Blog

A Boomer’s Journal 

   “Well, hello again, everybody,” as the ever-ebullient Harry Carey used to say when he opened his pregame show as the long-time Cardinal baseball broadcaster. I used to listen on a little transistor radio to Harry and Joe Garagiola and then Jack Buck as a new guy back when I was 10, falling asleep as our attic fan pulled the warm night breeze across my bedroom.

I would wake up sometimes to hear Harry going insane with “There’s a line shot down the line to left… Boyer’s rounding first and on his way to second with a double.” It was summer music to my young ears. I still like to occasionally use the old Sears Radio to listen to the games at night. The current play-by-play man, John Rooney, can set up the scene and paint the picture almost as good as old Harry.

There is another pretty fair game announcer plying his trade these days as the Women’s Soccer World Cup is underway. His name is John Paul Delacamera, and he can keep the flow of this hard-to-describe sport moving along nicely. Speaking of which, we know that the US team has made it into the semi-finals. And here we find an interesting piece of geo-political intrigue. In the quarterfinals, the US was up against their rival for world power, China, and beat them 1-0. Then, former world war foes France and Germany battled, with the Deutsch girls squeaking by in penalty kicks. On the other side, we had in Canada and England, two countries who share a Queen and one language, but little else, with Canada falling as host country in their quest to get to the finals for the first time. And Pacific Rim rivals Australia and Japan took the field for the other semifinal spot finding The Land of the Rising Sun victorious. The final four pits the good old US versus Germany, as Japan takes on England. Allies versus Axis. Superpowers of the world, and on the pitch. One question… where is Russia in all this?

But enough about the world’s most popular sport except in the US of A.

We have some really important stuff to talk about today. The following will be in small bites, or bytes, depending upon if you are a techie or a foodie. So let’s start with food.

I was a bit silly on Father’s Day this year, putting out a proposed menu of fried baloney and Jello. Well, I surprised everyone with really doing just that, supplemented that with some grilled porksteaks simmered in sauce for 4 hours, Allison’s awesome scalloped potatoes and Grandma Joanie’s famous pork and beans with onions and brown sugar. But ‘le frit bologne’ was a hit, served with a medley of sauces (mustard, ranch, ketchup), as was the ‘Jello flight’ of orange, cherry and lime. My pref was the lime. The only thing we forgot was to serve some cottage cheese to put in with the gelatin delights. It was something my mom Evelyn always had for the older kids, and they loved it. Hey, don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.

Then we have the 4th of July coming up, of course. It is our son Joey’s birthday. He sadly will not be home for it, living as he does on the Left Coast. When he was a kid, he always thought the fireworks were to celebrate his day. And in a way it was, because he was very sick in his first year, and his Number One Birthday was a huge celebration of life and gratitude for our little Knucklehead. So Happy to YOU, U. S… and Joe.

Speaking of birthdays, did you know that this country’s birthrate of 1.88 per woman is still below the 2.1 needed to keep even with the death rate, the so-called replacement factor?

Yeah, actuaries say it is not even rising in the baby-producing 15-44 year old range (15!?). Many European nations have seen a steady decline in their rates, with a corresponding loss of economic and political well-being. Hmmm, sound familiar? Maybe we need another baby boom? Demographers state that more people increases the market demand for goods which then increases production and then jobs and… well, you get the picture. So, hey, all you Gen X’ers and Millennials, let’s get cracking here, if you get my drift. You’ve got a great nation to advance, not to mention keeping the Social Security system solvent.

Just sayin’.

And finally, after many years of toil both full-time and part-time, the lovely Jill is retiring. Well, she did once before, but that didn’t really count, since she went to work for another medical office right away.

But this time, she is looking at a bit of well-deserved time off. Knowing her, she will do some less-exhausting part-time stuff. I honestly can’t see her lying around at the pool working on her tan. Besides, she is Irish, you see, and needs SPF 500 to keep from burning up. Still, I am thrilled to see her take this awesome step.

Hey, maybe I can convince her to hit a few with me at the old golf course? Or not.

At any rate, you all enjoy your summer. Schools start back in early August but we still have all of July left to make the best of.

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us