Tuesday, December 14, 2021

December 14 – “A familiar face”

We had a fairly mild day yesterday.  Well, at least I did.  Chris spent the day in the kitchen doing some baking.  But she did take some time out here and there to sit down and rest.  Oh, I forgot to mention … we took a walk for the first time since this last stent “experience.”  All the way around the block.  Chris at first said she intended to go the whole two miles, but after saying that she realized she wasn’t able to walk and talk at the same time without getting winded.  So, nope.  Around the block it is.  We’ll slowly increase it.

 

I spent the bulk of the morning on two tasks.  One was preparing for the church Christmas party coming up Thursday night.  I have the Reindeer Games to plan and lead.  Kel gets the Christmas story and prayer.  I’m not done yet.  Still have to make a trip to the Dollar Store.  What for?  I’ll let you know Thursday night at the church.  7 p.m.

 

My second task meant hanging out in the garage for a few hours.  I’m working on this year’s carving for one of Chris’ Christmas presents.  This is the one that is wreaking havoc on my thumb arthritis.  It’s tough being among the only species on the planet with opposable thumbs, and not being able to use them effectively.  It is coming along, though.  May start fine sanding soon. 

 

Last night we drove up to Santa Fe to watch Cailyn play basketball.  Her team was pitted against a team from Angleton.  The B Team won their game fairly handily.  Sadly, the situation was reversed in Cailyn’s A Team game.  I forgot to check the final score, but I think at one time it was something like 30 to 3.  Ouch.  They just never figured out how to solve the opponent’s 1-3-1 trapping defense.  Cailyn played some pretty masterful defense when she was in the game, though.  She was handed the job of shutting down the bad guys’ point guard/high scorer.  And she really did that.  The girl only scored one basket under Cailyn’s watch.  Oh, and Cailyn did get off one shot amidst a lot of traffic.  The shot was partially blocked, but it was good to see her going for it.  I won’t mention the lack of referee calls for basic stuff like traveling, double dribble, fouls and the like.  That certainly didn’t help, but it wasn’t the cause of the final score this time.  An offense against that trap … that would have helped.  Sorry.  Old coach in me struggling to get to the surface. 

 

Speaking of old coach days … we did get a surprise in the stands at the game.  Nathan realized that one of our old cohorts from back the CHSA Wolverine days.  He thought he recognized him, and even asked me, but from where I was sitting I couldn’t even see the guy’s face.  Nathan finally tapped him on the shoulder.  Sure enough, when he turned to face us, it was Michael Barnett.  Haven’t seen him in years.  He and Nathan reminisced for a long time about the good old days and chatted about their recent discovery – both have daughters playing basketball.  Michael assured me that he wouldn’t be playing in any alumni games in the near future.   Wat too out of shape.  He said he wouldn’t last five minutes.  I assured him that was probably a few minutes longer than some of the others from his era.  He hugged me before he left.  Always great to see some of the youngsters I coached or pastored growing into fine young adults.

 

John 8:12 says, “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’”

 

Father, please be with Michael and his family.  Watch over his girls while they play basketball and grow into young ladies.  Amen.

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