Happiness and harmony

Watch the attached video for a peek into the beginning of our summer vacation.
WARNING: May not be suitable for younger viewers.

Shooting hoops with the help of a Chihuahua

It's T-ball season!

Spring is sprung; the grass is ris.'

I wonder where second base is.

-- T-ball player's lament

T-ball (for the education of those unfortunate ones who have yet to experience the game) is perhaps the purest form of baseball you can find. Pure ... or raw -- I'm not sure which; there is a fine line between the two. Actually, T-ball is both at once.

The game is pure, and it is simple -- far more simple, even, than what passes for the real thing these days. The players -- who are all of 5 and 6 years old -- hit off of the top of a sturdy "T'' upon which the ball has been placed by a coach, who then dives for cover. Once the ball is hit, the batter runs -- and doesn't stop running -- until the fielding team has successfully returned the ball to the "pitcher,'' who is confined to a circular area lined with chalk so he or she does not wander out of position, say, to the parking lot.

Roses are red;

violets are blue.

When you're out in the field,

don't be looking at your shoe.

In T-ball, bunts can become home runs. Home runs can become bunts. It all depends on the T-ball Gods, who decide quite arbitrarily which players will be paying attention to the game and which ones will be paying attention to the dirt.

And then, sometimes, all the fielders will be paying attention, and no matter where the ball goes, no matter how many furlongs it is from their position, if they have to catch a bus to get to it they will, and all nine of them (sometimes more) will pounce upon the ball at once, clawing at it like a flock of turkey vultures fighting for carrion.

By the time the season is over, they may be able to play the game well, but right now the players are raw, like ground beef. Ninety-five percent lean. Some of them are more like 80 percent lean. No matter what they look like on the outside, each one of them is tender on the inside, and must be handled with kid gloves.

Speaking of gloves, one of a T-ball coach's main duties is to remind his players what the gloves are for, which is not -- as is widely believed -- for placement upon the tops of heads as protection from the sun or falling UFOs, which could in fact be a flying baseball, in which case the player will ditch the glove and run for cover anyway.

Jack be nimble.

Jack be quick.

Jack run over ...

Jack? Where're ya goin'?

Matters of direction and sequence are of prime importance in T-ball, and giving direction to a T-ball player can be like questioning a just-awakened coma patient:

"Do you know where you are?''

"What's that white thing over there?''

"And what's your name again, by the way?''

Levels of consciousness notwithstanding, I never met a T-ball player I didn't like, and though I was never a real big fan of baseball, how I love T-ball. It is baseball the way it -- or any sport -- should be played: for the sheer fun and enjoyment of all involved.

Beyond T-ball, the innocence of it all begins to wear off, and there's nothing you can do about it. Like Thomas Wolfe said, you can't go home again.

Well, in T-ball you can if you want to.

At long last: video of my bike ride to work

Finally, the video of my bike ride to work is ready. It even includes a cameo appearance by Baby, my Chihuahua, who plays herself.

Special thanks to Todd Mizener, director of photography at the Moline Dispatch Publishing Co., for putting it all together for me -- and to Todd Welvaert, one of our editors, who loaned me his Flip camera, which I subsequently broke. Sort of.

Due to my overzealous tightening of the Flip camera to the super-clamp I had put on my handlebars, I could not get the camera off the post when the batteries ran out half way into my ride to work Thursday morning. So I then switched to my digital camera, put it in video mode, and continued to film as I held the camera in one hand and steered the bike with the other.

Then I ran out of storage space -- still a half-mile away from work.

So on Friday, in the rain, I filmed the last half-mile to the office.

Hope you like it.

Day 8: Victory!

Last night I attended the Wrap Up Party for Alternative Transportation Week at the Bier Stube. Many fine people were there, and I even won one of the drawings held for those who completed the entire Car-Free Challenge -- a gift certificate to the used at the Boat House in Davenport.

My two sons met me for dinner afterward, then I pedaled home in a light rain. At 10 p.m., I officially completed my seven-day Car-Free Challenge.

This morning I'm off to help set up an event at my church, and I'm looking forward to taking my wheels -- all two of them. I think I'll go one more day car-free if I can.

More on my thoughts of the past week later, in addition to posting the video of my ride to work -- which still is experiencing some technical difficulties.

Stay tuned.

Day 7: In the home stretch!

It's Day 7 of the week-long Car-Free Challenge, and there's no doubt I will make it through the final day without driving or riding in a car.

If I have to, I'll crawl home tonight -- which may be the case after the Alternative Transportation Week Wrap-Up Party, beginning at 5 p.m. at the Bier Stube in downtown Moline.

Last night I filled out QC TAG's Car-Free Challenge online survey, logging the total miles which, by the end of today, I will have biked (50.8), bused (27.8) and walked (5.4) during the past seven days.

My total car-free miles for the week will come to 84 miles by the end of today ... wait -- make that 86.7. I found another 2.7 miles I forgot to put on the survey.

Oh well, whatever. The distance isn't as important as the journey.

This morning I biked and bused to work (more people definitely ride the bus when it rains) and finished filming my video, which was only partially completed Thursday. Hopefully before the end of the day I will be able to post the masterpiece.

As the week draws to a close, I can honestly say I have not missed driving at all. However, I am pretty exhausted from the biking, figuring out the buses, blogging, photographing, videotaping and dealing with a completely different way of getting from Point A to Point B.

Sometime this weekend I'll post my next and final entry on Alternative Transportation Week -- probably some sort of Top 10 list of the things that stick out most from the past seven days.

Before then, however, it's on to the Bier Stube . . .

Day 6, Part II: Technical difficulties!

So I got part of my morning bike ride today on video, but then the batteries went dead. I had extra batteries, but I had clamped the Flip camera on the post too tightly, and couldn't get it loosened in order to put in new batteries.

I then switched to my hand-held digital camera, put it in video mode and recorded while I rode one-handed.

After awhile I had used up all my memory space, and filming stopped by the time I arrived at the i wireless Center in Moline.

So, this video project will take another day so I can get the portions of the trail I missed today as I ride to work on Friday morning.

Stay tuned.