which were from a recipe she got while on vacation earlier this year in the California Wine Country. Another highlight of the morning was when we saw a young beaver scamper, or whatever beaver do, across the backyard and into the adjoining field. That was a first!

We have experienced a few severe thunderstorms recently. This poor maple in the front yard was the victim of a wind shear about ten days ago. We thought we might be able to save it but then on Monday a similar gust caught it. We will probably take it out and replace it this weekend.

I had reason to be out and about yesterday and got a couple of pictures of the progress of some of the local crops. Here is the same grain field as in the last post but one week later. I love how the color changes.

This photo is of the same corn field as in the last post. It is amazing to me how fast the corn grows once it takes root.

From Pleasant to Stifling

Weather is always a favorite topic of conversation. It has been a favorite of mine in this blog. In the past few weeks I have posted that we have had some glorious days and that temperatures have been cool. Well, that was then and this is now. IT HOT! IT IS HUMID! IT IS HOT AND HUMID!! AND, THE A/C IS NOT WORKING PROPERLY. Ok, said that. It has been very uncomfortable for the past four days. We have been in major heat advisories. I secretly wished this morning to be on Snoqualmie Pass where it was snowing.

A couple of projects have kept me busy the past week. They are finished now and it is time to move onto others. One of my favorite things to do here is to drive around the countryside and take pictures of the crops. I did a lot of that last year and so far this year with the price of gas I have not ventured out as much. But, I did manage to capture some grain (one corn) shots while on a couple errand trips.

This picture, taken yesterday, shows a ripening crop. I was particularly drawn to this field because of the differences in the colors of the field. You can almost tell by the haze that it was a very hot morning (9:10 a.m.). It is good to know that the field stood well against a very strong storm that passed through last week.

This is a different angle on the same field but taken six days earlier. The grain was just starting to show signs of ripening and had stood up well to some drenching rains.

The corn is coming right along. This picture was taken last week. The corn is quite a bit higher and quite a bit fuller this week.

Anniversary

In my last post I mentioned Gary and Kathleen's upcoming 40^th anniversary. My sister Carol and her husband Tim are also celebrating their 40^th this week. In fact their anniversary was Sunday. 1968 was, as has been stated in the news, both printed and televised, a landmark year for tragedy and accomplishment. It was the probably the defining year of a generation. It is, I believe, an accomplishment extraordinaire to have a successful marriage emerge from those turbulent times.

So, this rather short post is to simply congratulate them on 40 years together and to wish them all of the best for a continued happy life together.

We love them all.