November's gone...

Boy, it's been a while since the last time I posted something.  November came and went without so much as a "How you doin'?"  Well, I'm here to get you caught up a bit...

The month started out just great.  November is my birthday month and I was able to celebrate another trip around the sun.  I had a nice home-cooked dinner with Mary and Craig and did a Zoom call with Bobby, Lindsay and the grandkids.  I got a lot of nice birthday wishes from family and friends, too.  

After getting over that excitement, Mary and I headed down to Florida for a week.  For those of you who don't know, I have been playing baseball for the past 20 years or so.  Real baseball.  Hardball.  The National Pastime. 

My team - the DuPage Lugnuts - heads to Fort Myers every November to play in the Roy Hobbs World Series.  I don't get down there for the tournament every year, but now that I'm retired I've been trying to make it a more regular thing.   The tournament is for amateur baseball players and it's remarkable how many of us are still out there playing a game we learned as kids.  The tournament has seven divisions grouped by age, starting with the 35 and older teams ("The Veterans") and ending with "The Forever Young" gents at 75 years and older.  My team was entered in the 60 and older division ("The Classics") and it was a 49 team field.  That's a lot of old guys playing ball.  

We had a great time.  My team did ok - we lost in the quarterfinals - and I had a decent week after not playing for the past two years (I missed last year's tourney because of Covid).  The best part was seeing my old teammates again.  They're a great group of guys and terrific ball players, and it's always fun to get together with them to play ball, drink beer and tell stories.  As I've said to others, I'm 62 and still out there shagging flies, swinging the bat and running the bases.  Even when we lose, I win.

Catching a fly ball in right field...

Not a bad swing...

One of my at bats...

Sliding into home to score a run...

Mary and I got home from Florida, spent a week at the cabin, then made the long drive to the Chicago area to spend Thanksgiving with Bobby, Lindsay and the grandkids.  Our son Craig made the drive with us; having the third driver made it an easier trip and we were glad to have the entire family together for the holiday.  Here's the family photo (from left Craig, me, Mary, Cale, Lincoln, Emery, Lindsay and Bobby):

It wouldn't be a real post without a wildlife video, so I'll end with this 90 second look at our friend Handsome.  He was here a couple of times in October, but didn't make an appearance in November.  It's been pretty mild so far this fall, so I'm sure he hasn't settled in somewhere for his winter nap just yet.  I'm hoping to catch another glimpse before the cold and snow settles in out here; if not, we'll have a long wait to see if he returns in the spring. 

​Enjoy...