Thoughts For The Day From Papa ‘a

Good Morning All & Happy Friday!

Well, this day kicked off with a great Barre Code session with my daughter Amy as the instructor.  The class is called “Barre” and it’s a terrific way to start any day.  Lots of stretching and low impact exercises that helps core strength and lower & upper body exercises.  The class comes pretty early in the day (5:15 a.m.!), but it’s worth it!  The Barre Code has class sessions throughout the day.  Check it out!  You’ll be glad you did.  Google “The Barre Code Spokane” for more information on class schedules.

Tonight is a big night for our family…it’s “REVEAL NIGHT”, where we find out whether my daughter, Amy, and son-in-law, Joel, will have a baby boy or a baby girl…the suspense is killing me!  They know, but we don’t know…but we’ll know tonight!  Everyone in the family is taking bets…I’ve got my money on a boy, but Amy isn’t letting on…she’s pretty good at not letting it slip before our family party tonight.  Whether it’s a boy or a girl is of no matter…the important thing is they are having a baby!  And what a miracle it is!  Here’s to you, Joel and Amy, and your little boy? or little girl?!

How about those Willapa Valley High School Vikings (my dad’s alma mater from Menlo, Washington)!  They have won two games in a row at the State “B” Basketball Tournament at The Spokane Arena and play Life Christian Academy tonight in the semi-finals.  It’s been fun watching them live this past Thursday and then on T.V. last night.  They barely made it into the tournament as the 3rd seed from their district, but are doing a terrific job as an overall 10th seed.  Their high school has a total of 86 students!  Tonight’s opponent is a private school out of Tacoma and that school can recruit players from all over the Tacoma area…a pretty good advantage over a team like Willapa Valley that draws their players from just their small community.  GO VIKINGS!  My dad would be pleased to see them dong so well in the state tournament.  If you ever pass through Raymond/South Bend on the way to Long Beach and the ocean, be sure to take a brief detour and drive through the Willapa Valley.  It’s a beautiful little valley composed of dairy and beef cattle farms.  The valley follows the Willapa River, which empties into Willapa Harbor at Raymond.

Speaking of the State “B” Basketball Tournament, my wife, Judy, and I spent most of the day Thursday at The Spokane Arena and saw five basketball games, two of which went into overtime.  Some really high level of basketball play in most all of the games we watched.  My favorite player was an 8th grader on the Oakesdale Nighthawks team.  Oakesdale if a wheat farming community just south of Spokane.  He didn’t get to play in the game, but I loved his enthusiasm.  He was “no bigger than a minute” with stylish black basketball shoes that looked to be bigger than him!  I would anticipate that we’ll see him in future tournament games as he gets older.  Where else do 8th graders get the opportunity to suit up for a state basketball tournament game?  Not to mention that some of the towns involved in the tournament literally shut down and everyone comes to the tournament to root on their team…like the fans from Selkirk High School in Ione, Washington.  It looked to us like everyone from the towns of Ione & Metaline Falls were there for the game this past Thursday.  It was great to see the devotion of the towns toward their team.  We got caught up in the enthusiasm for the Selkirk Rangers and found ourselves rooting them on.  Unfortunately, they lost a heartbreaking overtime game that ended their visit to the tournament.  The Selkirk fans really love their team.  It was great to see the interaction with the fans and the players after the game…what makes this basketball tournament special, for sure.  You gotta love the State “B” tournament!

Happy Birthday wishes go to my friend, Mark, who owns an outstanding pool and spa business in Spokane and is an accomplished skydiver, having jumped literally hundreds of times in many different places throughout the world…he turns 60 today.  Here’s to you, Mark!  Happy Birthday to my friend Bethany, who turns 31 today in Okinawa; to my friend John in Michigan (married to one of my favorite people, Rachel!), who is 36 today; and to childhood friend Brad, who is 65 today in Olympia, Washington (my hometown).  Welcome to Medicare, my friend!  And Happy Birthday to the very first woman in space, Russian cosmonaut Valentina Treshnakova, who is 83 today!  What a remarkable accomplishment to be the first woman in space in 1961 or 1962, as I recall!  I think she was the second human being in space, if memory serves me correctly.  WOW!

I came across the 1969 Topps Football Card for Billy Kilmer, the quarterback great who played for the San Francisco 49ers, New Orleans Saints and the Washington Redskins (part of the famous “Over The Hill Gang” under legendary coach George Allen).  Billy was born in Topeka, Kansas in 1939 and his family subsequently moved to Azusa, California, where he played high school football for Citrus Union High School.  He then went on to play football for Citrus Community College and then UCLA.  He was the 11th overall pick in the 1961 NFL draft by the San Francisco 49ers.  He was later traded to the expansion New Orleans Saints and then ended his career with the Washington Redskins.  He led the Redskins against the Miami Dolphins in the Super Bowl in 1972, the year the Miami went undefeated and won the Super Bowl.  Billy could run and pass as a quarterback and helped all of the teams he played for over his career.  He had a reputation as being a heavy drinker and carouser, especially during his time in New Orleans.  However, he always seemed to be able to show up and perform at game time.  He played 18-19 seasons in the NFL…quite remarkable for a quarterback!  After his football career, he did some color commentating on Washington Redskins games.  He now lives in Florida at the age of 80 and enjoys playing golf and making public appearances from time to time at football events in the New Orleans and/or Washington, D.C. areas.  Here’s to Billy Kilmer and “The Over The Hill Gang”!

Here’s the funny public service announcement for the day…it comes from this month’s edition of “Journey”, the monthly magazine of the Automobile Association/Club of Washington:

“Don’t drive intoxicated.  Don’t drive intexticated.”

This the above quote reminds me of something the basketball commentator said last night about how the Liberty High School coach was feeling of frustration about his team losing to Willapa Valley in the third quarter of last night’s game.  The commentator mentioned that the coach was “exaserbated” about his team’s performance…I think he meant to say “exasperated” over his team’s performance!!!  Don’t you just love words?

Speaking of words, here’s the word definition for the day:

Euphony (You-fa-nee):  “The quality of being pleasing to the ear, especially through a harmonious combination of words.”

I had the privilege of attending the memorial service for Nancy Ball Domrese, beloved wife of my friend Larry Domrese.  Inside the memorial program was a poem that Nancy had written…it’s entitled “Spring Shower” and I thought you might enjoy reading it as much as I did:

Spring Shower

The tulips set the table…with their lovely china cups.

The squirrels scrounged and hunted…for last Autumn’s misplaced nuts.

The daffodils were smiling…at those party crashing wrens

When the shower started early…’twas at the rainbow’s end.

The hyacinths stood tall and straight…to offer kind regards.

Violets sang sweet lullabies…for the new born baby birds.”

—Nancy Ball Domrese, “Spring Shower,” (Spring, 1996)

Here are some thoughts for the day:

“All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and title page:   now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read:  which goes on for ever:  in which every chapter is better than the one before.”

—C.S. Lewis, “The Last Battle,” as quoted in C.S. Lewis’ Little Book Of Wisdom:  Meditations on Faith, Life, Love, and Literature (2018)

“If I find myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.

—C.S. Lewis, “Mere Christianity,” as quoted in C.S. Lewis’ Little Book Of Wisdom:  Meditations on Faith, Life, Love, and Literature (2018)

Here’s to a great Friday and lots of love always!

Press on,

Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, etc.)