Blog Post

A new blog for a new year. And with it, a newly designed website. There wasn’t anything wrong with the old website but I thought it could use some refreshing. I asked my web designer, ILWebStudios, to give it a facelift. I like the result. A bed of autumn leaves and a stack of books topped with a coffee cup. I’m an avid coffee drinker, an avid reader and the bed of autumn leaves gives me a pleasant, relaxed feeling. I hope it has the same effect on you, the reader.

I’ve added two books to my list of published stories. They’re a departure from my five baseball stories. Those Peterson Kids is a novel about a family torn apart by government action but over a 30-year period the determined siblings managed to find each other. Unlike countless families who suffer similar fates and will never be reunited, this family succeeded.

The other novel, The Bones of Professor Wilson, is an off-beat science fiction story. It was an idea I had floating around in my head for a long time and finally decided to put it on paper.

I have another baseball story to finish putting on paper. It will be the last of the George Grant baseball stories. I also have a book of short stories to complete. I hope to have both of them published this summer.

Thinking of summer makes me think of baseball. Arizona and Florida are hoping to have successful Cactus and Grapefruit League Spring Training this year. While many of us will follow our favorite teams on TV or radio as they prepare for their season openers, if you do attend a game, please stay safe.

At the beginning of 2021 I was feeling optimistic about the future, but it turned out to be very much like 2020. Hopes for an end to the Covid-19 virus faded with the emergence of variations and the reluctance of many to get vaccinated. My optimism for 2022 is not very high. I’ve had my vaccinations since early 2021 and got a booster shot as soon as they were available. Wearing a mask whenever I go out and staying away from people and places where most are unmasked has kept me from getting the virus.

As much as I would like to not have to wear a mask, there are too many people with a cavalier attitude about the virus. They haven’t been vaccinated and many don’t plan to get vaccinated, even though all the medical and scientific data shows the vaccinated are much more likely to live through the pandemic. It’s disappointing to discover that the world has so many people who are too selfish or too stubborn to take care of their own well-being and that of their families and friends. In the United States more than 900,000 have died from the virus and more are dying every day. Most of us have a family member, a friend, neighbor or acquaintance on that list.

Maybe this year the world will be lucky and the virus and its variants will weaken enough so the medical and scientific communities can control it. We can only hope.