HAUNTED BY A FIELD OF DREAMS

     Francesca and I watched "Field of Dreams" this week.  We

had not seen it since it came out in '89. Most of you know it as a movie about baseball, fantasies, and regret. The main character, played by Kevin Costner, wishes he had reconciled with his father before he died.

     Burt Lancaster is "Archie "Moonlight" Graham", who -as a minor league baseball player- came "this close" to playing in a major league game.

He dreams of going back in time to do that and like several of the movie's characters, he is finally able to experience his fantasy in an Iowa corn field.

     Burt's character got to me. In the 60's I was  a skinny, average athlete with a football dream. I joined my high school's team hoping to make me and my family proud. 

   It didn't happen.

   I "rode the bench" for three miserable years. The coach refused to put me in games even when we were thirty points ahead. I recall standing next to him in the last minutes of the last game. I looked at him and thought, "Please coach, put me in. It's my last chance!".

 

The Mighty T-Breds of yore. The four tackling dummies (right) wear blank practice jerseys

      

     For ten years afterwards I had a re-occurring dream, going back to a Hialeah High School game as a grown man. Coach Powell is excited to see me as he says, "Glenn, we need you. Put on a uniform so you can help us tonight". In reality, the coach never spoke to me. He didn't even know my name.

      As the dream continues I suit-up, have some moments of virtual glory then awaken from the damn thing, upset.  That warped, midnight scenario went on for years. By my late twenties I 'd had enough, I began to write about my creepy dream and all that had led to it.

       It started in middle school when my older brother and I worshiped high school football. We'd go to games and watch hefty teenage gladiators duke it out. I believed that to be successful in high school I had to become one of them.

 Ted (88) played in four Super Bowls. Me (below him), umm...none.

     On the first day of football practice Coach Powell introduced us to the sport by saying, "This is the game that separates the men from the boys. You are here today and if you are a man, you will still be here three years from now".

      I believed him and submitted to being one of his tackling dummies for the the next 1000 days. I persevered to a foolish extreme. I don't recall anyone suggesting an alternative. If they did, I didn't listen. 

I'd put up with anything to prove my manhood.

    

    As my reflections continued I wrote about lessons I could learn and came up with,  

A) Always question authority                                                      B) Don't let others set your goals                                               C) If you like team sports, choose one where you actually get to participate (for me it was high school tennis, college intramural sports, and now old guys' softball.                                                                                       D)To hell with telepathy, let people know what you want, and  

E)  Be yourself, you can do many things that most jocks can not.                                                                                        

Yes, ol' Coach Powell could have been up front with me but that was more his problem than mine.

    After thinking about this things for a week the dreams ended.

    At the time I was a lawyer in a dark suit. After intense self-examination Attorney Terry shut down his office, moved to California and tried his hand in the film business. No, I didn't score any touchdowns there either but I wrote sample scripts, had a tiny TV show, and played a zombie in "Demonoid". In short, I started to become who I was meant to be, an artist, a father, a teacher, and a flying pig parade producer.

    Costner's movie ends when he tearfully reconciles with his long-dead dad.

They share some words and a heart-warming game of catch.

    I don't need time travel to make peace with my bench warming days. I know how I got there and figured out how to move on.

  This morning I'll be playing center field in a senior league softball game. The cherry on top? My occasional meet-ups with my two beautiful sons. They often end with a game of catch. 

                              _______________________

   

GT's September Newsletter

THEY'RE COMING TO EAT OUR DOGS

    Thank God for Kamala Harris. She was outstanding as she tore the Orange Menace into kitchen scraps in last night's presidential debate. 

Now the Harris/Walz team has an even better chance of defeating Trump and his dark vision of America in November's election.

    Our dog, Rocky, watched televised debate with us. Trump got his attention when he said in Springfield, Ohio, immigrants were, "eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating — they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”

    Our pooch felt better when moderator, David Muir, pointed out that none of it was true, Trump was "talkin' crazy" again. Francesca and I felt better as Ms. Harris repeatedly revealed. for ninety minutes, Trump to be the fool that he is.

   

In the eight weeks ahead, as they say, "do something".  Harris clearly won last night's debate. Now let's help her win in November. All of us need to do our part to to keep the Lyin' King from returning to Washington.

 

 

 JAMES GADDIS, ENVIRONMENTAL HERO

      We got more good news three weeks ago when Governor DeSantis was forced to cancel his plans to put golf courses, hotels, and pickleball courts in nine of our state parks.

       It happened because a state employee, James Gaddis,

revealed the Governor's secret plan to the public.  Gaddis, 41, was promptly fired for doing the right thing.  A GoFundMe account, set up to compensate him for his loss of income, has raised over $215,000 so far. Said he, "I have no regrets.  I had to do something to stop the madness". 

      I hope he accepts our offer to be "Florida's Hero for 2024" in December's Flying Pig Parade.  We can't thank people like him enough.

 

PIG PARADE JUST THREE MONTHS AWAY

      Gainesville's Flying Pig Parade is now seeking groups to march in December 28th's grand procession, and,

for volunteers to help out on parade day.  You can apply for both by going to our website, www.flyingpigparade.org. 

 

HALLOWEEN GETS SCARRIER

I'm old enough to remember Halloween on the cheap, when it was a simple holiday for kids.  Does anyone remember when you could dress up as a hobo, princess, or cowboy for nothing?  Now Americans spend over $12 billion a year for costumes, candy, and freaky yard decorations.

Check out what's for sale at Lowes on NW 13th this week.

 

The fifteen-footers are $699.00

Dozens of skeletons to choose from, both kids and adult sizes

As you approach he screams, bounces, and laughs

And across the street at Rural King they're selling fresh pumpkins next to the stacks of long rifle bullets. You can get twenty rounds for just $9.99 ( fifty cents per bullet). 

The pumpkins? You can use them for target practice.

 

STRUTTIN' OUR STUFF

We'll be having our fifth annual FLORIDA PARK HALLOWEEN PARADE on Thursday, Oct. 31.  As usual, we will line up on NW 12 road at 17 St. at 5:30.  We march east at six.

 

 

 

 

 

 

LT. CALLEY WAS HERE

If you're old enough to experience Halloween on the cheap you'll remember the true horror story, the My Lai Massacre. It was led by U.S. Army Lt. William Calley.  He died in a Gainesville nursing home last April.  His death went unnoticed for three months until someone recognized his name on an Alachua County death certificate. It was in the Washington Post the next day.

On March 16, 1968, Lt. Calley led 100 soldiers into a Viet Nam village, "My Lai". Although they faced no resistance, they murdered hundreds of un-armed South Vietnamese civilians.

Lt. Calley and My Lai serve to remind us of the horrors of the Viet Nam war, and, every war.  Calley was the only soldier court-martialed and convicted. He was sentenced to three years of house arrest.  Calley kept a low profile in Columbus, Georgia, an army town, in the years that followed. Having in-laws in Gainesville, he landed here for his final days.

Note: As a teen he attended my church in Hialeah, Florida, for a while. Back then he was a kid, older than me, called "Rusty".

SWAYIN' IN THE BREEZE

Moving on to more pleasant subjects, my wife and I love the gentle sway of the long grey beards that hang down from our oak trees. Known as "Spanish Moss", it's actually not a moss (it's a type of bromiliad) and it is not even Spanish.

It's enchanting and beautiful to most everyone. 

I recently met a new neighbor who hates Spanish moss. She told me,  "It was all over my last place, like it was always reaching down to grab me. My new house is great. No oak trees and no moss!".   

 

ENJOY THE FLORIDA MUSEUM WHILE YOU CAN

      Visits to the Florida Museum on the UF campus is one of our

This will be the new silver snake skin look

favorite things. Unfortunately, it's going to shut down for renovations in January. They expect to open with a new silver skin a year later. 

      Another favorite local museum, the Theater of Memory on NW 6th St. will remain open in 2025.

(Then) WE'RE NUMBER ONE!  (Now) WE'RE...34

The University of Florida officials have spent a lot of time bragging about their high rankings.  Last year the Wall Street Journal thought of us as #1, the best public university in the country.  Now, in the 2024's rankings, our state's top university has dropped back to #34.  

It's no surprise as DeSantis & Co. work to dumb down state's public universities, making them less challenging and more conservative. Look what he's done to Sarasota's New College. That's only the beginning.

 

BOB HAS A BOT!

Last December Sante Fe film student, Holden Martin, made a great little video of the world's first Flying Pig Parade.  He just graduated and is premiering his latest epic, "Bob's Bot"  on Sunday, the 15th, at the United Church of Gainesville. 

There will be two free showings of the short comedy at 5 and 7 p.m.  Refreshments will be served.

 The church is located at 1624 NW 5 Ave., five blocks north of the 34th best public university in the country.

        __________