June 2015 – Real&Random

Here's a new feature, Re-Run Monday. Lots of our old stuff didn't make it over to the new site last year, so we're uploading some of them here on Re-Run Mondays. Some of you might remember them, some of you might be new enough, this will be just like the first time around. Thanks for sticking with us! By Wendy Pierman Mitzel 3/27/13 Ahhhh Spring! The daffodils burst yellow from the muddy earth. A single crocus reaches for the sun. And the shiny grackle bird spreads its wings in preparation to turd-bomb my backyard swimming pool. As I said to my son the other day: “It’s not Spring until I start yelling ‘Quit pooping in my pool!’ out the kitchen window.” Grackles show up in Spring to nest and like Navy Seals carefully plan their siege on my pool cover. Birdwatching blogs identify them as bullies and now I know why. These birds mock me with their beautiful iridescent feathers and alight on the very tree the little sparrows prefer and either kill them or drive them away. The sparrows and I are not the only victims of these poop-launching missiles. There are tons of blogs and web-forums dedicated to other’s driven cuckoo by these bird-brains. Apparently, these Read more...

Here's a new feature, Re-Run Monday. Lots of our old stuff didn't make it over to the new site last year, so we're uploading some of them here on Re-Run Mondays. Some of you might remember them, some of you might be new enough, this will be just like the first time around. Thanks for sticking with us! Wendy Pierman Mitzel From : 3/6/2013 I used to squeak. From kindergarten through high school I put on my trademark white cleats and hit the “pitch” as those Brit friends of mine call it. And for the first few years I squeaked each time the black and white sphere came my direction and required me to engage in battle. It was a weird habit that my gawky, bespecticled-self developed. It took years to break once I realized I was too old for it to be cute and instead it had turned just plain weird. I wasn’t a great soccer player at first, but as time went on I gained confidence and skill and control over my long, skinny arms and legs. Just as a foal takes time to become a mare, I needed a few years to GROW into myself. Eventually, I earned a varsity spot and a few conference awards for my kick-ass defensive moves and rockin’ white cleats. What’s disheartening to me, Read more...

Month: June 2015

Re-Run Monday: The Bird Battle Begins Again

Re-Run Monday: Youth Sports is About More Than Just Winning