AN EMOTIONAL WEEKEND

             It was a very special weekend here in the Queen City.  We celebrated an event that that no one else on the planet gets to celebrate. 

You may or may not know that Cincinnati is home to the first professional baseball team, the Cincinnati Redlegs.  It has a long history beginning in 1881 of some years very special, some years, not so much.  However, the 1975-1976 seasons was one of the spectacular two seasons, back-to-back world series titles, with the most outstanding team ever put together.  (My bias is evident!)

This weekend was the celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the Big Red Machine, that group of Reds who played on the team including Johnnie Bench, Tony Perez, Joe Morgan, Davey Concepcion, Pete Rose, Cesar Geronimo, George Foster and Ken Griffey.

So, I have a cousin, Gayle, who is even more of a Reds fan than me.  She stays on top of current events within the organization, goes to many games, watches from home if she isn’t there, etc., etc.  About 3-4 times a season four of us attend the game, her daughter, another friend and me.  Gayle asked if we all wanted to go, and of course we did

The day included a “Meet & Greet” with several of the players, then dinner and then the game. 

The “Meet and Greet” was great.  Two separate rooms where the players were divided between, we only had 1 hour to get through both rooms and the lines were long!!!  We made it!!  The two most notable to see were George Foster and Johnnie Bench.  

 

The game was fantastic!!  The Reds won and we ALMOST saw a no-hitter.  Nick Martinez came so close, first batter in the 9^th inning finally got a hit off him.  The fans went crazy as he walked off the field.  On top of that Spencer Steer hit 3 home runs.  It was such a fun night.

 Many of my friends know that I am typically in bed by around 9-9:30. That night it was 12:15 am before I even got home.  During the drive home I had so many thoughts …..I wished so much that Dad, and my brother, Jim, could have been with us, they both loved the Reds.  Some of my earliest memories are of running around baseball parks while Dad played.  Then Mom, Dad and Jim playing in a church league in Pinellas Park, FL.  Meeting my dearest friend at a baseball game in Fairbanks, AK, watching my brother umpire games in Fairbanks, driving with Dad in 1970 from Cincinnati to Baltimore to watch the Reds and Orioles play for the World Series title and on and on and on. 

So, Saturday I watched the game from home, they didn’t win, but they had a terrific pre-game ceremony on the field.  The news was shared that Dave Parker had passed that day.  (Another Reds great from a different era).  Johnny Bench spoke.  The whole event brought tears to my eyes (I’m such a sucker!!)

And, I’ll be home today, watching the Sunday game, pretty sure there will be more Big Red Machine celebrations. 

EISENHOWER

           I know I’ve written many times in the past about how much I love to read.  It is very rare for me to not have a book in hand.  Typically, the last 15-30 minutes of my day are in bed, reading.

          I just finished a book that I just have to write about…first, you need to know that I prefer non-fiction books.  Just my thing.  I like history, natural history, biographies, travel, etc.  I do on occasion read fiction, but the book has to be highly recommended by friends who know my preferences. 

Because of my choice of preferred topics, it is very rare for me to cry over a book.  The last time I remember crying was in 2017 as I finished “The Nightengale”.  I was in a secluded location in a lodge I was visiting in Costa Rica, and the ending of that book was so traumatic for me, I just sat there and bawled my eyes out.

Well, guess what, it happened again late yesterday.  And the circumstances are very different from the usual.  By way of explanation, another of my reading journeys is I am reading the biographies of US presidents in chronological order.  No, I do not sit there and read only biographies of presidents.  I read a bio, then read 3-4 other books not a presidential biography, then I go back to the next president on my list. 

Which leads me to the title of this blog.  I just finished Eisenhower’s bio by Jean Edward Smith.  First, if you don’t know him, he is an awesome author.  His books tend to be very long, (Eisenhower was 766 pages with an additional 200+ pages of notes.)  He has also written “FDR”, “Grant” (which I have also read and is also very long), “George Bush’s War”, etc.  you get the picture.  Reading one of his books is not for the faint of heart, but man if you can hang in there, it is well worth the effort.  He really is an excellent author.

Anyway, back to Ike, I was so excited to reach him on my list because he is the first US president I remember as a child seeing on TV.  I was born in 1948 so by the end of his presidency I was 13 years old.  I do remember that everyone seemed to “Like Ike.”

In the book, Smith does not sugar coat Ike’s story.  I view it as honest, straight forward, and very revealing.  He was in no way a perfect, untarnished human being…no matter how much we all “Liked” him.  He made errors as Commander in Chief during WWII; he towed a tough line as President…. but what was remarkable about him, is that he never attempted to blame others, if the responsibility was his, no matter the outcome, he owned it. 

The truly revealing event of his presidency of these characteristics was his handling of the U-2 incident involving Francis Gary Powers.  As a reminder, the US, under Ike’s command, was flying reconnaissance flights over the Soviet Union.  Ike had been assured that the Russians did not have the ability to shoot down one of these planes, and if they did, the pilot could not possibly survive.  That of course, turned out to not be true.  The Soviets did shoot down the plane and Powers did survive.  There was no way to spin the story that did not reveal that the US was spying on the Soviet Union.  Ike did not attempt to avoid responsibility. 

It was the last few pages of this book that brought me to tears.  And I quote his words ….” This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new to the American experience.  The total influence – economic, political, even spiritual – is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government.  In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought by the military-industrial complex.  The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”  Then he went on to say, “The free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research.  Because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. The domination of the nation’s scholars by the power of federal money is a danger to be gravely regarded.”  He finished by saying “America must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.” 

These words were spoken by Eisenhower in his farewell speech to the nation as he left office.

I hope I don’t have to explain my tears.

THE TOPIC OF THE DAY IS......

 

CICADAS!!!!

     If you don’t know them…..you are definitely missing out!!!!  In the greater Cincinnati area, we are currently in the midst of our 17-year cycle, and they are everywhere.  Monday night at Hickory Woods Golf Course they were exceptionally loud, they were everywhere, in the sand traps, all of the trees, crawling around in the grass, and hundreds smashed to death on the cart paths…. seriously, if you have no tolerance for them, you are in big time trouble. 

I turn to Wikipedia for the more serious description:  “Cicadas have prominent eyes set wide apart, short antennae, and membranous front wings. They have an exceptionally loud song, produced in most species by the rapid buckling and unbuckling of drum-like tymbals.  They typically live in trees, feeding on watery sap from xylem tissue, and laying their eggs in a slit in the bark. The vast majority of species are active during the day as adults, with some calling at dawn or dusk.

One exclusively North American genus, Magicicada (the periodical cicadas), which spend most of their lives as underground nymphs, emerge in predictable intervals of 13 or 17 years, depending on the species and the location.

One thing to mention is that they are totally harmless, no stinging, no biting, just super ugly and annoying.

 

 

 

 

It’s hard to forget every time they begin their emergence.  Probably 40 years ago I remember driving to work one day and watching some lady at a bus stop having a very heated battle with one with her umbrella, it was hard to tell who was winning that battle.

Then during that same visit, I had a good friend who really went nuts, she was absolutely terrified of them.  At the time I drove a VW Karmin Gia, a VW type of sports car.  There was no back seat, just a shelf where you could put your groceries.  Three of us were going somewhere so she climbed in back sitting crunched up on the shelf.  Just about the time she got settled into her very cramped position, a friendly Cicada began chirping, very loudly.  Dana let out a scream that would challenge an atom bomb explosion and almost tore my little car apart trying to get out.  I never laughed so hard in my life!!

Anyway, the Cicadas are currently visiting and I enjoy the hum of their chirping and an occasional face-to-face encounter.  What I don’t enjoy is running my car through the car wash and then having them smash into my windows as I drive down the road.  But some things are what they are.  They will head underground for another 17-year hiatus very soon.  Until then, lean back and enjoy!!!