THE NEW BUSCH STADIUM

DOWN TO THE BALLPARK WE WENT THIS PAST FRIDAY.....GENERAL IMPRESSION:

Hard to say. Still not too impressed with the place. Too hodgepodge lodge for me. Of course, it was only one visit and I should give it another chance. Guess I thought the old place had an architectural beauty that I haven't seen yet in the new one. And, I am a bit put off, as the British would say, by all the advertising, party porches, beer gardens, scoreboard shenanigans, text messaging schtick, batting cages, restaurants, etc. etc. that are great revenue generators but....hey, look,those men in funny pants are playing some sort of game down on the lawn. So that's why we came to this joint.
For a more detailed treatise on this crabfest, I'll post something soon.

...AND THE BEAT GOES ON....

Welllllll Batman......(Remember when the announcer would come on and say that on the TV series?)....
We spent another set of quality hours in the good ole ER last week....All Sunday afternoon and then most of Monday...the lovely spouse was in again with debilitating back pain, right side lower....we thought it was kidney stones again...but alas, it never was, as a meticulous ER doc did a test that showed that she had a FREAKIN' MESSED UP GALL BLADDER, STONES INCLUDED!
So finally we get to the bottom of the story...and after laproscopic surgery, bye bye gall bladder and good riddance to ye. May ye rot in hell for the pain you gave my darlin'.
Patient is doing well, and glad to be rid of the nearly useless organ. She sure can go to great lengths to get a few weeks off of work.
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IT'S A GIFT WE TAKE FOR GRANTED

Dang, isn't it always like this? Why does it take a tragedy to knock us in the head, to make us realize the gift we have everyday we wake up and we have indeed woken up....again?
This week, a young teenager was found after weeks of being missing. He had probably had too much to drink, drove his car into a lake, and died. Tragic, accidental death. Then, the other day a misguided, messed up man took 4 lives, and then his own, over a wage garnishment, of all things. Sure it was probably a lot more than that, but his rage hit our area like a hammer on the head.
And yesterday the dad of one of our youngests best friends died suddenly, while exercising.
A great dad and husband, generous folks, a kid with a promising future....no longer.
Senseless, tragic, seemingly unexplainable losses, sure to have repercussions and reverberations across families, genders, races.....
Why?
No answers here. Just sadness, pain, disillusionment.
But a wake up call?
You bet.
Thanks, Lord for the use of another day.
Hope I did it justice.

MORE ODDS THAN ENDS

Lost the pool at work in the NCAA tourney....the boys from LA let me down. Oh well, like the Cubs fans always say...wait til next year.
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This is Holy Week, and the thoughts of perseverance and endurance come to mind.
Jesus had to persevere through what must have been the hardest week in his short life. He knew in the triumph of Palm Sunday that he would be dead before the week was out, and not in an easy way, but in the most ignominious manner known to that society. A few years ago, we read Jim Bishop's " The Day Christ Died." It tells the very real horror of crucifixion.
But Jesus endured for us, for our evil ways, for our weakness.....He showed perseverance, through the last day of his remarkable life.
Can I show even a tiny piece of that in times of my troubles, whatever or whenever they come to me?
Every day when I roll out of bed, I have been asking the Holy Spirit for the courage to be who I must be through the new day.
Jesus said "I will be with you always".....and I gotta take Him up on that promise.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.......in the name of the Trinity, let me live my life.