| It is said that families that pray together | | | | would be there in a minute. Garin was first |
| stay together. I think it's almost equally | | | | up, naturally. He tripled off the Blue |
| true that families that play together stay | | | | Spruce. Conveniently at third, used the |
| together. If play time is the glue of family | | | | opportunity to hurry Mom out of the game by |
| life, our family is a sticky crew! | | | | pounding the rhythm of "Joshua Fit The Battle |
| | | | of Jericho" on the outhouse wall. |
| One scorching August day we were trying to | | | | |
| escape the heat by retreating to a summer | | | | Mom made her appearance just as Garth lined a |
| cabin rental at Diamond Lake, high in the | | | | foul ball into the right field forest. Kendy |
| Cascade Mountains of Oregon. Our little | | | | claimed she retrieved the ball, but the rest |
| league star, Garin, suggested that we play | | | | of us had our doubts, as the new ball seemed |
| baseball. | | | | larger and was certainly stickier than the |
| | | | old ball. |
| "But we don't have a ball up here," I | | | | |
| objected. | | | | "Yuk" exclaimed the pitcher, Kurt. "This ball |
| | | | has pitch all over it.' |
| "We don't need a ball. We can use pine | | | | |
| cones," answered Garin. | | | | Since I was doubling as catcher and umpire, I |
| | | | examined the ball and decided that the new |
| "Where would we play? There's no clearing big | | | | ball was definitely in order. I threw out the |
| enough," I countered. | | | | old ball, threw in the new, and play resumed. |
| | | | Things went nicely for 3 or 4 innings Kurt |
| "We can play in the driveway if you move the | | | | hit the ball over the cabin and into the |
| car." Garin always was a problem solver. | | | | lake; the squirrel stuck his head up once but |
| | | | quickly re-submerged when he saw Garth about |
| "Alright," I groaned. "Come on. Everybody out | | | | to slide into home plate; and a passing doe |
| to the driveway." I pouted while moving the | | | | watched the game briefly from the left field |
| car. I always was a bad loser. | | | | stands, but apparently got bored with our |
| | | | game and moved on to more exciting |
| The driveway to our cabin, you understand, | | | | adventures. |
| was not the nicely paved driveway you find in | | | | |
| subdivisions. Instead, it was more like a | | | | After the game we totaled the score, which |
| wild bear trail, weaving its way between | | | | was kept engraved in the red dirt behind home |
| 200-foot pines and spruce and white fur, | | | | plate. Kids 76; Mom and Dad 37. Garth |
| bordered on the west by Diamond Lake and on | | | | complained because he wanted to go swimming. |
| the right by the country road. I had visions | | | | |
| of the Cincinnati Reds playing the World | | | | Bev and I, decisively defeated, headed for |
| Series on a motorcycle track. "The boat | | | | the cabin to drown our sorrows in a tall ice |
| trailer will be first base," declared Garin | | | | tea while the kids scrambled to get their |
| with the authority that only comes with | | | | swimming suits, inner tubes, frog feet, and |
| entrepreneurs. "The back of the car will be | | | | snorkels. |
| second, and the outhouse will be third. Let's | | | | |
| use this squirrel hole for home plate. " | | | | While the victors celebrated loudly in the |
| | | | lake, the losers retreated to the shade of a |
| So we did. | | | | massive fir tree by the shore where they |
| | | | licked their wounds and re-grouped for the |
| Mom said to start the game without her. She | | | | next encounter. |