Have I Become Chopper 5?

The first time I heard the phrase "helicopter parent" was in June at our UT "orientation."

I fit the bill. We both do. We hovered over both kids and especially Charlie.

Here's John, loading the car when we took Chaz to UT.

Good think we had a big vehicle because it was jam-packed FULL.

On the way home, I stopped crying before we got to Nashville...

I live on the wrong side of the tracks

I live in Germantown. When we moved here in 1998, the "real estate experts" shooed us away from Midtown or East Memphis.

"Shelby County Schools," they said. And because we were looking for a high school with a strong girls sports program (Carly played softball) we ended up in the shadow of G-town High. No McMansion ours. It's a modest mid-70's style ranch, built when the men in charge probably thought two bathrooms in a four bedroom house was one too many.

But I digress.

Railroad tracks divide the city and we live on the south side. But most of the closest stores are on the north side. So oftentimes we spend a little time, waiting for freight to pass by.

At around 8:20pm Tuesday, Dottie and I had to run to the drug store for a trifle and were on the north side when the crossing arms lowered.

I turned the engine off and patiently listened to the Cardinals (who were losing again) on the radio for about five minutes. As the train lumbered east, I notice in my rear view mirror, a large maroon SUV in the turning lane (on the left side) moving slowly closer to my car. I was about five vehicles back from the crossing bars when they raised up and the Incredibly Impatient Person Behind the Wheel sped up, passed me and pulled into my lane, cutting me off.

Unfortunately, I did not see his/her license plate. If I had, I would have reported him/her here.

I hate the railroad tracks but I hate rude drivers more.

Godspeed Tom

Tom Walter died today.

The CA called for a comment and yes, my quote was somewhat misconstrued. Whatever. Tom was a good guy who unfortunately never stepped a foot inside our newsroom. I think he wanted to write his columns from a pure viewer perspective but I always felt that he measured us against what he knew about newsrooms from a that of a print guy.

It's not the same.

But Tom's misunderstanding is not the issue today. He was a brilliant writer and a devoted partner to his wonderful wife, Sara. He was, surprisingly, an outdoorsman, who loved to hike and to see the outdoors. He told me wonderful tales of the trip he and Sara took to the Canadian Rockies.

Tom was a Chicagoan to the end but he embraced The South. I know he was writing a book. I hope I get to read it some day.

Listening to the Twins

When I was a kid, television was still a relatively new technology and one of my early sports memories forged a love of the baseball team from the next state over.

In the summer, my family (two parents, and eventually seven kids) gathered around the 19-inch b/w set (a blonde cabinet model) to watch the Minnesota Twins. Mostly, the Twins lost.

I am not the biggest Twins fan in my family.


That honor belongs to my mother. She listens to or watches every game she can. She can quote stats like a baseball card collector.
It's really uncanny.

I was eight when the Twins went to the World Series (1965 if you're doing the math) to face Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. Harmon Killebrew was the Twins slugger who initially was unstoppable but was stymied by the great Dodger pitching after the Minnesota boys won the first two games.

In adulthood, I've never lived close enough to consistently get Twins games on TV but for just $14.95, I can listen to the home town broadcasts on WCCO via the internet.

The Twins had a hideous start this year but 41 years after my first remembered World Series, my Boys of Summer have pitching too!
With Liriano (currently on the DL), Santana, Radke and closer Nathan, the Twinkies just might have a chance for post-season play.

Listening to the Twins on the internet makes me feel like a kid again.

It's time

or maybe not....