If you peer closely on the grassy patch behind the fourth rung to the left of the railing of Rachel's porch, a little red cardinal is looking for seeds or bugs, whatever cardinals eat [The cardinal looks brown]. I took this shot last March when we were there. I was in the house. It was very hard to get a photo of this beautiful bird. They are sharp, alert, and quick. I was always the loser. 'Good inspiration for a baseball team. I don't know how big a fan of baseball Rachel is but one of Luke's favorite songs is "Take Me Out To The Ballgame." On the Cook side of the family is a great tradition of baseball. Grandpa was a big fan. He saw so many of the great ones play; Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig (his favorite I think), Joe DiMaggio. In the old days teams would travel around doing exhibition games. One of my happiest memories of my childhood is Dad working out in the yard in the summer with the San Francisco Giants games being broadcast on the radio. I think the announcers were Lon Simmons and Curt Gowdy. I think I remember when Willie Mays did that famous sensational running backwards catch. If any of my siblings are out there reading this please comment and tell us about your memories of Dad and baseball. I feel like crying right now just thinking about it; happy tears!When our kids were growing up they weren't allowed to watch television on school nights but the World Series was an exception. Kelsey and Rachel both played softball one summer each. I was Rachel's team coach. She was a dependable batter and I was the worst coach ever. I was clueless and it was horrible and I learned sometimes you just have to say "no" no matter how desparate they are for coaches. And then there was William's little league team coached by Leanord Bay(A terrific kid's coach.) They won the championship one year. William was fast and graceful and gutsy! My heart would stop when he would steal bases. And what could be cuter than when he would slide into base, forward or backward.
And then there was the year Ben made a "resolution" to not strike out once that season in Little League. As the season wore on it was agony each time he got up to bat. I so badly wanted him to achieve his goal. And by golly he did! Cory played in Little League. His team got the 3rd place trophy one year. I don't remember watching him play much, probably because I wasn't there because I was busy with his siblings. (Poor upper middle child) I do remember the summer before Cory got married he was a fit and strong firefighter for the BLM. I watched him playing in a church ball game and WOW when he hit that ball! Jay's experience in Little League wasn't so fun. He only played one year. But he was a strong, dependable batter and had a good arm. He played center field and could get that ball in fast and accurately. My brother Tom had an awesome baseball card collection that he kept in Velveeta cheese boxes. In 2004 Terry coached Sage's softball team to the championship. Uncle Joe (Grandpa's brother) was offered a contract to play for a minor league team based in Twin Falls, Idaho back in those days; the Twin Falls Cowboys. He lived and still does in Erie, PA. What a small world! His oldest son Joe was the baseball coach for an Oklahoma City high school. Ah, such happy memories!
