Baseball is back this weekend. For real.  The Mets hosted the Yankees in a summer exhibition game.  Last night's outcome confused. It included players I do not expect nor want to play when the games count but it was nice to experience it via the telly. There’s more tonight.

In Tokyo, the Japanese baseball team Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks have replaced their fans with dancing robots. Over 20 robots danced to the team’s fight song on a podium in the otherwise empty stands.   Two different robots, including SoftBank’s humaniod robot ‘Pepper’ and others on four legs like a dog, performed a choreographed dance that is the Hawks’ fans tradition before games in the 40,000 capacity Fukuoka Dome.   Some of the robots wore Hawks caps and waved flags supporting the team.  

When I was young my father taught me the importance of looking someone in the eye while giving a firm handshake.

The other morning we sat down for our morning meditation. As we do every morning, Flo turned on the Calm app on her phone. But weird things ensued. The app kept crashing.After a few tries, we gave up and took an unguided moment to ourselves. Then Flo turned on the radio.

The best part of my trip? When my little brother leaned over at the Fourth of July party and said, “ya wanna go get the four wheelers and go for a ride?” Just like when we were kids. I said, “yeah!” Off we went. Zipping by the small crowds, headed into 60 acres of open space. Aaron, leading of course. Dirt flying into my freshly washed hair, bugs hitting my sunglasses, tight turns and mud puddles ahead. It was AWESOME! I was wearing my white tennis skirt and my Torresdale Union League collared shirt, with my keds. Didn’t matter. I wore splattered mud on my leg and crud in my hair.

  It arrived on Saturday and I could not have been more excited. My, oh my, how I have changed. At another point in my life, I would never have been moved by Saturday’s delivery. I would never have even known how it worked or had interest in finding out. It just was not my thing.

This past weekend, my husband and I watched “Ford v. Ferrari.” (a fairly good movie that I would recommend). In one scene there is a huge crowd watching a race. At the conclusion of the race, there is a happy scene where most people in the scene hug one another. While watching that scene, I grew quite sad. It had nothing to do with the movie but, rather, our current situation.