Dear Family, Friends, and Diary,
Not much new, but we continue. Marianne paints and struggles a bit to finish her current project in time for an August 4th showing. Lots of work but, despite the struggle, she seems to enjoy the process. August used to seem far off, but now it's almost here, or so it seems.
While she paints, I fiddle with reading and screen-things. My book is Anne Applebaum'sRed Famine, Stalin's War on Ukraine, a timely read now as the Russian-Ukrainian war grinds on. Applebaum tells how Ukrainian people have suffered under a series of imperialist rulers, most notoriously the Soviets and, now, Russians. Short of Ukrainian victory, it's hard to imagine an end to the oppression. Part of my "screen-things" are a daily routine of YouTube updates on the war in Ukraine. Two or three bloggers give details from our old homeland with clear pro-Ukraine bias, but somehow with more credibility than major media. New war, new world.
My other screen concentration remains elecric-car-related. Tesla, of course, because it's so entertaining. Elon Musk's eccentricity sometimes overshadows the remarkable technical innovation of his companies, but there is no denying that it's interesting, from cars, car factories, spaceships, solar power, and tunnel transportation.
The Aptera startup is also attracting my attention, not just because we have reserved one of their efficient cars, but because they may have settled on a truly unique approach for a sustainable, low-cost (but fun) vehicle. Part of their marketing has involved recruiting hundreds of "Ambassadors" to spread the solar-efficiency gospel. My own Ambassador duties now include minor editing of their community website, another useful distraction.
We would rather be traveling, here in America in an electric car, or in Europe on any way we could, but for now tourist travel is limited to puzzles: Italy in this case.
Photography continues, as best I can. Flowers and butterflies are always around.
I went downtown to practice pictures and found that Bob Kliss was working at Kliszewski Glass and that's always a fun subject. He and his assistant were working diligently to make the spiraled stoppers that top some of his most-popular vases. (We have bought several over the years.)
Our work week ended, as it often does, with a session of Codebreakers with family in Colorado and Maryland. We struggle each week to win by improving our skills, but I do not think we have improved significantly since our first games well over a year ago. That's all right, since chatting is the real purpose here, and that gets better with every session.
Speaking of kids, on Saturday morning we left Fresno, bound for Gilroy and a little league game. Sam's 11-year-old All Stars were playing and we looked forward to seeing the family (and escaping the Central Valley's triple-digit heat). The Los Gatos boys were playing in the season-ending tournament and hoped to get past the Aptos team, but that was not to be. Still, it is a double-elimination tournament, so there's still hope.
From baseball, the family routing section moved on to Ava's tennis tournament. She played three matches over almost five hours, earning playing time, a victory, and a few stories. It seems like some tennis mothers are as out-spoken as other sports parents, making the rest of us wonder exactly what they are teaching their kids.
The celebration for all our spots events was a dinner out. Walking in, we noticed that Marianne may now be the shortest of the girls. Inevitable. Service was slow, but that was OK, because it gave us lots more time to catch up. A good end of the day.
Sunday was more baseball and a win would require even more baseball over at least the next couple of days. That's certainly what Sam and the boys were hoping. Let's let a couple dozen pictures tell the story:
At the Gilroy field, everyone arrived early for practice, last-minute coaching, and the national anthem - just like the big leagues.
The game started great with good pitching, a few hits, and luck on the base paths.
Each inning, there was some scoring and gradually the 2-0 lead wore down. The crowd was on the edge of their lawn chairs the whole game!
Late in the game, Sam got a chance to play. His substitute classification means he spends more time encouraging others than playing himself, but he did manage to get on base. Unfortunately, he was left stranded at third. (Both teams stranded runners on base almost every inning.)
Despite a last-minute flurry, Los Gatos came up short.
Coaches consoled the young players, but the disappointment was clear on their faces. Memories.
With that finish, Sam and his family moved on to the rest of the summer activities. They always have a full schedule and we're sure the sting of losing the last 11-year-old International Little League game will fade. Soemhow, I was reminded of the old Brando movie line: "I could'a been a contender"
Marianne and I returned to Fresno, hot Fresno. The temperature was 110F by the time we made it home and we are facing a string of triple-digits as far as the weather forecast covers. How many weeks is it until September? Seven. How many with daily temperatures above 100F? At least six.
We need to escape. Stay tuned.
John and Marianne