i'm young. i know how to have fun.

after several years of my disappointment, jackson finally decided he wanted to play baseball this year. i have never pressured him, but did ask each year if he wanted to join a league. this year, i didn't have to ask - he came to us. the differing factor this time was the fact that several of his friends play and he always wants to be with the boys.

after little consideration, we signed him up to play in manchaca. most all of his baseball-playing friends play in manchaca. there are a couple who play select baseball, but that isn't something that will be happening in our family.

jackson was required to try out. each boy got three pitches to swing at...jman fouled off two and missed one. he got his glove and went to short where he got three grounders hit to him - one straight on, one to the left and one to the right. he picked them all up and threw them to first. i think one throw was high. he finished his tryout by getting three fly balls hit to him as he waited in left field. i think he missed one of them. all in all i was super impressed with him and he did just as well as the
majority of the boys.


jackson got chosen by the yankees. he was very pleased that he got yankee gear to wear and that two of the boys on the team were already friends of his. i was pleased that his coaches turned out to be guys who were really good with the boys and pretty knowledgeable about the game. jackson had a great time.


unfortunately, the yanks rarely kept a good game going into the last inning. they were highly competitive but only strung together 4 wins. one of those resulted in the only loss for the team that won the league. their other two games with the top team ended in a tie and a loss in which we gave up 5 runs in the bottom of the last inning to lose by one. that was a disappointing way to finish the season.

jackson began the season as any first year player will do...right field and 8th in the batting order. as he collected hit after hit, he moved up to 3rd in the line-up. he remained there for the duration of the season. jackson finished the season with an on-base percentage just north of .750 . as he displayed a little bit of fielding prowess, he was moved to second base where he spent most of each game.

during the closing ceremonies for the league, two all-star teams were announced. being jackson's first year of play, any expectation for selection would have been pretty narcissistic. nevertheless, he began announcing to his family that he was sure to be selected. i tried to prepare him for the eventual disappointment. somehow he knew better than i. he was selected as a member of the second team.


as a family we discussed the time commitment required for him to play on this team. all told, it was a 6 day a week commitment for 5 weeks. it cost us another couple of hundred dollars and most of our time during the month of june.

it was great!

jackson's team ended up not being overwhelmingly talented. one problem was that almost all of the kids chosen for their pitching experience were unable to play. we had kids learning to pitch while on the mound during all-star tournament play. not a brilliant game plan. even though, the boys were in most of their games. more than once they were blown out of the park, but they were having so much fun together that they almost didn't seem to care.


more than anything else, j-man learned a whole lot about how the game is played. he learned what a baseball player looks and acts like. i don't think he had ever had a sunflower seed in his life prior to this, and now he is an absolute pro. he got lots of game experience and lots of time in practice learning drills and concepts that have helped him turn into a pretty good little player.

he did so well that over the fall he had a number of coaches calling to invite him to play in tournaments with teams they coach. again...awesome experience. he spent a good bit of the fall on the pitcher's mound learning a little bit of technique and a whole lot of application.


he's still not ready for full-time select baseball. he likes other sports too much (and is too good) to restrict his free time as much as would be required. flag football just finished and basketball is ready to begin. he loves cub scouts, too. one day we will likely make the jump, but we'll deal with that when we absolutely have to.

until then, i can't wait to see how coach david reacts when he sees how different jackson is from the kid that left his team in late may.

"the 'call 'o the wild' is in the blood of many of us and finds its safety valve in adventure"

"deep down inside me a tiny voice was calling. at first scarcely audible, it persisted until i could no longer ignore it. it was the voice of the wild places, and i knew that it was now part of me forever. inexplicably - amazingly - i knew i loved that hell. its fiendish grasp had captured me, and i wanted to see it again." percy harrison fawcett

i do not pretend that i have ever been in a wild place. to be sure, any place off the beaten path can be filled with danger if one is not prepared and careful; but, the true wild is nearly gone from this planet, and it is unlikely that i will experience it anytime soon. for the purposes of this writing, the wild refers to any wilderness that is unvisited by the unadventurous.

with this thinking in mind, i discovered the ozark highlands trail. some months ago, national geographic carried a photo essay about the OHT and i found it to be beautiful. that the ecological nature of the area is different from my usual haunts also intrigued me. plans for an adventure began forming.

our group ready, we left out for northwest arkansas on friday, may 22. an uneventful drive ended in an uneventful first night's camp. due to campground FUBAR, we were relegated to sleeping in a KOA. while i did sleep fine, i will also say "never again."

our morning came early as dad woke with the sunrise and insured that we do the same. the short drive to lake fort smith state park resulted in a view of a beautiful scene.

after registering at the trailhead, we were ready to begin the adventure and took the obligatory "clean and ready hikers" photo.
from left to right: me, neil, dad, dave , and keith.

our first day began with the usual optimism. i even pretended that the forecasted monsoon was apt to pass us by. that kind of thinking propelled us to take every precaution to keep our feet very dry when crossing water such as in frog bend bayou. those first few miles we passed several small streams in addition to numerous remnants of the previous land owners: chimneys with no homes to draw, spring wells that are no longer utilized and homesite clearings without the homes. it would have been quite a choice area to homestead back when. here's dad and his boys in front of a small stream falling into a pool.


several miles into the trail, a steady rain began to fall upon us. with the heavy canopy covering us, we hardly felt any of the drops getting through. that soon changed. we all attempted a couple of different poncho configurations before settling in on one that kept equipment reasonably dry while providing absolutely no protection for the hiker. one must prioritize. while a wet me would be inconvenient, a wet sleeping bag would be incomprehensible.

it interests me how even when hiking as a group, a backpacking party will stretch out over a significant length of trail. my experience is that this rarely happens in an off-trail hike, but almost always happens when a well defined trail exists. we all need to move along on our own terms. this hike was no exception. every couple of miles or so, the blazers would wait for the trailers and we would start the cycle once more.

it was under these circumstances that we regrouped in time to find our campground for the night. just on the west bank of hurricane creek, i spotted a sizable clearing that even featured a fire ring. of course it was a soaked fire ring and the water logged wood that i was able to gather was just too stubborn for me to make much of. a lot of work ended in a little flame and too much smoke. unsatisfied, we all set our sleeping arrangements and went about cooking our suppers. for me that was a tarp of painter's plastic thrown into an a-frame hanging on a cord strung between two trees, and some red beans and rice i decided try. even the tired, wet and cold-induced hunger i was experiencing couldn't make that garbage palatable. note to self for the next trip.

with chills permeating, i slouched into my bag and tried to warm up. i think i had created a water-proof set-up, but thankfully the respite from the rain lasted the whole night. i slept like a baby...you know the joke.

the morning brought back the feelings of excitement and hope. the rain had stopped and the oatmeal and cocoa renewed me. alas, as we were breaking camp the sprinkles began to fall...lightly, but there. we filtered water from hurricane creek and headed out.

whereas saturday's hike had us following the course of jack's creek for mile after mile, sunday found us following the path of a forest road for much of our 9 miles. it was strange to find my way through what appeared to be wilderness only to be occasionally be reminded of our close proximity to motorized recreation each time a truck or four-wheeler roared by.

as we climbed out of the river bottom, we were assaulted by mosquitoes. i have never been the target of so many at one time. i would guess that 100 mosquito bites is conservative enough of an estimate to induce a chuckle from my hiking band. when moving, the attack was manageable, but if one stopped to rest - look out - you are about to be let. tough decisions because we gained elevation for much of the day. we saw some beautiful scenery as we came out of the valleys and then fantastic views of those valleys as we approached the apex of our trail.

at one point, dad and i were sweeping the trail as we approached the top of richardson mountain. i spotted a small fawn by himself in the trees off to our right. as i pointed him out to dad, the fawn noticed us noticing him. he crouched down and lowered his head. he really became more difficult to see. when we didn't move, he laid down in the leaves and his markings became a perfect match for the forest floor. if i hadn't watched the whole episode, i am sure i wouldn't have seen him there. it was very cool. we left him to find his mom.

i always love the time when i have this epiphany of "what in the world am i doing?!" this time i was sitting in the rain with my brother. we were along the side of the trail having our lunch. i think i ate some nuts and cranberries and oranges. on every other day of the year, the possibility of me eating outside in the rain would have been close to zero. this day, it seemed perfectly reasonable and i was even encouraged by the decision i made that "at least it isn't raining too hard right now." charlotte would have loved to be there for that one. it would give her a great opening for her "what is wrong with you?" standard.

finally we approached white rock and with a final push in elevation gain, we arrived at the home of our shuttle driver. unceremoniously, she deposited us at dave's truck. we all changed into dry clothes and filled up at a waffle house. it was a great way to end a wet, but wonderful trip. i wonder if/when i will see some of the 160 or so miles remaining in the OHT.

this trip was different than many of my recent hikes. because of some schedule problems with end of school and all star baseball, j-man didn't come with me this time. it was a little easier not needing to guide him along the way, carry his equipment and assuage his fear. on the other hand, i have gotten very accustomed to talking with him along the trail, playing his word games and chatting with him in the tent at the end of the day. i missed him and hope things work out better for the next trip.