It’s not the person you remember…it’s the rotational spin
This is a small memory….but one I’ve never forgot.
As kids we played a lot of baseball. A lot of baseball. Did we have organized leagues with adult supervision? Hell, no! Kids vs kids….we taught ourselves. And I’m certain we would have pounded the snot of formal little league teams; we played with a viciousness more associated with 19th century baseball than the polite sport we play today. By practice and constant reading we learned how to play the game right; bunting, baserunning, hitting the cut off man with throws from the outfield, reading pitches….if you didn’t learn this stuff you didn’t play. As a kid I had a good arm, so I played 3rd, right field, and would often pitch. I loved to pitch, but wasn’t very good at it because of control. And what we used to do as pitchers! Everything today that would be heavily frowned on! Breaking pitches, goofy curves, evil, evil, evil screwballs; I wonder how many of our pitchers wound up with messed up arms. Screwballs were the worst; you rotate your arm in the opposite direction of what is natural to get the strange break. I remember pitching 2 9 inning games one hot day and the next day my arm and shoulder were so sore it hurt to comb my hair. I lost track of the number of kids I hit in the head or ribs trying to pitch inside.
But this story is not about my numerous poor efforts on the mound; it’s about hitting. For years I used a thick handled 44 oz “Harry Heilmann” bat that didn’t have a knob on the end of it. I had to make a knob out of electrical tape! But that day….I had saved my pennies and bought a 32 oz slim-handled “Hank Aaron”. It felt like I was swinging a wiffle bat! I was ready to rip!
There was a big kid whose name I’ve forgotten who used to get me out all the time. I just couldn’t “read” him; I couldn’t tell his fastball from his curve or slider based on his release and I’d usually guess wrong. But with my new quick bat, I was seeing and guessing a lot better!
And then he threw me the pitch I’ve never forgot….I saw it before his hand came over the top of his shoulder and I said in my own voice in my head, “Well…there’s a nice fastball!” Almost 50 years later I can still hear and see that memory like it just happened. I could see the spin and the name of the league president on the ball as it headed plateward. Everything mechanical in my body “knew” what to do and I absolutely powered that baseball. The center fielder took two steps back and conceded it was way past him into the HR area. No showboating; I put my head down and ran out the HR. That pitcher gave me a lot of respect after that; he didn’t think I could do that to his pitches.
How many such little tiny victories do we get in life? The sublime melding of skills, opportunity, execution….it’s what we want in so many ways and never get. Something is usually missing. My whole life seems to me like a Wagnerian opera of failure; just when I think I couldn’t be stupider I prove myself wrong. But that day…..that at bat….that I’ll always remember. I suspect this is closer to the way we experience joy in sports than winning The Big Game, or The Championship.
Johnny
I see in the comment on the last post the request for stories from real life. I’ve been in the mood to write such a thing; forgive me if it seems like a shaggy dog story.
My favorite Chinese restaurant here in Ann Arbor, Middle Kingdom, is closed. I think the family retired a few years ago, and the place has sat since, though I guess it will be some kind of chain Greek place now. Ugh! I loved the food, and even though it was a bit pricey, it was worth it. I had a friend who used to live downtown and this would be a Sunday treat for us, always the same meal: Hot and Sour Soup for two, a single large entree and spring rolls.
Look at some of the cool “off menu” dishes they used to have. Just scroll the photos alone!
The guy who ran (owned?) the place was an older heavy set Chinese guy we used to call “Johnny”. because he quit trying to get us to pronounce his Chinese name. In a way he was kind of a Chinese Archie Bunker; no ethnicity, no economic class, or religious faith was spared his wrath. He had a way of grousing about….everything that was harsh, wise, and amusing all at once. I often wished I could have got him to a bar, but he was always wrapped up in family things. That family! Huge, and they all seemed to work in the restaurant. Johnny ran a tight ship; he was always barking at someone about some kitchen matter. But he was cool, good to talk to when business was light, and sharp about what was going on around town. He was one of those guys who grounded you to your town, your time, and your connection to a lot of things. I miss him and the place. It’s funny how it even affects your perception of the immediate area when the place you love is gone.
Two anecdotes to show you what I mean about him.
At Christmas, this was my favorite place to go. Chinese on Christmas! A NYC tradition moved out here. It was a madhouse on Christmas, the place filled with half the atheists and Jews in Ann Arbor. I came with a friend, and was waiting for my meal, with the place going full tilt, and Johnny having brought in every relative he could to work. One of his older sisters was having a hard time understanding a large Jewish family table who were talking too quickly and all at once for her to grasp what was being ordered. Johnny sees her frustration, comes storming across the place, points at me and says loudly “HEY RON! YOU SPEAK JEW?” Yikes! I’m immediately embarrassed, but I get what he asking me for. I go over to the table and just get people to talk one at a time, with me pointing to the written Chinese in the menu for her, which she quickly transcribes onto her order pad. When I’m done with my meal, Johnny won’t let me pay, gives me two thumbs up and a “Merry Christmas!”
The Ann Arbor Art Fair is a loud sweaty mess in the middle of July and the town closes many streets to let 500,000 tourists show up and stroll the many booths. Rather than get the overpriced street food, I decide to go to Middle Kingdom; I can sit in the AC rather than broil on the street. When I walk in for lunch….I’m the only person there! Johnny look like he’s been hit with an axe; “Why do I even bother?” he mutters like a hundred times. After that he goes on an epic rant about town and how cheap everyone is and why he needs to move to Chicago. I finally tell him to relax; people will come in when they get knocked out by the heat, and you know they love your stuff. He doubts every single thing I say; Gloom is his bride. Midway through my meal, people start to trickle in. By the time I’m almost done, the place has nearly filled, and Johnny is racing around flogging the staff. As I go to leave, he points both index fingers at me and says “YOU! I BLAME YOU!”, and gives me a huge grin, the only smile I ever remember seeing him give.
Hey Kids….missed me?
Hi there all…..I haven’t been around much….it’s been a strange few months, and not all has been good. The worst?
Living in a tent, in the rain, behind a grocery store, so sick I couldn’t pick myself off the ground and wound up call 911 and having 6 EMTs haul me out of the woods on a stretcher. Days were spent in the hospital….that time, the first of 3 visits to the ER in a week.
Things are better now…but not by much. A group of friends helped out in the short term….people I haven’t spoken to in 40 years. Remarkable! But I’ve been recovering most of the last month…it’s been pretty ugly.
But things have been pretty stressful/awful for a lot of people I know. It’s sobering to deal with a lot of suffering when there isn’t much you can do. Often the best thing I do is shut up and listen. Many is the time I wish I could reach out and hug a lot of these people when things go bad, but I can’t. You give them love….often just through the phone. So many of these folks are people I admire for a lot of reasons; they’re better people than I, is what I feel, and the least I can do is help them recover themselves so they can help the people who depend on them. I’m just me out here; I could fall off the earth and who’d know? (exempting the readers of this blog of course!)
Trump is giving me hope I can still be President! I have more hair! May need to get the teeth worked on though…
Ginger shows us how to go through life….flying over the rails!
Teddy Ballgame Buddhism
“You pick your nose, you scratch your ass….and the world goes by.” wrote Ted Williams in his book My Turn At Bat. It’s been one of those days for me. If I could make “Contemplative Laconic” a paint color, I’d be in the mood to do a lot of painting.
Yeah, I did get some things done, grocery shopping, a LOT of reading. I’ve been loving all the thoughtful comments in the post previous to this one. Huh! I just thought how rarely I refer to a post as “previous”, even though it does make some sense.
The phone! Be right back…..and here I am. Was it a long call for you? I hope not!
On this Mothers Day, I am thinking about my mom, but I’m also thinking of a friend whose relationship to her parents was close to my own. This has been a big bonding point with us ever since. It’s funny that we often have family conversations that many of our mutual friends don’t understand. This bond means even more to her than I, and we share confidences about other things because of that relationship. On her mother’s deathbed, her mother asked my friend to take care of her siblings who struggle more than she does. I had a “deathbed scene” with my mother too….which was just trauma topped with sadness. I still suppress remembering it; I’ve got enough other reasons for trauma and sadness.
I sat out on the lawn drinking Watermelon Cucumber Cooler (thank you, Trader Joe’s!) watching traffic go by. I’ve always loved watching traffic; spotting car models was the Detroit equivalent of identifying animal tracks for outdoors types. There are a couple of car magazines here and you’ll see an exotic or two because of that. A gold Lamborghini Aventador! There’s a rare bird….but the rain drove me back indoors.
I could talk about life….but why not just live it and let the chips fall where they may?
And you?
Altan
Hi all, Ron here….Sunday I went with my friend Mike Perini to the Ark here in Ann Arbor to see Altan, an Irish band I’ve seen for a long, long time now. How long? I’ve managed to get them over time to sign all my disks!
They’re enormous fun….I strongly recommend seeing them if you can.
I also got an interview about the new album with lead singer Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh, seen in this pic with Mike and I
And here’s the interview!
My Heinz Year
Hi all, Ron here…..yes, yesterday I turned 57! I had a fine birthday dinner with my old amigo Mike Perini, at the Zingerman’s Roadhouse. Any and all Ambioids who get up here to Ann Arbor…we’ll go and have a great time.
What was birthday dinner you ask? Andouille sausage Mac ‘N Cheese….luxurious cheddar cheese with Z’s house made red-hot (spicy hot) sausage….it was sublime. Plus a side of their fantastic mashed potatoes. And of course aided and abetted by two Old Fashioneds. one with Rye, one with Bourbon…for taste testing! You do get a free desert on your birthday, and I chose the raspberry white chiffon cake….
Sorry I haven’t been around much…things are looking poorly for me at the moment, and soon I will have no where to live. (long story) But I haven’t quit, and am trying to make things better. My OT, Jodie, has been my strongest support of late. She is convinced that this will be my year. Me…I wonder. Also the Noble Karen from this watering hole, has been both a support…and a delight. She channels the power of Cow Luck, through the phone to me. There are many disadvantages to getting older….but one of the many advantages is that you know more who you are and what has meaning to you. I’m surprising happy with me, despite a life of one damn disaster after another. This is not a trivial thing. For example I recently found out my younger (of two) sisters died at age 65…and she died in December 2012! No one told me, and I wasn’t even in the obit. I went the website of the funeral home she was in, and found 15 family pics…that I have never seen… I enclose one taken in 1960 with Baby Ron looking like Bismarck sitting on Mom’s knee…the late sister is on the far left, Diane. Grandma is in the middle.
This led to a very ugly confrontation with the older sister…but it was good for me to get all that anger out, and I’m now done with scant family I thought I had.
It’s funny to say, but my online friends, many of whom I’ve never met, including Amba, mean much more to me than many of my “real world” acquaintances. Thank you all for just being there and being yourselves. I’m a better person for that. Let’s add some ketchup to this year and make it better than the last…well, too many!
Love,
Ron
Victory is ours!
It is December 2nd….a leading holiday in the Ron Calendar….Austerlitz Day! Some celebrate it for personal reasons, some for a bigger, nobler purpose. But rather than merely celebrating eating or the glories of ones faith, Austerlitz Day is intended to bring out your greatest awareness and empathy for the self you have been honing and crafting your whole life! Rout what foes you have in life, send them into chaotic retreat! Drag out your Chandler’s Campaigns of Napoleon and put yourself in the point of view of the emperor himself, at least for this day!
Mornin’ Cats and Kittens!
It’s 4:30AM and I can’t sleep….and Karen has been up for half an hour already. It’s the Day before Thanksgiving …. is that Green Wednesday? Whatever did happen to Mauve Monday? or Ecru Shrove Tuesday?
Who here in the Fortress of Ambiance is having a NON traditional holiday? Sushi? Lasagna? Cajun Popcorn? Just curious…
What do you do when you can’t sleep? Something unusual? Do you just give up and wake up and do something?
Folks are already gone around here…Is anyone traveling?
Many people I know kind of tie Thanksgiving and Christmas together in some fashion. Some go to one parents family for one holiday, and the other for the other. I have several friends that work one holiday but not both!
My Occupational Therapist has just had a beautiful baby and shared sweet pics with me…no posting though, unless she says OK.
Die Hard is usually my Christmas movie…but Thanksgiving….hmmm…do you have a Turkey Day Film?
At any rate…Enjoy your holiday, eat too much, maybe watch football, maybe do lots of snoozing….it’s good to have traditions!
Your Ambient Friend,
Ron
Good….Morning….
Well! Halloween has arrived and Ron is clearly in fine fettle….well that was me back in the day….these days…
Things could be better…
But we soldier on, don’t we?
Go out there and have fun…and if it gets a bit messy….take a shower!
Two for Karen!
Karen and I were discussing various things on the phone, and mentioned these two….and said I’d put the YouTube videos up for them!
Thing 1: Nixon’s Piano Concerto
Thing 2: Gilmore Girls! A brief sample..
Enjoy all….
Ambiance 