For this one, we turn back the clock ⏰️ to the early 1980s, when life was full of challenges that would be hard to comprehend.
Young, married, and trying hard to find ways to feed your children is the condensed version, but Lin and I would need to find a bag 🎒 of cash 💸 just to make our way to being poor.
Married too early and lacking any type of education between us, we relyed on Prayer 🙏 and any carrot 🥕 we could put on a stick. One of the challenges to that was not eating the carrot.
To say that we weren’t in a good place would be an understatement! But music 🎶 was free, and Jimmy Buffett was singing about exotic places. This led me to go to a local trophy 🏆 shop and spending $20.00 that would have been better spent on groceries.
We created a trophy that the top part was a ⛵️⛵️⛵️ sailboat, and the engraved part read as follows…
Stay positive, and you will make it to Atlantic Beach ⛱️, North Carolina!
That trophy was part of our life for over forty years. It wasn’t until we left Orcas Island that we said our goodbyes.
Everything in life is about timing and God’s plans. Being that I had never stepped foot on Atlantic Beach ⛱️, today was the perfect time to do it.
Through the grace of God, Lin and I reached a level beyond our expectations, and as promised, we did as much as we could to help others.
Each morning, Travis Osborne wakes ⏰️ up and chooses a Bible Verse to send me through Messenger. Then I attach one of five photos 📸 of him / his family and declare that the day has begun.
Proverbs 14:26 In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.
Sometimes, all a person needs to know is that they are not alone !
This week is The Coast of Carolina Week, and the challenge will be to see 👀 how many different ways one can get on the water 💧????
Take the extra second and show kindness in the direction of others ! You just never know what impact you could have on someone else !!
Sunday afternoon in Hickory, North Carolina, and the first pitch is set for 2:00 pm
Sharon DeHaven and I had a very nice exchange yesterday afternoon. Here is how that ties to our tagline of encouraging the world, one person at a time. The first time I heard that Mrs DeHaven enjoyed reading my work, I wasn’t sure how she was related to our athletic director. Mom, Sister or Wife, but I knew that it made me smile to hear that.
To show her my appreciation for the kind words, I created a baseball story for the team that her grandson just finished playing for. Every story that I write ✍️ is for roughly 3 to 5 people, and the one about Peyton Spencer being clutch was written for Sharon DeHaven, Mr. Spencer, his family, and secretly for Head Coach Casey Burcham.
Once I pen 🖊 a story, more often than not, I need assistance in getting it to the desired people. If it’s related to Carroll County High School 🏫 Baseball ⚾️, I send it to Deana Burcham and ask her to please 🙏 help me get it to the correct people. I don’t need 5,000 clicks or reads, but I absolutely love for the story to find its intended destination. Hence, trying to encourage the world, one person at a time !
$10.00 gets you a seat 💺 right behind home 🏡 plate. $5.00 gets you a parking spot at LP Frans Stadium 🏟.
There are two things that I believe that a baseball fan should hold onto with all of their might.
First, your favorite baseball team ! My Father 👨 was in the Navy for just shy of 30 years, and I was born south of Oakland, California, on a base in Lemoore. My oldest brother, Wayne, likes to reference the fact that Bob in the Top Gun sequel ( the vanilla but rock solid officer without a call name ) is also from Lemoore.
Charles Finley introduced me to both the sport and the wackiness of sports marketing. If you are old enough to remember the Swinging A’s of the early 1970’s. If not, look him up, and it will explain a few things about me. Finley taught me that you will draw certain fans on the merit of the game, but others need a bonus reason to attend a game.
The Swinging A’s had cool 😎 nicknames, handlebar mustaches, and really loud jerseys to start the list. Jim ” Catfish ” Hunter, Vida ” True ” Blue and Reggie ( Jackson ) had his own candy bar 🍫. Rollie Fingers, Joe Rudi, and Kenny Holtzman were some more characters. Gene Tennace, Dick Green, and Sal Bando were some more.
Finley was my first hero, and other than the fact that he tried to bribe Vida to legally change his first name to True ( bit of a reach there ), he was a genius !
If not for Pete Rose and the Big Red Machine interrupting their dynasty run, the group that still managed three straight World Series titles.
50 years later, the A’s are now the first homeless MLB team in history. Yes, in the standings, they are just the A’s, and they are playing in an AAA park in Sacramento while their new digs in Las Vegas is being built.
A few years later, the Seattle Mariners were born, and the Pacific Northwest was the dream location / destination for me, so it’s been A’s, Mariners, and Greg Maddux ever since.
Earlier today, I played a round of golf ⛳️ with the friend that I have known the longest (35 years ), Dennis Cerrie. We first met up in Charlotte a lifetime ago and somehow found a way to meet in the middle of the cities in which we live and play 18 holes of golf ⛳️.
There is nothing special about the course, it’s just about the fellowship. The most noteworthy thing about the round was the baby calf 🐄🐮 that came up to our tee box on #7 and started mooing loudly. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to moo back, even louder. In a blink of an eye 👁, Momma showed up to protect her baby.
Insert Kristy Jones or Denise Webb doing the exact same thing if you moo at their little ones.
Circle back, original baseball teams, and old friends should be treated as priceless possessions. Plus, if you Moo at a youngster, don’t be surprised when Momma comes running !
Oh yeah, if you are given an opportunity to bring a smile to Sharon DeHaven, that is the definition of a No-Brainer !
The Greater Fool is an economic term that has a special meaning to me because of my appreciation for Aaron Sorkin over the years. Sorkin, along with God, Tim Tebow, my father 👨 and Jimmy Buffett combined to create the person who my site has belonged to for the past 18 years.
Anyone who pays attention to my work will notice that my name doesn’t appear anywhere on my site because this effort is not about me in the slightest. It is about my efforts to show God my appreciation for the life that I have been blessed 🙌 to live.
Find a need and fill it – The six word message came from a Southern Baptist church service that I listened to almost 50 years ago, and I have tried my best to follow those words to the very best of my abilities.
There is no shortage of folks holding a camera around here, and a large number of them operate on a very high plane. We are blessed to have the likes of Mike Turner, Craig Worrell, and Velvet Leonard, just to name a few. There is no ” need ” there, that is for sure.
I consider myself skilled in a number of areas, but when it comes to photography📸, I am just a guy who uses his cellphone.
Ryan McCafferty is an answered prayer, and I have done everything I can to assist him during his transition into our area. It’s been a hot minute since The Carroll News has designated a staff position to solely cover Sports in our area. He is young and energetic ➕️ he has an understanding of his surroundings. We needed that in a BIG way, and now we have it.
We are halfway through year six living in the suburbs of downtown Laurel Fork, and every day, I wake up and ask myself, “What can I do today that will give another person hope ?” Can you make someone smile or laugh by showing them a random act of kindness ?
Where that gets tricky is the fact its hard to put a tag on the effort. Everything that I attempt to do is because of my Faith and because I will never have the ability to Preach a sermon, I do my very best to let my actions speak for me.
Love Thy Neighbor is part of the thought process as well. We live in a very unique place, and if everyone had the mindset of watching out for each other, Wow, just Wow !
The Laurel Fork Coconut 🥥 Telegraph is our sister site, and that name is in tribute to both Jimmy Buffett and the place we call home !
This site is designed for a quick hit smile when a photo can tell a story on its own. The photo 📸 there makes an impression, and it is one of our current players. If someone sends me a picture, it is because it matters to them. By extension, it then matters to me, and if it doesn’t need 500 words, it goes on the Coconut Telegraph. If it needs a story, a story is created!
By the way, can you tell me which player it is ?
Alone in a Crowd – Allen Worrell, Anthony Barnes, Greg Talley, Martin McKenzie, Marion Harris, and Shannon Dalton are some of the people who were an absolute pleasure to interact with over the years and I miss them very much. Yes, I have to include Marion on the list because there was a time when he was contributing material to our efforts. I miss interacting with Kris Richardson, but that falls into a different category as my neighbor and friend is also way too busy.
Removing the photo 📸 of the school 🏫 from the banner of the site was a natural thing to do. Yes, the original design was to build a safe place, free of bullying and hate, for people to wake ⏰️ up to. But the percentage of the school that was involved with this was less than 5%. Using my photo of the school was the equivalent of false advertising.
The one in its place is a special one to me as a shop owner down in North Carolina, used a laser to combine our logo with the shape of The Commonwealth.
The new title is a temporary one, and the site itself still has the same address it had back on Day 1. Aroundthevalleyin60days.blog
Other names will include :
The Bill Gallimore Sports Report
The Road Less Traveled
Greg Bolen is a Rock Star
I hope that Kevin Burress never grows up
Joe Walsh once had an album in which he titled it ” You bought it, You name it.”
Clever stuff !
Things that you should know about my efforts going forward are :
I am trying hard to act like a smaller version of Tim Tebow.
I am trying to write ✍️ every word like Jimmy & Aaron.
I am serving God.
I love ❤️ the following things not already listed : Educators, anyone who wears a uniform – Police or Military, anyone trying to coach a team without a Nike shoe contract.
EVERY word I write ✍️ will always be in a positive manner because the World 🌎 needs more of it !
I also ❤️ Kevin Burress and Buc-ees !!
Longer read than normal, but the focus has to shift to the folks who want the interaction.
The softball capsules are fun to do, and they tend to make people smile. All I ask is that if you want one for your family, just let me know by sending me a pic or 2 that you love.
As folks like Travis Osborne and Travis Leath know, Softball is the Greatest Show on Dirt !
Let’s wrap this up by saying that, Yes, I truly believe that their is still time to make a difference in this World 🌎 and I proudly accept the label of The Greater Fool for believing that we can still get there !!!
Yes, the Morning 🌄 Brew will still include Travis Osborne with his Bible Verse of the Day :
Ecclesiastes 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
If you believe what I believe, I welcome 🙏 the interaction, but if not, that’s okay too, just change the channel.
The road less traveled ! 