Our Vacation 2000

Our vacation has just started and I am learning to make a web page.
(Have no fear Loretta I am going to show you how.)
As our vacation goes on I will add new pictures to let you see.

June 17th,2000


Our first event was attending the wedding of our grandson.
Travis and Sheila

June 19th, 2000

On Monday night Sue, Erv, Bill and I went to the Indians Game.	However, we left early to see the Pacers LOSE the big game.

June 21st, 2000

Today is June 21st and my first lesson is over.

June 24th, 2000

This was the day Diane and Tanda and all of Sue's family came over to help Sue celebrate her 39th again and John's birthdays.
Steak on the grill was the order of the day and the kids put the pool to good use.

June 25th, 2000

On Sunday the 25th we took our annual trip to Nashville.
Sue, Diane, Traci and the girls, Tammy, Tanda, Tiffani, Jason & Tasha all went.
Had a nice lunch at Long John Silvers and after shopping til we dropped we all went to Tammy's house to see her pet deer.
The little ones loved her and bottle fed her. It was a fun day.

June 27th, 2000

On Tuesday June 27th we left Sue's at 7:00 and picked up Tiffani and got to Diane's at 9:00.
Sue, Diane, Tiffani and Tanda and I went to Cherokee Ridge for a tour. What a beautiful place to visit! The gazebo on the lake and the gardens were really nice and Sarah was such a gracious hostess.
We went back to Di's for lunch and then headed home again.

July 8th, 2000

Conesus

Our 2 weeks at the lake with Aunt Millie was great. We played lots of "Kings on the Corner". Dorie and Joe and Diane and Denny were down often and Carol and Dale came in town for Dawn and Gary's wedding which we missed because of going to Cooperstown. The weather was cool and we had some rain but enjoyed every minute of our stay.

Then on to Cooperstown

before we headed home.

Cooperstown was great. Enjoyed the shops and of course the Induction Ceremonies. It was an almost all Reds ceremony with Tony Perez and Marty Brennanman and Sparky Anderson all going in the Hall of Fame. Bill even got to sing with the Salvation Army Band. Had a great place to stay also.

Casey At The Bat

The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day;
The score stood four to two with but one inning more to play,
And then when Cooney died at first, and Burrows did the same,
A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.

A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest
Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast:
They thought if only Casey could but get a whack at that,
They'd put up even money now, with Casey at the bat.

But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,
And the former was a pudd'n and the latter was a fake,
So upon the stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,
For there seemed but little hope of Casey's getting to the bat.

But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,
And Blake,the much despised,tore the cover off the ball,
And when the dust had lifted, and they saw what had occurred,
There was Jimmy safe on second, and Flynn a-hugging third.

Then from five thousand throats or more there rose a mighty yell,
It rumbled in the valley and it rattled on the dell,
It knocked upon the mountain and recoiled on the flat,
For Casey,mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.

There was ease in Casey's manner as he stepped up to his place,
There was pride in Casey's bearing and a smile on Casey's face,
And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,
No stranger in the crowd could doubt 'twas Casey at the bat.

Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt,
Five thousand tongues applauded as he wiped them on his shirt.
And when the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,
Defiance gleamed in Casey's eye;a sneer curled Casey's lip.

And now the leather-covered sphere comes hurtling through the air,
And Casey stands a-watching it in haughty grandeur there.
Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped--
"That ain't my style,"said Casey. "Strike one," the umpire said.

From the benches, black with people, there arose a muffled roar,
Like the beating of a storm-waves on some stern and distant shore.
"Kill him! Kill the umpire!" shouted someone in the stand,
And it's likely they'd have killed him had not Casey raised his hand.

With a smile of Christian charity great Casey's visage shone:
He stilled the rising tumult, he bade the game go on,
He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the spheroid flew,
But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said, "Strike two",

"Fraud" cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered fraud,
But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed;
They saw his face grown stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,
And they knew that Casey wouldn't let that ball go by again.

The sneer is gone from Casey's lip, his teeth are clenched in hate,
He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate;
And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,
And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout,
But there is no joy in Mudville--mighty Casey has struck out!

By Ernest L. Thayer