It seems impossible that it has been nearly two years since I have written anything about baseball, so since we’re at the beginning of the annual baseball reawakening, I think I will begin to reengage this page with a reflection of my favorite sport. Not only is Major League Baseball Spring Training now underway, butContinue reading “Getting on the Ball”
Category Archives: Travelog
Only in Rome is it Possible to Understand Rome.
I am astonished to be able to say that I’ve been to Rome half a dozen times. With only one exception, however, I’ve never spent the night there. Living in Naples, we are only an hour away by high-speed train and so we’ve made several day trips to the Eternal City, enough that I’m ratherContinue reading “Only in Rome is it Possible to Understand Rome.”
So. Much. Art.
After mom and dad arrived with Keyran, we checked them into their hotel on base and let them rest. We introduced them to Neapolitan pizza from our favorite local restaurant their first night in Italy, but there was little time to adjust before we began the first leg of our Italian Summer Vacation. Our firstContinue reading “So. Much. Art.”
A Great Oddity, a City for Beavers*
When we were preparing for their arrival, Nora and I kept asking my parents what they wanted to do or see while in Europe. We entertained ideas of short trips to other countries—Mom wanted to go to Corfu in Greece—but we all settled on staying within Italy. Less time in transit, more time exploring. WhatContinue reading “A Great Oddity, a City for Beavers*”
Family Vacation
Many of my most cherished childhood memories come from our family vacations. Most every year, for a couple weeks, Mom and Dad would load all four of us into the station wagon with our Coleman pop-up camper in tow and take us on an adventure. Well, for us they were all adventures. Sometimes the tripContinue reading “Family Vacation”
It Revs My Engine
As any boy who grow up in the Midwest, I had friends and family who owned and worked on cars. My uncle Bob owned a garage on the same rural lot as his home, where I spent many of my childhood days in Ohio, and a cousin drove a racing striped Chevy Nova that announcedContinue reading “It Revs My Engine”
Eureka!
I took up a new hobby this year. Prompted by men I umpire baseball with, and seeing that there was a need for it here in Naples, I started officiating basketball games. The season took me to the US Navy Air Base on Sicily twice, once over the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day weekend. SinceContinue reading “Eureka!”
Alpine Adventure
When we were stationed overseas for the first time, in Okinawa, Nora and I started a new family tradition. We used the money we might otherwise spend on gifts and used it to take the family on a nice vacation trip. The day after the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord, God, and SaviorContinue reading “Alpine Adventure”
Between the Lines
In America, we have devised a system for controlling the flow of traffic on the highways and byways across the continent. Our system principally utilizes colored lights, signs (both passive and active), barrier rails, and painted lines. I have found that other countries use these same means for traffic control, and for the same orContinue reading “Between the Lines”
More than just a trim.
I used to love going to the barbershop. Okay, I admit that I didn’t like it at first, and when I was a teenager I once asked my father to take me someplace else (a salon of some kind) to get my hair cut. He reluctantly agreed, warning me that “they treat you like aContinue reading “More than just a trim.”
An Orthodox Priest Abroad 