Home is where the heart is

The drive to Arkansas and back was uneventful but long and boring. No matter how you split it up or what kind of vehicle you’re in, you’re still driving ten and a half hours by yourself and that’s no fun. On top of that, spending the night going and coming added on to the usual fuel costs and incidentals totaled more than an airline ticket would have so I’m going to have to rethink my travel plans before my next trip down there.

But it’s always worthwhile to get to spend some time with my boys. The distance between us precludes a short weekend visit so that means it’s usually several months between visits and, at my age, that’s too long. But I’m not planning on moving down there and they’re not going to move to Nebraska so that’s an unsolvable problem for the time being. Linda, Michael and I finally got to see Will and Erica’s new house last Friday and it was gorgeous. My hat’s off to both of them for getting college degrees, finding jobs that suit their skills and being financially mature enough to build their own house.

It was also a good week for Michael and the teaching demonstration he was required to give as he competed for a high school teaching position in Helena, Arkansas. I’ve seen Michael teach before so I had every confidence he would do well and evidently he did because he was offered the job as soon as he finished his teaching demonstration. That thrilled me like few things have because his pursuit of a broadcast meteorology degree was going to be a long drawn-out process with no promises of a job at the end and he really needed to get to work. Being hired as a history teacher solved that problem.

Even though I grew up there, I often forget how beautiful a state Arkansas is. From the Ozark and Ouachita mountains in the western part, to the many lakes in Central Arkansas and over to the rice fields and some of the finest duck hunting in the country in the east and south, it has a diversity of attractions that few states have. Unfortunately, it is also a very poor state and has been for some time and that makes it unattractive for many people including me.

As much fun as it is to travel away from home and see people and things you don’t normally see, it’s always great to get back home too. As Dorothy said in “The Wizard of Oz”, there’s no place like home and there truly isn’t. You develop friends along with habits and behaviors that you can’t recreate anywhere else and that’s what makes home so desirable.

I’ll always enjoy visiting my boys but I’ll always enjoy coming back home just as much. Especially after the college World Series disaster involving my alma mater, the University of Arkansas, who went from winning the college world series to losing it on one basic play you’re taught how to handle in Little League. Arkansas had won the first game in a best two out of three final and were ahead by one run going into the 9th inning in the second game. There was an Oregon State runner on 3rd base with two out when the batter hit a pop foul behind first base. Three fielders converged on the ball, the first baseman, the second baseman and the right fielder. What all of us learn early in our baseball careers is that the fielder who has the best angle to catch the ball yells loudly that he’s got it which makes the other players give him room to make the catch. But that’s not what happened. The three continued to race to the same spot, no one attempted to catch the ball as it came down and it bounced harmlessly on the ground. The batter who should have been out had a second life and he responded by singling home the runner on third which tied up the game. The next batter hit a home run and Oregon State wins the second game of the series when it should have been over two plays before that. That obviously sucked the life out of the Razorbacks and they went on to lose game three and the World Series last night, getting only two hits and no runs in a 5-0 loss.

The bungled play in the second game had cost them the championship and broke the hearts of Razorback fans everywhere, including their manager, Dave Van Horn, who took Nebraska to the college world series twice without winning.

Except for that and the long drive, it was a good trip!