We're still alive, and the Little League World Series

OK, I know it's been forever since I posted on here, so I'm going to ease back into this...

I was trying to wait until we had everything sorted out and we could let everyone know where we were settling, what kind of jobs we had, where school was going to be, etc... but little by little the weeks passed (and turned into months) while we were getting everything all figured out. Our plans are still not completely settled, but things are getting there, so here's the update:

We're settling in the Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania area, which is a decent-sized college town in a fairly rural part of the east-central part of the state, located just off of I-80. We'll be located between both of our parents' homes and within reasonable driving distance of the rest of our immediate families. I'll do another blog soon extolling the virtues of Bloomsburg and the surrounding area. Both of us have some solid job prospects, but I'll refrain from elaborating on that until things are more definite. I'll eventually be attending Bloomsburg University, which is part of the state system, and which has a solid education department. Finally, we are becoming more focused in our housing search, and will have more on that down the road as well. For now, we have a new permanent mailing address of PO Box 703, Bloomsburg, PA 17815, for those who wish to update their lists.

Now that I've let you all know that we're still alive, I'll wrap up this time with some photos from the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA, which is about an hour from us. To those who enjoy watching this tournament on TV, it really is even more impressive in person:


The day we went, we saw Mexico beat Chinese-Taipei, and the Southwest team of San Antonio beat the West team from Chula Vista. As it happens, both of those games will be replayed with the same teams in the International and US championship games on Saturday.




Orel and Brent were doing the ESPN commentary for the West-Southwest game:


Big crowds. The estimated attendance at the West-Southwest game was 22,250.


You'll notice all the chairs on the hill have had their back legs cut off so they sit level on the slope. These are known as "Williamsport chairs."


Anyone who's seen these games knows about the sliding hill, which is usually busiest during rain delays, though this year's been a bit short on the lawn lubricant, AKA H2O. Which is interesting, considering all the rain we've had this summer. Ironically, the first significant rain of the tournament is here today (Friday, which was the designated as the make-up day for any rain outs).


Gravity alone not good enough for you?


OK, so there's no IQ test prior to admission to the hill:


This was Mexico's first home run of the game, and it went about 300 feet...


The LLWS mascot "Dugout" had a good time with everyone on the field...


Although I think the officials were having a little TOO much fun:



ESPN cameras are kid magnets:


Some of these kids are pretty good (Ok ALL these kids are good):


...and he made the catch...




Until next time... (which I promise will not be months)

More on Whoopers

As promised, here's a little whooping crane trivia to go with a few more photos:

At this point, there is estimated to be about 350 whooping cranes in the wild, with the vast majority on the Gulf Coast of Texas, just north of Corpus Cristi in and around the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. That number is, unfortunately, subject to change, however. Because of the extreme drought Texas has been experiencing, the water levels are very low in the whoopers' (as they're affectionately known) normal habitat, which means that they're having a hard time foraging for their favorite prey, crabs. There have been reports of at least 15 cranes dying on their wintering grounds, and that number can only climb as they make their arduous 2500 mile journey up into Canada for the breeding season.




Not all is negative however, as the true low point for these five-foot tall, 14-17 pound birds was in 1941 when there were only 15-21 birds left in the wild. In addition to the protections afforded the whooping cranes on the gulf coast, there have been several attempts to re-establish a second wild breeding population in Florida. The earliest involved placing whooper eggs in the nests of sandhill cranes, and while some did migrate, they failed to reproduce, so that effort was given up. Additional attempts include tries at a non-migratory flock, but that effort has been only marginally successful. The latest conservation efforts have involved the use of ultralights to teach the birds to migrate from Kissemmee, Florida up to summer grounds in Wisconsin, similar to the flock of geese memorialized in the movie "Fly Away Home."




Their seven and a half foot wingspan rivals that of NBA stars...







The above photo depicts the neck of the bird featured in many of these photos, five-year old "Scarbaby," so named because when he was a juvenile he was bitten in the neck by a snake. Initially, his head and neck swelled up and he was unable to eat. His parents, the Lobsticks (so-named because of the river where they spend their summers), delayed their migration until he was able to begin eating on his own, but then left. As an aside, Daddy Lobstick is now 30 years old, well beyond the 22-24 year average lifespan for whoopers in the wild. Scarbaby didn't migrate for two years, and conservationists feared that he would never do so. Happily, he finally met the right girl (the other crane featured in these photos) and began the annual commute as well.

Apparently, because of the extensive attention he received as a youngster, he is very comfortable under watchful eyes, and he and his mate are very accommodating to the boat tours that seek out whoopers at Aransas.



If you're still interested in more about whooping cranes and other birds as they migrate north for the spring, check out Journey North, which is designed for educators and their students. You can also browse Operation Migration for more information on those ultralight-flying, migration-teaching conservationists.

I'm back...

Laura has reprimanded me for completely ignoring this blog for too long, so I'm back to make up for lost time. Because we've covered quite a bit of ground in our travels, I'm going to bounce around a bit to get some of the photos out. Of course, Laura wants me to share some bird photos, so I'll start with that...

The following are photos of the whooping cranes we saw on a boat trip out of the Rockport-Fulton (Texas) area. I'll do a second post with more later today, and I'll try to share a bit more information about these endangered behemoths at that point.

Oh yeah, and just to give you an idea where we are now at, the RV park we're staying in is at the end of Lonely Street, behind the Heartbreak Hotel, and our RV site is on Hound Dog Way.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This one'll be real short: I just wanted to wish everyone a happy and safe St. Patrick's Day.

For those of you who know our dog Meika, you know she occasionally enjoys a fine brew. Hey, she came with the habit- I just helped her refine her tastes. I'll leave you with a shot of her enjoying her traditional March 17 pint o' Guinness. OK, so maybe we shared the pint, but then she also got her taste of corned beef at dinner time...

In honor of the Iditarod...

Since the Iditarod is running right now, and it's the first year in a long time that we haven't been in Alaska to follow it, I thought that I would diverge from our travels for a bit. The following are photos I took at the 2007 ceremonial start in Anchorage.





For those that aren't aware, the Iditarod does a fundraiser called the Iditarider auction each year in which people can bid to ride with specific riders for the first 8 miles of the ceremonial start. When you see riders in the sleds, that's who they are. You may also notice that in some instances, the dogs are actually pulling two sleds. The second sled is manned by a handler for the musher and is used to slow the dogs down because they are so anxious to get running that the can get going too fast.




For several years, I was able to work the same spot at the Iditarod- 4th Ave. & Cordova (the benefits of seniority). There are several reasons I requested that location, not the least of which is the fact that I could watch the dog teams from the start, and I would get to see them take the first turn of the race onto Cordova, which sometimes proved interesting, as the photo above depicts. Again, those dogs are so anxious to run, and that, combined with the huge crowds, the excitement of the start, and a sometimes inexperienced handler on the drag sled, occasionally makes for some interesting mushing. I never had a team go up over the berm there, but there were some close calls that sent spectators scattering.


For those that think this race is cruel to the dogs, take a close look at these pictures- these dogs live to run. If you ever have a chance to go to the start of the Iditarod, do so. The cacophony of howling dogs who are practically jumping out of their skin to start running will forever dispel any thoughts of cruelty. These dogs are cared for in a manner similar to some of our top professional athletes. It seems that each year you hear of a dog or two dying on the trail. What you have to remember is that you're talking about well over 1000 dogs, and statistically speaking, it would be surprising if there were no problems over the three week period of the race. In each instance, the circumstances are closely scrutinized and a necropsy is performed to find a cause of death in order to figure out whether anything was done wrong, and what could be done better. Often times, they find that there was an preexisting condition or undiagnosed heart irregularity, much as we sometimes learn when an otherwise perfectly healthy human athlete tragically dies while participating in the sport that they love. Anyway, I'll step off of my soapbox now.



With that, I'll call it a post, and I'll get back to the travels next time.

Spring Flings

So you hear about these spring break dramas where these young kids "hook-up" for a brief fling and then head back to their respective parts of the country. Having never participated in this particular rite of passage, it's natural to wonder if it really happens, or if it's just the fodder of sleazy videos sold on late night TV...

Well, I now have first hand confirmation that it really does happen:


It starts with a little playful teasing, with the taller Eugene standing in water just deep enough so as to be out of reach of the object of his affection, in this case, a young UConn cutie by the name of Callie.


Next, they begin to feel each other out, searching for limits and possibilities...


Then, little by little, they let down their guard and become more and more comfortable with one another.


But alas, their time at the beach is short, and all too soon each must go their own way, with Callie returning to Connecticut, and Eugene off on his own journey.

To Eugene's credit, I have to say that Callie's "person" commented that he was quite the gentleman, and that he had clearly won over Callie with his willingness to allow her little victories in their tug-of-war. Sadly, this spring break story ends with our canine couple stealing longing glances out the back windows as their respective cars headed in opposite directions. Fortunately, alcohol is prohibited at the dog beach- otherwise we'd really be in trouble.

And all the while, as her step-brother's romance played out, tom-boy Meika was content to frolic in the sand and surf.


Just so as not to create too much concern for Eugene's mental well-being, here's a few more photos of him enjoying the dog beach:





Finally, I'll leave you with OG Meika leading her homies astray:



Next up: Florida Recap