With Leslie's bike accident, I've fallen behind. I've needed to update my blog re Carlos and baseball, re Kindu and his graduation with a BS this past Sunday from Farmingdale State College !

Leslie is getting better. Thank you, to all our friends. She's working with a physical therapist, her post-concussion issues seem to be getting better, and she goes to see the orthopedist tomorrow, to check on her hip/leg surgery, the pins in her femur. She's staying awake a little longer each night, is more aware. My parents, Shirley and Howard, spent the last week with us, taking care of things here. Leslie's parents, Ria and Mike, have been wonderful, as have our sons. Our friends. On and on. So Thank You !

And Gee Gee, thank you for the letter you sent.

Carlos: I've not reported enough. Carlos and I left NY on a Friday. We drove to Washington, PA, for a Saturday tryout for the Wild Things, in the Frontier League. The plan was to then continue on to Avon, Ohio, for the larger Frontier League tryouts.

This is Carlos' home in Queens. He lives on the top floor. That's Carlos, in front of his car. I bought that car years ago, for him. He loves that car. Did I say that he LOVES that car. I don't like cars, the carbon footprint. More about the carbon footprint.

We stayed in a Comfort Inn near the ball field. Carlos signed in early:

We met Todd Marlin, a sweet and good man. Carlos ran and threw and caught. And then he batted. He tried to bat. His right hand, his power hand, swelled up to a half-hand bigger. He couldn't bat. We saw no reason to continue on to Avon. Carlos was crushed. Clayton Snellgrove, whom we went to see later on (I'm foreshadowing), said Carlos could well have broken a small bone in his hand near the base of his thumb. I'm not sure what that bone is called, but Clayton said batters have broken it and had it removed and played again.

In the batting cage:

We decided it didn't make sense to go home. We thought it would make sense to spend time talking about life. We started to drive to Cleveland, two hours away, and looked up Elon, North Carolina, which was only 500'ish miles away. So we turned south and started going. We wanted to surprise Ripton on a Saturday night.

Which we did. This is Carlos and Ripton, the next morning:

Ripton wanted to visit his girlfriend in DC, that was only another 400'ish miles away. We drove him north and near Richmond the visit didn't work. So we had lunch in downtown Richmond, sweet place. We drove back to Elon. Six hours later. That's a carbon footprint, but it's time with my sons.

Clayton Snellgrove is in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Murfreesboro is only 7 hours and 40 minutes, 482 miles from Elon. Clayton played 4 years with the Padres, making it to AAA ball, then two years with Frontier League teams, where he was the batting champion one year.

He and his wife Erin were lovely with Carlos and me. They have a three legged dog, and a beautiful young son named Canton. Because they met in Ohio.

We drove into the storms and flooding around Nashville.

Clayton wrote: "I now have an amazing story story to tell thanks to you and Carlos. Driving into the worst flood to hit Middle Tennessee in 100 years, my new FRIENDS included me in their soul searching adventure. I hope the detour to Murfreesboro was not a waste of time. I honestly think Carlos is in a good spot...

I have attached the photo Erin took before you left. Just a note for your notes. We ate at Miller's Grocery. It was a county store for 75 years in the little whistle-stop community of Christiana, TN before being turned into the cafe in 1995. It actually sits about 10 miles south of Murfreesboro, TN. You didn't see much of Murfreesboro, but it is a nice college town with 2 malls, 2 cinemas, all the chain hotels and restaurants you want. But as you discovered, in TN you're never far from some down home fun."

Miller's Grocery, a great food place:

Clayton runs a baseball academy in Murfreesboro, is a writer and the author of The Ball Player.

A dog ate my lunch while I took that photo outside Miller's Grocery. I put my leftover lunch down on the street to take the photo. In New York, I know enough not to leave my food out on the street after dark, overnight. A rat would devour it, a pigeon come and feast. But in Broad Day Light ? That dog ran right up and off with my chicken fried steak!

Oh yes. Clayton said Carlos should keep in shape, and come spring decide if he wants to try out at least for the Frontier League again. He can come stay with Clayton and Erin for a week, and Clayton will throw him batting practice each morning and afternoon and make Frontier League intros for him at next year's tryouts. If Carlos wants then.

We drove home. Five nights, 2600 miles more or less. A huge figure-8 across the eastern part of the country. A huge carbon footprint. An old fashioned road trip. I drove, we have a manual shift and Carlos doesn't know how to maneuver that car.

And Kindu graduated college ! And Ripton came home for the summer. But I can't write anymore now. But I will later. I have photos.