Rest stops

Here I am, resting in Friendship, New York, late in the afternoon of our day-long drive. Other rest stops were Knute Rockne rest area, IN; Mentor, OH (birthplace of President James Garfield); and at last, Rico's, our beloved New York style pizaa stand near Elmira, NY.

Happy birthday Brian!

Brian Firling turns 30 on Friday, July 28!

Beginning of Summer!!!!!????

Tomorrow is my last day of summer school (Yessssss!!!). I have been awaiting this day for weeks of suffering through torture in a classroom. It is a six week course with school from 8-12:34, Mon-Fri, with only two days off. We have covered a years worth of material, ranging from the Old Stone Age to the Cold War. I have been forced to endure hour upon hour of homework, while I had to decline invitations to "do stuff" from my friends. Now I get a one week vacation, and after that I have an Honors English reading list to look forward to!!!!!!!!!!!

HooPride finshes 2nd In NAYS Tournament

Do you know what NAYS stands for? It is North American Youth Sports. Clare's Basketball team, (HooPride), was in a NAYS tournament in Mt. Prospect, IL. It was our last tournamet, and we played 5 games and went 4 and 1. We crushed the teams in our first 3 games, asthough one was agaisnt the HooPride 5th grade team. We barley beat the Orange Crush in our next game the semifinal, 16-11. The championship was against a really really good team, that had a very good full court press and were very fast and good at steals and layups, and easily beat us. I played great in all the games, expect in the last game I needed to work harder at taking care of the ball and making better passes, because some were getting stolen. Still, 2nd place is good and we got a medal.
It was a good end to our season, and in all our games from all the tournaments we were in, our overall record was 12 and 5. I am really glad I did Hoopride cause I learn a lot of new playse an improved a lot, played with better players, and met new girls thath woul d be may teamates on the LTSC Select Team.

Final Little Rock report

I've been back a few days now. I was glad to have made the trip. When we said our goodbyes, people were asking if I'd be back next year. I'd be happy to if Dad can manage it. I was impressed by the cohesiveness and strong sense of community in the association, borne of shared experience more than a personal contact. Most men met through the association and see each other once a year. I felt I was among friends from the first day. I met men who were not only war heroes, but accomplished later in life: a protege of W. Clement Stone, a scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a fiber optics researcher who got a patent for Corning.

One of the veterans mentioned an army history of the Battle of the Bulge, which I found here. Look to Chapter V for the story of 99th Infantry Division. Dad was in the 3rd Battalion / 393rd Regiment. I'm almost finished with Infantry Soldier, the book I'm reading. The writer suffered a severe ankle sprain and was evacuated to a series of hospitals behind lines, not too unlike Dad's situation, bad enough to get out but not too bad. Dad said his therapy when his shoulder was healing was to shoot baskets (with a basketball).

More photos on Flickr.

High heat index

I was amused by today's weather report on the radio. It will be 102 today, but it will feel like it's 104. I guess the heat index isn't so high.

Of course, we're mostly in the hotel. Last night was the chorus presentation, I recorded several songs. The leader and organizer is a trumpet player. Clare, I have him playing Battle Hymn of the Republic. I bought a CD. Margaret was quite moved by listening to the wartime music. One of the vets was a school band director. Though the singers were older, the performance had a familiar feel for me (for example, good, but maybe a little too long).

Wednesday night was a river boat ride. Unfortunately, the bus to the boat did not have a lift. Dad was able to make it up several steps. After watching, a couple men carry a woman up ahead of him. And, he made it back as well. We've eased off by skipping bus tours that we've signed up for. Instead, he's taking time for his physical therapy exerices. He wears ankle weights doing the same leg lift exercises that he needed assistance with in December. Margaret worries that he'll have a heart attack doing the exercises and keeps telling him to stop.

The schedule is fairly busy, though it includes long meals waiting for food orders to emerge from hotel restaurant kitchens. Today, we started with a memorial service, where the names of association members who died in the past year are read off. Dad said that 1,500 WWII vets die every day.

I am learning the story of the 99th Infantry Division (See Wikipedia entry), not only from events and presentation but also reading Infantry Soldier, a personal account of the 99th Division by a soldier who later became a journalist. Reading it, I can appreciate why Dad always said that he would never camp because he got enough of that in the war. The infantry was poorly outfitted for the weather conditions. They lived outside for weeks at a time in wet, slushy foxholes and wore thin leather hightops. The author writes of a medic report for a "quiet period" November 12-30, before the Battle of the Bulge, stating that 959 men were evacuated from the division of 14,253; most were from the 3,240 men in rifle platoons. Almost half, 423, suffered from trench foot; 14 percent suffered battlefield casualties, generally mines and booby traps. The 99th battled the weather and the Germans.

Travels with an old soldier

I'm with Dad and Margaret Beth at 99th Infantry Division conference. Travel yesterday was difficult, but Dad was able to manage it, even if a bit grumpily. Yeah, it's annoying that TSA needs to see our IDs, but why grouse at them (probably better not to if your drivers license is expired). We had a near problem when the hotel sent us to a room without disability access, though Dad requested it at time of reservation. Dad was getting nowhere on the phone with the desk, all disability rooms were taken he was told. Our bellman scribble the general manager's name on a notepad. Dad asked for him by name, and though he wasn't available, an available disability room surfaced in short order. Dad a big tipper and is appreciative of all the help he is getting along the way.

We had a leisurely dinner and greeted several friends. We're getting along, and then social contact is good. Strong camraderie, as you would expect.

Great location. Both our rooms overlook the Arkansas River. A short walk away on the riverside path is a Riverfront Market area which is basically a food court with character and local, independent delis, bakeries, and sandwich places. I had an early walk and breakfast there

A few items are missing. Dad couldn't find his reading glasses this morning. Margaret Beth couldn't find her prescriptions; she figures MaryLu forgot to pack them, which I think is highly unlikely. Our schedule is light today. Riverboat ride tonight.

Lots of Hoops!

I'm having a summer full of basketball. I've been doing a spring and summer basketball club. It is called HooPride. I am on the top team, and play the positions shooting guard and point guard. Our team has been very succesfull. In our second tournament, it was at the Bulls and Sox training Acadamy in Lisle, IL. We won all of our games and got to play the championship game at the United Center! Before the game, our team got to go into a locker room, although it wasn't the real one, it was still awesome and we had a pregame talk in a room with comfey chairs and a couch. We ended up winning the championship!

Our next tournament was an overnight one, in South Bend Indiana, at University of Notre Dame. We were there for 2 days and 1 night. We had 5 games and ended up winning 3 and losing 2. When I wasn't playing basketball, I hung out with teamates, watched some world cup soccer and went to this little sports museum thingy. It was my first overnight tournament.

Here are photos. I have our last tournament next weekend, but I will still do 2 more basketball camp. Yeah, a lot of hoops!

Friday night - Let's go to The Galleries!

Craig Hansen, Kari's boyfriend and talented freelance designer, has his artwork in the Caro D'Offay Gallery in Chicago' Wicker Park neighorhood. The closing reception is July 28. Craig had Pabst Blue Ribbon at the opening, along with a selection of exotic French cheeses, wine, and Cheetos. He's a regular guy, and his work is accessible; see it here. We don't typically hit the gallery scene on Friday night. For the kids, it was their first gallery opening. I hope they don't expect to find Cheetos at the others. We asked Kari for recommendations on neighborhood restaurants. We decided against the vegetarian restaurant with good meat substitutes, which didn't get many families, and instead drove up to La Finca, a neighborhood restaurant we enjoyed when living in the city.