DADS!

Happy Father's Day

 to 

ALL the Dads Out There!

It will be thirteen years ago this coming Thanksgiving since my Dad passed away, but I often think of him. (It's said that no one is truly gone as long as they are remembered...) He's come to mind especially poignantly a couple of times this year when we've been traveling. 

The first was when we were in Louisville and went to the factory where they make Louisville Sluggers. My very earliest memories are of being at baseball games, often playing under the bleachers with my Sister Sherry. Dad always played baseball when we were kids. He played for local town teams, both the Marcellus Grangers and later the Ritzville Ramblers. He played baseball after he was drafted into the Army in World War II (because he was married with two children, he was drafted late in the war) when he was stationed in Oklahoma at Fort Sill. The get-to-gathers after the baseball games were always special -- there was always big tubs filled with ice, one held beer and the other bottles of pop. It was the only time we ever got to have pop and it was a BIG decision to decide whether to have orange or cherry or maybe grape?

Dad was a catcher and I remember him often squatting in that catcher's stance when he was talking or waiting. (My first sight of him when our train arrived in Oklahoma to visit was of him squatting on the platform.) He had an ornery teasing grin that crinkled his blue eyes -- it is such a delight to see it show up in his grandsons and great-grands. He also had "the look." I don't know if it was the era and the way kids were expected to behave, but he didn't have to say anything -- he just looked at you and you knew you'd better stop whatever it was -- right now! The thing is, it worked on my kids too. I sure wished I could do it!

Dad came to mind again when we were at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. I would have loved to chat with him about some of the people honored and the exhibits we saw. He was always pretty out-spoken and it would have been fun to hear his stories about some of that history.

When he became too old to play, Dad became an umpire. He not only umpired baseball, he refereed basketball and football. He must have been a good referee, as he was invited to referee at the State Basketball Tournaments several times. (Of course, as a teenager, I cringed in the stands when I heard some of the catcalls directed at him...) Growing up, our house ALWAYS smelled like the analgesic balm he used on his sore muscles.

Our granddaughter Havela wrote a major paper for her AP class this spring about our Scots-Irish ancestry and the leadership qualities that were passed down from those hardy ancestors who arrived in America in colonial times. Dad exemplified that. He was a Volunteer Fireman, a 4-H Leader, and Chairman of the School Board (he presented me with my high school diploma). After he retired he was appointed to the State Fair Commission and he and Mom spent many happy days traveling throughout the state visiting and inspecting fairs.

Hmm, this started out to just be a very short paragraph remembering my Dad this Father's Day. I realize that I could just keep remembering and writing about him. I may not be able to physically give him a hug today or call him on the telephone, but in my heart, I can still say, "Thank you for being my Dad! I love you!"

Baseball and Horses -- TWO of My Favorite Things!

We couldn't be in Louisville, Kentucky, without going to visit the factory that makes baseball bats -- the Louisville Slugger!  The factory -- and museum -- is right downtown on Main Street, not too far from the Ohio River.

It's easy to spot -- all you have to do is look for this gigantic baseball bat! It's actually made of steel and stands 120 feet high (see how small Forry is beside it?).

 Unfortunately, they don't allow you to take pictures during the tour of the factory.  I took this one from a mannequin display of the original factory (which began as a factory for making butter churns).

The bats are made out of either ash or maple, grown in upstate New York or northeast Pennsylvania.  Today they were making the bats for Game 7 of the World Series  (just in case it goes to that many games!). Everyone on the factory tour was given a miniature baseball bat as a souvenir!

In the corner of the building is a neat store where you can buy an actual personalized Louisville Slugger bat just like the ones the big leaguers use. I decided to buy a personalized bat with the Seattle Mariners logo on it.  We went to see a short movie, The Heart of the Game, during the twenty minutes it took them to personalize the bat.  When I took the bat out of the box to show Forry, I realized they had made it with a Florida Marlins logo instead of the Mariners!   I took it back to the counter and they realized it was their error and offered to redo it while I waited.  BUT, they couldn't find any more Mariners bats made up! The young clerk said they had had a couple of big tours of Westerners during the last week.

Then they offered to ship it once the factory produced more Mariner logo bats, said it would be within a couple of weeks.  Well, what to do?  I agreed, darn, I wanted that bat!

Then while I was re-filling out the order sheet with a mailing address, the guy asked me if there were any of the bats hanging on the wall that I particularly liked (It was a display that had all of the different lacquer colors of the bats, but without the team logos.).  I thought he was just making small talk, but when I said I thought the two-toned reddish ones were really neat, he took it down from the wall and proceeded to personalize it for me! He not only gave me that one, but also the one messed up with the Marlins logo (said they would just scrap it if I didn't want it...)!  So when the Mariners one gets shipped, I will end up with THREE big league bats! Talk about great customer service!!!

Next we headed to Churchill Downs.  It is just off of I-65, on our way back to the KOA --

This bronze statue of the thoroughbred Barbaro is just outside the grounds.  (Barbaro was the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner who broke his leg while running the Preakness and fought a valiant battle for survival until he was finally euthanized in 2007.) The way it is mounted, it shows him with all four feet off the ground as he runs --

The Kentucky Derby Museum is located just to the left of the track entryway --

Part of the museum had some actual full-size starting gates.  Forry couldn't resist trying them out --

The year and name of every winner of the Kentucky Derby since the first race in 1875 are posted along the buildings in white. A very few are in gold.  This is the first of the gold ones, the very first horse to win the Triple Crown, Sir Barton --

A statue of Aristides, the winner of the 1875 race guards the entrance to the paddock area --

Our General Admission to the Museum included viewing the film, The Greatest Race, which is shown in 360 degrees around you in the Great Hall.  You sit on stools and keeping turning yourself around to see what's going on around you.  The film includes black and white footage from the very earliest races up to the colorful movies of the present day.  Our admission also included a 30 minute guided Historic Walking Tour, which actually took us down to the mile-long oval track.  It's very sandy feeling with small amounts of clay loam. There are approximately 700 horses in the area barns that work out on the track on a regular basis all year-around.

This is the Winner's Circle where the blanket of roses is draped over the winning horse -- but only the winner of the Kentucky Derby (Other races have another area closer to the grandstand.). The grassy area is the infield where thousands gather to party during the race ($40 admission ticket).

This is looking back up at the famous grandstand with its historic twin towers. Chairs in the bottom "boxes" are plain old metal folding chairs.  The seats in "Millionaires Row" are up in the sixth floor on the far sides of the grandstand ($20,000 ticket with a minimum purchase of three years worth).

The Fall racing season starts next month with the Breeder's Cup.  The writing along the balconies is advertising the sponsor, Emirates Airlines.

We drove back to Sheperdsville to an excellent -- but hole-in-the-wall -- Mexican restaurant we found on Urban Spoon, an iPhone app recommended to me by my friend Leslie.  We had their steak frijoles plate for two.  We both worked on it, but still had enough left to bring home for lunch tomorrow.