Bittersweet Refinements is another book that I have been given to publish. If it gets to sounding an awfully lot like a broken player stuck on repeating the same old wrong song over and over again that is because it is to a fairly great extent. For most of it contains rewritten parts of the Bitter/Sweets that were published here before. Hopefully, it will get to sounding a lot better to you very soon, and for the benefit of those who do not have access to multiple versions of our Heavenly Father's Holy Bible, numbered Scripture references in the text (for example, [1]) provide links to such through Bible Gateway this time around. The same also applies to verses included in the text. Please go [here] to consider Chapter XVIII: Contractual Obligations.
This is the new version of FIVE FOR FRIDAY. As with the former, it is the SOLE purpose of this weekly series to call attention to sites that I think many would find most interesting—in one way or another. Please, go see for yourself, and [this week] such sites can be seen as:
For my Wordless Wednesday selection yesterday, I chose a photo I took last Friday at an Arkansas Traveler's game.
Why? Because I love the heck out of baseball, that's why. Think of it. It's a warm, spring evening or afternoon and you're out at the ballpark. You've got a hot dog in one hand, a beer in the other and you're yelling, "Hit the damn ball!" What could be better than that?
I've been a fan of the Arkansas Travelers since I was just a little The Hawg. When spring and summer rolled around, it was a regular event for my dad, mom brother and I to hop in the car, make that 20-minute drive from Benton to Little Rock and go see the Travelers.
My dad taught me about baseball during those many outings and I've had an appreciation for the game since. I pretty well grew up at Ray Winder Field, in fact, and will probably go to Travelers games until I'm too old and/or sick to make it to them.
A lot has changed over the years. A couple of years ago, the team moved from the middle of Little Rock to Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock. The Travelers used to be a St. Louis Cardinals farm club (a great fit because a lot of us Arkies are Cardinals fans) but is now an Angels affiliate (not a good fit at all -- who in Arkansas cares about a middle-tier team from Anaheim or Los Angeles or wherever the heck they are based?) And just last year, the Travelers go
t a rivalry -- the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (a Kansas City Royals affiliate) set up shop in Springdale.
At any rate, it felt rather like old times. Well, the roles of mom and dad were played by my wife and me and the roles of the kids were played by our children. Still, I was probably more relaxed than I've been in at least three months during that game and the kids had a great time (just look at the photos for proof).
So the kids are learning about baseball the way I learned -- by watching a lot of games, doing a lot of yelling and having (hopefully) a good time with the family. I do miss Ray Winder Field, but there's something to be said for putting the team in a park that overlooks the Little Rock skyline and wasn't built when the Kaiser was in power.
It was a b
onehead move on the part of the Little Rock city officials who let the Travelers move north of the Arkansas River, but the city of North Little Rock has been bloodying the nose of its sister city for a few years now. So, the move wasn't really that much of a surprise. Hey, North Little Rock has gotten very, very competitive with Little Rock as of late and that's been fun to watch.
For example, Little Rock got the Clinton Library, so what did North Little Rock officials do? They put an RV park right across the Arkansas River from it. That's funny as hell and a surprisingly fitting tribute to our former president.
At any rate, the Travelers lost last Friday to the Naturals.
The score wasn't really the point of going, anyway. It never is.
This post is part of the weekly Tell Me Thursday event. Do you participate in Wordless Wednesday? Why not take part in Tell Me Thursday, too?
A rant of epic proportions. Read all about it [here].
Check back tomorrow when I submit the story behind this photo for the famed Tell Me Thursday event!
Meanwhile, why not head on over to Wordless Wednesday and submit something of your own?
“Come Monday…” is a weekly series that will involve a review of, or commentary about, websites, movies, documentaries, television shows, sports, music, and whatever else may tickle my fancy at the time. Be assured that these reviews will be generally positive, as in accordance to the Jimmy Buffett song “Come Monday.” This is subject to change, however. In fact, I would be most derelict in my duties to neglect going on a rant every once in a while. For rants promote change, and change can be good—right? Therefore, since good is generally considered as being a positive force in 99.3% of the parallel universes that I am aware of, even a rant could be considered as being something positive, and a genuine hissy-fit would be even better (so I’m told). A [Lost Generation] is considered this week.
This was sent to me by a fellow Arkie and one might guess this Alabama fellow dislikes Tennessee. Any SEC fan will get a kick out of this.
Back during my childhood, our parents would often load up my brother and I after Sunday morning church services for a leisurely drive around where we lived. Even though we were seeing mostly familiar sights, it was still good to see them, and this is why “A Sunday Drive” sounded about right for the name of a weekly series revisiting familiar sites that are well worth seeing again and again. Go [here] to see more of such sites as: 