Tree House

I never had a tree house growing up in Central Texas.  I made forts out of rocks, bricks, bed covers and anything else I could find, but I missed out on having a tree house.  Recently, we stayed with our dear friends Paul and Kathie Boitmann in Southlake.  The house is beautiful and the decor is Texas-themed. My favorite thing about his 5-acre place is an old tree house that he built for his kids years ago.  Today, it's still standing in the trees on the back of his property.  There's something about gazing at it that brings me peace and joy.  My prayer is that as you look at this painting, it will bring peace to your heart.

Hello Win Column

One of my favorite things to do is listen to @TexasRangers baseball games on AM radio.  My Dad and I listened to +St. Louis Cardinals games on the radio when I was a kid.  Dad grew up in West Virginia and the only game broadcast nationwide in those days was Jack Buck doing play-by-play for the Cardinals.  When I got older, we listened to +Houston Astros baseball on the AM dial.  It has to be AM radio for me because baseball sounds real. Games on FM are like listening to a pre-recorded baseball game.  It doesn't sound real to me.  Baseball games should always be listened to on AM radio.   


When the Rangers moved to Arlington in 1972, I began to listen to the games on radio WBAP.  In the early 80's, I loved to listen to the play-by-play call of Mark Holtz and Eric Nadel.  When the Ranger's won,  Holtz's final words of the broadcast were always "hello win column."  When Mark Holtz passed away from cancer in 1997, the phrase became a part of team lore.  If you follow me on Twitter at @pmitchell, you will see that phrase when the Rangers.  It's just a habit. Last night, I drew an illustration to liven up the tweets. 

Unfortunately, the local Rangers broadcast changed to an FM station in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. So I switched to MLB.com to listen to the broadcast.  It's the closest to what a game should sound like.

One day, AM may disappear off our radio dial.  It will be a sad day.  But that's progress?  Maybe.

Cryin' A River

We had just stepped into the theater lobby after watching "Superman." Our phones had beeped during the movie.  When we checked them, we noticed that our daughter Mallory had texted to let us know that she was pregnant.  She sent a picture of the baby's sonogram.  I broke down. Sobbed.  In front of everyone. Not Dedo. Me. She's worried about me.

I cry all the time now. The older I get, the more I cry at movies, watching television, praying, hearing sounds, etc. I have become the biggest wimp in the history of mankind.  I only cried once in the first 35 years of my adult life (excluding funerals).  At the end of the classic baseball movie "Field of Dreams" when the son plays catch with his father, I cry every time I see it.  Still do. It brings back so many good memories of my Dad.

Dedo used to cry all the time.  The older she gets, the less she cries.  We are going in opposite emotional directions.  Why? I have no idea.