One Day of Summer, Waiting for the Storms, The Delphos Jinx...

What a strange weather pattern the past 72 hours or so have shown us....

Friday the area baseball diamonds and fields for the most part were saturated...the scheduled game at Lima Central Catholic, was moved to Coldwater, where the host Cavilers took over duties as home team...they contracted me to do the plate, which I was scheduled to do at LCC.  The field, despite some wet spots, was playable...two hours later, after a 5-1 Coldwater win, I was sitting with my old buddy "Wuflie" at the South Side Inn having a couple of cold ones.  By the time I got home around 9, I was thinking to myself, "No way  is the diamond at Wayne Trace going to be playable tomorrow at Noon".  Saturday morning dawned foggy, humid and cool...no call, so I headed north to Paulding County, and as I cruised towards my old home town of Scott, I encountered the bus from Lincolnview...the visiting team....so I says to myself, "Looks like they are going to play".

Arriving at the school...the old field still in use, with the new and improved diamond a week or so away from being ready(because of the wet weather),...I encountered the WT Coaches...the field was not in good shape, but they were working on it.  Somehow, me and my young first year umpire partner managed to mud our way through 2 games.  I worked the plate in the first, a 7-1 home team victory...Jason did the second, which saw Linconview come out on top 10-6.  By the time the 2nd game was complete, we were finally seeing a bit of sun, and drying conditions.  I headed home confident that with the temperatures up to 60 and some sun, I could get some quality time outback with brews and a cigar....and I did!  A good way to finish off a long day.

Sunday it was predicted to be windy and a high in the low to mid 80s....the morning however dawned foggy.  The humidity, with saturated ground, was not prone to drying things out...but finally about 11am, the sun peaked out, and the winds picked up....daughter Anissa and I went out back, and spent the next 5 hours outside, until she left for her place across town....Patricia didn't get to join us.  The one summer like day since last September or October, and she was felled by a nasty Sinus Infection, and spent most of the day inside...a day off today from teaching hopefully will have her back to somewhat normal health.

After Anissa left, I grabbed another cigar, a couple of beers and listened to the Reds blow a 5-0 lead, before finally succumbing to the Diamond Backs 10-8 out in Arizona.  Cincinnati never seems to play well on west coast trips, which doesn't bode well for the next three nights at San Diego.  Hopefully we will get a chance to see local product, Cory Luebke,  get an opportunity to pitch for the Padres sometime this week.  The Reds meanwhile are still in first place on the young season, but have lost 3 of 4, and sit at 6-3 overall.

The 80 degree plus temps did finally get the grass growing and the flowers blooming...I worked on both mowers, and have them fired up and ready to go, whenever the grass dries off, because it's about to get another unwelcome soaking.  I also fired up the Jeep Wrangler, which has been sitting idle...as I started that up, a large plume of smoke can from under the hood....the alternator belt decided to melt...seems I know why it was idling fast...now I can take it to the shop, knowing at least some of the problems involved.  But no hurry for that....I didn't plan on driving it until summer anyway, especially given the fact that gas ia nearing $4 a gallon and the Jeep gets maybe 19 or 20 mph on the open road...less in town.

Storms and the Delphos(St. John) jinx...

As you can see by the attached Radar photo from 5pm(it's 5:45 as I type at this minute)...yesterday's Summer is going to be washed away...the huge line of storms extends from south central Texas to central Michigan....and no one east of that line is likely to escape some storms and heavy rains.  I just ran upstairs to close the windows...did I mention I've been awake since 3am?  Not from the storms, but from the sun, wind, and beer, and sitting out in it all yesterday.  I headed to bed at 7:30 or so last night....and needless to say, unless I'm under the weather, I'm not sleeping more that 7 or 8 hours...so awake I was at 3, and was out of bed and in the shower by 4.  Coffee and breakfast in hand, storms moving in and wind chimes ringing, I am wide awake.

 Bringing me finally to the Delphos Jinx.  Despite the cold and rainy spring, I have gotten 12 of 14 regular season games in thus far....the only 2 canceled?  Both involved Delphos St. Johns.  So, with the storms moving in, you can pretty well guess where I am slated to be tonight?  Yep, at Delphos as the Blue Jays are scheduled to host  Kalida...that's probably not going to happen.  It must be a Delphos St. Johns thing, in addition to the 2, soon to be 3 regular season cancellations, I had two scrimmages washed out as well, both involving DSJ.  I say it must be a Delphos St. Johns thing because tomorrow and Wednesday I am back at Delphos, but with the other Delphos school, Jefferson.  Two non-league contests, with Ottoville and Lima Perry on the agenda, and the weather looks pretty good at this point in time for those.

As I finish this up, I can hear the rain hitting the windows...guess it's time to close those downstairs as well...

back later>>>>

Photos-The Flowers around the fence have finally started to bloom...about a week or so later than normal, as is the grass growing season...Global Warming ey?  The Radar as it looked at 5am this morning, "Rainy Days and Mondays"....again....and my usual breakfast fare these days...English Muffin, with homemade preserves, Coffee, and toss in a Banana in there somewhere.