Man That Hung the Moon

Man That Hung the Moon is a song that appeared in my recommended on Youtube by Brantley Gilbert. Seeing that title and knowing the artist, I figured I had an idea of what it was going to be like. So I listened to it with great anticipation. As I listened, I fell in love with the sound, but the lyrics caught me off guard. The song was talking about a dad and his love for his child. It was so great, that his little boy is going to think he was the one that hung the moon. The majority of the song is like this and definitely not what I thought...until the last two verses. I froze, my skin tingled, and my heart melted in joy. Here are those lyrics:

"And one day you'll realize

I've lost my cape, I can't fly,

And I'm only human

And you'll need more than me

But you'll know to hit your knees

If I've done my job right

You'll know where to find

The Man who really hung the moon

Who really made the sky

Yeah the sun rises

And sets inside of His eyes

And it won't be long

Until He calls us home

And we'll all be running to

The Man that hung the moon"

If you haven't heard of Brantley Gilbert, he's a country music artist who's got a rough side, both in personality and songs, but the man is a Christian. And it clearly shows in these two verses. Gilbert, takes us from a place to where he may be seen as the hero, invincible, untouchable, to just a humble man. A simple man who realizes that he knows he has raised his child right, if his child knows who truly hung the moon. Christ. In a world of negativity, lost hope, and at times chaos, it's refreshing to see when famous people aren't afraid to put their beliefs in their art. One day when I become a father, I want to be the man in that top verse. Give the song a listen. It's really good.

The Stars Shone Bright in Cleveland

I wrote a little bit ago about being a bit more bold, seizing opportunity when it arises, and just straight up saying yes. When I found out the the 2019 MLB All-Star Game was coming to Cleveland, I knew I was going to do everything I could to be there.

The All-Star game does not count towards the regular season. It's the showcasing of the finest players in baseball. All the stars in one place, for one game, and it all went down in my back yard. A couple months before the game, I received an email telling me I could put my name in a drawing to get early access to buy a strip package for the All-Star Break. This meant than not only would I have the opportunity to buy tickets to the big game, but the Home Run Derby and the Futures All-Star/Celebrity Softball games as well. So I registered my email. Then a week later, I got another email saying I had been selected. The excitement began to build and the hype was real.

When the day came to buy the tickets, I eagerly awaited for 10am to roll around as that's when the tickets went live. I knew they were going to be a bit pricey, but for the whole package...yikes! When I saw the number, I briefly second-guessed it. But then the voices that drive the way I live life perked up. "You have the means right?" they said. "You love the game of baseball right?" "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity right?" I answered yes to every one of those questions. "Then stop hesitating and DO IT!" Well you know the what happened. I listened.

Pause for a minute. Here's something about me. Everyone in life has a way they spend what they make. Excluding what is saved for retirement, a house, kid's college fund, emergencies, etc, the broad stroke is bills, debts, necessities, charitable contributions, and life enjoyment. Many people have may different ways of spending the life enjoyment portion. For me it's the experience, who I'm experiencing it with, and the lifelong memories, rather than the material possessions. I'd much rather spend that money hanging with friends, going to Cedar Point, traveling across the US and the world, and even witnessing the All-Star game, over a big TV, the best tech, or even an expensive car.

I'm not going to describe the three days in detail (I have a vlog for that). What I really wanted to highlight this post with are the moments in the major game that mattered to me. So here we go.

1) Michael Brantley, former All-Star outfielder for the Cleveland Indians, was voted to the game as a starter by the fans. Even though he plays with the Houston Astros now, he's still well loved here. The majority of his votes came from Indians fans. Then when they introduced the players for the game, he received are roaring ovation from the crowd. In the game, he got a double that scored the first run and again got a loud cheer. Cleveland showed their former player the love.

2) Being the All-Star game, many fans of other teams showed up. But the Indians fans showed up in full force. The stadium was bathed in Tribe red and white. Unlike Game 7 of the world series where it was clear a good number of Indians fans had sold their tickets to Cubs fans, the fans team represented Cleveland well.

3) Every time Carlos Santana appeared, the fans showered him with love. When Santana left Cleveland for the Phillies a year ago, he never sold his house here, knowing he'd eventually be back. His love for the city is real and he deserved first team All-Star.

4) Fransisco Lindor. A once in a generation player. One of the best shortstops in major league baseball. He got his 4th All-Star nod. When he was at the plate, the crowd started chanting "Frankie! Frankie!" Yet another great fan/player moment.

5) After the 5th inning, a special event took place. Everyone inside the stadium (fans, players, broadcasters, everyone) was given a Stand Up 2 Cancer card where they either wrote someone's name(s) or displayed phrases like "Those we've lost", "those fighting", "Survivors", etc. Then, on national TV, everyone stood up and held those signs up. Even though I myself have never had the disease, I've still been affected by it. People I've love have fought it, lost to it, and beat it. That moment was moving. But even more so, if you haven't heard, Indians pitcher Carlos "Cookie" Carrasco, is battling leukemia. If you've ever seen him pitch, seen his interviews, read the things he's written, you know what an amazing person he is. And that night, all his Indians teammates, including Michael Brantley, had his name written on their signs. The cameras focused on him and the fans started chanting "Cookie! Cookie!" Such a touching moment. Get well soon Cookie.

6) Shane Bieber, a young Indians pitcher, got the All-Star nod as a replacement. The inning he pitched, he struck out all three batters he faced. The crowd erupted with "Let's go Bieber!" chants. It gave me the chills. And guess what. His performance awarded him with the MVP of the All-Star game. How about that. What a moment.

7) In the top of the ninth, with two outs, AL pitcher Aroldis Chapman was pitching. Suddenly the entire infield came in and someone came out of the dugout and entered the huddle. It was not the manager. It was Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia. The AL manager planned the whole thing. Sabathia is retiring at the conclusion of this season. His first 7.5 years in the bigs were with the Tribe. He was crucial to the Indians 2007 playoff run. So, in honor to him, they sent him out so the fans could cheer for him one last time at Progressive Field. And even though he plays for the Yankees, the fans cheered in recognition of all that he'd done here.

Now there were many other moments deserving of recognition, but these were my favorite. This was a once in a lifetime experience. It was money well spent. These are the moments I'm going to remember.

See You in the Funny Papers (For Grandpa)

"See you in the funny papers" was one of my grandpa's favorite ways to say goodbye to me as a kid. Between us, the funny papers meant the comics that came in the local newspaper. It was a jesting goodbye, but I loved it.

My grandpa was in the navy around the time WWII ended. He was a post-war mine sweeper. His ship would take to the seas and seek out any leftover mines. Once they found them, they destroyed them so no ships would incur tragedy by running into them. As a kid he'd tell me some stories about his time on the seas. Now when he told stories, it would take him longer than normal to get through them because he'd crack him self up multiple times while telling the tale.

One of my favorites is when they were sailing to the next location, they came across a school of flying fish. They would "fly" out of the water along side the ship. One of the guys bet another guy that he couldn't hit them with the machine gun mounted on deck. The other guy took the bet. He loaded the gun, pulled the trigger, and let the bullets fly. At this point my grandpa would start laughing. In between breaths he managed to say "he couldn't hit a single one"!

He had a good number of caps that displayed the ship and read "Tin Can Sailor" on them. He gave me a few of those as a kid and I wore them proudly. He also had hats with the American Bald Eagle on them. That was his style. He's wearing one of them in the picture below.

He loved to write letters and notes. Whenever he'd come across a newspaper article or an old clipping from his collection that he thought I'd like, he'd write a letter, include the article, and mail them to me. I'm thankful my younger self didn't throw them away. I have an envelope crammed full of them.

There is a bicycle trail that runs alongside old railroad tracks. These tracks carried wounded civil war soldiers as well as Abraham Lincoln's coffin. Grandpa thought it would be a good experience to ride this trail. So him, myself, and sometimes my cousin Dave would ride our bikes along that trail. One time we road it from Seven Valleys, PA to the Mason-Dixon line at the Maryland border. As a young kid, I thought it was the coolest thing ever to be able to stand in 2 states at once. Sometimes we biked 20ish miles round trip. One of his favorite things was to reminisce on those times. He loved to remind my mother how I'd call him up and ask to ride the trail to get out of class. I was home schooled so my excuse was I could collect leaves to make it educational. I rode that trail so many times with him that I lost count.

His favorite hobby was carving. He carved mostly birds out of wood. He was amazing at it. The detail and craftsmanship was award winning. I spent many hours as a kid watching or helping him in his wood shop. Any whiff of sawdust brings me back to those days. The bookcase I have in my room, we built together on a rainy afternoon. Probably my most favorite thing he carved, I had a hand in helping with. Proudly displayed in his living room is a life-sized carousel horse. You read that right. He carved a full size carousel horse out of wood, painted it, and mounted it on a pole. It's one of the finest crafted works I've ever seen.

Being a grandparent, part of his joy was to spoil us a little. Throughout the years, he'd slip me a five or a ten and tell me it's soda and candy bar money or to get something nice. As I got older, I sometimes would politely decline and tell him he didn't have to do that. But he'd still give it to me anyway. Then, one day, he gave me some words of wisdom. He looked me straight in the eye and said "Here's a piece of advice. When someone hands you some money, you say "thank you" then put it in your pocket and don't say another word." I never refused him again.

My grandpa wasn't very tall, but ever since I knew him, he always drove a pick-up truck. Any time he got a new one, they were always bigger and better. Whenever he'd come to pick me up, I'd sit on my front steps and count the cars until I saw his familiar truck turn the corner. Speaking of driving, he used to be a bus driver. Many years ago, when the Washington Redskins held training camp in Pennsylvania, he had the privilege of driving them to and from training camp. How many people do you know that drove an NFL team to where they needed to go?

He was willing to do all kinds of things for us. He'd drive us to swimming lessons. He'd take us to the store and get a treat. He'd drive 40 min to take me and my cousin to a mountain lake and sat for hours as we swam and enjoyed ourselves. I still won't forget the look on my mom's face when I came home with a Lego airplane that I asked him to buy me. I can't remember the exact price, but it was more that $20 which was a lot for a kid in the 90s. That airplane is still proudly displayed in my room to this day.

One of my more recent and favorite memories of him was Christmas of 2017. I wasn't able to go with the family on the summer trip to see him and Grandma because I was in Australia. So I surprised them by showing up on their doorstep the day before Christmas Eve. That Sunday we went to church. The pastor had put personalized christmas cards for each attendee on their seats. My grandma, who's still sharp as a tack, found her card, but didn't see Grandpa's. She asked him if he got one. Now Grandpa was very hard of hearing. So he said "what?" She repeated herself. He didn't hear her again and just said "okay". She replied "No not okay!" and made him stand up. He stood up without hesitation and there was his card on his cushion. My grandma retrieved it, looked at me and said "He smashed it." I did everything I could to hold the laughter in. That was a great Christmas.

I could tell many more stories and wonderful things about my grandpa. But that would require a book as I knew him 28 years. Very early this morning, at 91 years old, he passed peacefully in his sleep. He is with the Lord now, which is the best place to be. Husband. Father of Two. Grandfather of Nine. Veteran. Bus Driver. Carver. Kind. Caring. Wonderful. My Grandpa. You will be greatly missed. See you in the funny papers.

Just Say Yes

I screwed up. The month of May ends tomorrow. In order to fulfill a commitment goal I made to myself upon starting this blog nearly 8 years ago, I needed to post something this month. All day my brain was running amok with ideas. I had finally settled on one. As I went to write it, my heart sank. There, next to the title of my April post, in orange lettering, was the word D-R-A-F-T. I went out of the editor and to my actual blog page. There was no April post. I panicked. I cursed the connectivity issues I remember having that night and the page assuring me my post had published. Then I remembered that I still did write the post, just no one else could see it. Now if I were a famous blogger that earned a living or even cashed in as a side job off blogging, you'd better believe I would've made sure the post was published before my eyes gave way to slumber. But the reality is I'm not. And only very few people read this anyway. If I disappear from here for a month, no one says anything. And that's okay. Because this is more of a personal record of my life for me to look back on, but the bonus is that it's public. So please forgive my tardiness and to make up for it, I posted that post that never posted and am going to post this month's post as I was supposed to post it.

Just say yes. No is so much easier to say, but a simple "yes" can open the door to many life experiences worth living. In his song "The River", Garth Brooks sings the lines "So don't you sit upon the shoreline, and say you're satisfied. Choose to chance the rapids, dare to dance the tide"
That's one of my favorite songs by him. And those lines are what I try to live by each day.

There are things in life that scare us, make us uneasy, cause us to avoid any chance of an encounter. While keeping one's distance may be good i certain circumstances, a good number of times, the fear we have keeps us prisoners. I know this we because my captor as a kid was anxiety. I let it rule me. And when I look back upon those days, how I wish my older self would've appeared and slapped some sense into me. So now I'm making up for lost time.

How? I travel when I can. To experience the world is to piece together part of life's puzzle. It's eye opening. And totally worth the money. But I don't stop there. When I was in Toronto many years ago, our youth conference decided to go into downtown and hold a gospel flash mob. It was winter time. It was -10 degrees F. I despise the cold. I could've easily stayed back and not participated. But I did. I froze on cue with 50ish other people holding up sign proclaiming the gospel amidst hundreds of passersby. It was an experience and a memory that'll last for a lifetime.

More recently, in April in fact, I was presented with another opportunity to say yes. I was invited to go to a stranger's wedding, in new york city, and not with a significant other. I was planning on going back to New York sometime this year anyway, but much earlier and for a wedding where I knew no one wasn't a fast yes. But after some brief consideration, I said yes. Now the trip wasn't as smooth as it should've been. A 1.5 hour plane delay on the way in, a cancelled shuttle at the airport in the pouring rain, a missed opportunity to see an old friend, more rain, and a five hour plane delay on the return trip all could've been enough to say it wasn't worth it. But the reality is, the other experiences I had by far outweighed the one previously mentioned. They included, but were not limited to, geocaching in Central Park, meeting up with another childhood friend for a few hours, going to the top of the New World Trade Center at night, walking the entire length of the Brooklyn Bridge at 11:30PM in full wedding attire, meeting, having dinner with, and witnessing an amazing young couple say "I do", and I shared the entire experience with a great friend.

There was something else. Another moment I had the opportunity to say yes even though every ounce of my being screamed no. Right before the wedding ceremony, I was conversing in the lounge with my buddy when a young woman came over and sate not far from us. At a pause in our conversation, she introduced herself. We returned the favor. We spent the rest of the pre-wedding time conversing, laughing, swapping stories, it was great. After the ceremony, we were ushered into the wine cellar for the reception. The entire area was a dance floor, except for the standing tables on the side. I claimed one of those and stayed there, even after the DJ started the tunes.

You see, I had two left feet. And even though I wish I didn't it's enough to keep me off the floor. A song or two had passed, and the girl I had met earlier made her way over to me and my friend. She playfully badgered us to get on the floor. I wanted to say no so badly, but truth is, when a fine looking woman says you need to be on that dance floor, you get your butt on that floor. Yes I looked like a fool. Yes I was now starting to sweat through my hot wedding attire. But did she care...no. Was it worth it...yes. Later on that evening, at the after party in a big hotel room with the Manhattan skyline and the Brooklyn Bridge as a backdrop, I found myself in conversation with her yet again. We talked for a decent period of time. I enjoyed every minute of that conversation. And it never would've happened if I never said yes.

I may never see her again, but that whole New York experience left an imprint on my life. I have many other stories where simply saying yes turned out to be the best thing I had done. So I challenge you. Step out of your comfort zone. Take that leap of faith. And when presented with a choice where "no' is your jerk reaction, just say yes.

The Effect of People

Have you ever stopped to think about how your interactions with people you know have effects on you? How their personalities, likes, dislikes, thoughts, actions, basically the whole nine yards, may rub off on you? A simple example of what I'm saying is this. When you take interest in someone, you begin to care about the things they like and may even come to like them yourself. But how about those that you may be close to, but not in a romantic way? Say a friend for example. Could be one you see all the time or one you hardly ever see, but still care about.

I bring this up because it's been something that's on my mind recently. I've got a really good friend who's really into video games. I'm not a big gamer by any means. But the major one I do play was because of his influence. Or my love for cars. Some of the cars or styles I like are based off a friends knowledge of them.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying my likes and hobbies are not my own, but they wouldn't be the way they are without influence. Winter has recently come to an end, except for Game of Thrones fans in which case it has just begun. If you know me, you know for a bona fide fact that summer is my season. And that the cold and I don't get along well at all. After December that also includes snow. As a kid I loved the stuff. The way it calmed the noise around it. Falling silently in the night and blanketing the land in it's frosty, magical array. It meant snow days from school, countless hours of building a snowman army, snow forts, and taking sledding to the extreme. I grew up and have lived all my life where winter makes it's presence harshly known year in and year out. So I should have some affection for it right? Not quite. Why the cold shoulder? Well...

...as I got older, I lost the magic I saw in it as a kid. And being older is the major difference. Because now driving in it has come into play. Not being able to do many outdoor things I love as an adult is another reason. Not having snow days from work doesn't help either. I could go on, but I don't want to sound like I wish it didn't exist...because that's not true either.

You see I had a friend who was very dear to me as a child. And I found out a number of years ago how much she loved the winter. Mainly through social media. Whenever I saw a post from her about how she loved the fluffy flakes, my perspective would change a little. Here was something that wasn't on my hot list, but she adored it. And because she adored it, every once in a while when I was in the elements, I'd begin to grumble, but remember her love for it, and my disdain would fade. And this was while she was still here.

I've written about her before. A few times a matter of fact. If you haven't read those posts, she was a childhood friend who had a great impact on my life that tragically passed in 2014. I'm not going to rehash that story, but if you're truly curious, go back to my posts from June of 2014.

Her birthday was in January. A Winter month. Makes perfect sense. So it's hard not to have her and her love for the winter on my mind around that time each year. But when Spring rolled around, I was overjoyed that it was here, but because it marked the end of winter. Even though I was joyous, I was struck with the thought I'm writing about now. And I was once again reminded that winter isn't all that bad. I honestly don't believe I'd find the few things I appreciate about winter if it wasn't for her. So each year, in the blackness of night, I'll stand in the midst of a silent snowfall. Staring. Not saying a word as the fragile crystals kiss the earth. It's bitterly cold. But I don't notice. I think of her and am thankful for the passion she had for the season. I take in the moment, then eventually return to the warmth of my house. Peaceful. Restful. All for a small amount of appreciation for something that I usually don't find any appreciation for.

There are other examples I could use, but this one is the strongest with me right now. Maybe take a minute to think about your hobbies, passions, interests, loves. And see how much they were influenced by those around you. Then see how your state of being changes.

New Orleans: The Last Day

Dec 23rd: Our last full day here. Tim Chai took a morning flight back the The Land so now we were back down to 10 bros. This was also the only day we didn't have anything planned.

We slept in to recover from the previous three days of fun. Even though we didn't have anything planned, today was still a big day. It was Week 16 in the NFL season and that meant it was Fantasy Football championship week. This was the first time that the majority of our fantasy football league was together for the championship match. The two who duked it out? Seth and I. The hype was in the air. All the other players who got knocked out were rooting one way or the other. Talking trash and taking names.

By lunchtime, we headed out to the French Quarter. The atmosphere was chaotic as the Saints were in town facing the Pittsburgh Steelers, both vying for a playoff spot. Saints fans were everywhere acting like it was mardi gras. But there was also a plethora of Steelers fans everywhere we went as well. We finally found a table in a crowded sports bar and grill. TV's lined the walls, showing every game so we could get our fantasy fix. We ended up being there for maybe 4-5 hours.

There were still games left to be played, but we needed some fresh air and had to walk off all food we just devoured. We ended up walking through the market to do some final souvenir shopping. We probably spent another few hours here before the sun began to set.

To cap off our final night, we wandered down by the Mississippi River to watch the sunset before heading back to the airbnb to prepare for our early morning flights back home.

It was an amazing trip with some pretty fantastic people and I cannot wait until the next adventure.

New Orleans 2018: Part 3

December 22: Today was the day. We were leaving the comfort of our airbnb and headed out to the Bayou for a swamp tour. We all piled into a couple of Uber rides and made the 30 minute drive out into the swamps. Upon arrival, we checked in and then piled onto a boat with 20 other people. Our boat captain's name was Captain Dan. He had a pretty good sense of humor. The weather was perfect. But since it was winter, most of the wild life was in hibernation mode. Captain Dan said that in the summer, you can see around 60 alligators at one time all throughout the bayou. Here's a bit of what we saw.

Even though we didn't see much wildlife, it was still pretty cool to see live gators in the wild. As we continued down the river, Captain Dan passed around a bunch of animal hides and fish that had been taxidermy. Then there was a gasp of surprise from so of the passengers. Captain Dan had reached into the cooler beside him and pulled out of it a live baby alligator. This baby alligator was abandoned, and they had rescued it. Once it's old enough, they'll release it back into the wild. But for now, he served as a treat for tourists who had the privilege of holding him.

The tour was great, the wildlife was cool, and the weather was amazing.

PC: Sam Chen

After being in the swamp all morning, and not having eaten much all day, it was time for a late lunch. We were headed to a popular place called Clesi's. They are well known for their boiled seafood, mainly crab and crawfish. We arrived around 3PM and since it was that time of day, the place was nearly empty. We had made a reservation just in case, and when we had, they told us they currently didn't have the crab or crawfish ready because that all came out during their big dinner rush...bummer. Well, at least we were going to try the shrimp.

Once we were seated and the waiter was taking our order and explaining how they normally do things, the manager came out. When he realized there were 12 hungry dudes who had come all the way from Cleveland to try their food, he told us that if we were willing to wait 30 min, he'd throw the live seafood in the pots and get us some. Our answer...heck yeah! Thirty sluggish minutes later, platters of freshly boiled seafood appeared. Crab, prawns, crawfish, so good. And then another platter filled with fried oysters appeared! "This one's on the house," the manager told us as he placed it in front of our hungry eyes. We tore into the meat and pretty soon, there was nothing but piles of carcasses on the table. If you ever find yourself in New Orleans, go eat at Clesi's. You won't regret it (unless you're allergic to shellfish).

At this point, we had to say goodbye to Dan. We tried to convince him to miss his flight and stay another day, but no dice. We parted ways and the 11 of us split up. Some went back to the airbnb while some went for some Pho (we gained a bit of a food addiction while we were here). Once full, the rest of us headed back to the airbnb for some rest and Avalon.

It wasn't long before we became restless and so we decided to try exploring bourbon street at night again. First we needed some body fuel. We found this hole-in-the-wall pizza joint and man was that pizza sooooo good. If you've ever had a really good pizza that you don't get often, think of that. We explored more of Bourbon St for a bit and then our group split in half. Sam, Seth, Stephen, and I went over to Frenchmen street and hit up Jazz clubs to experience the music that makes New Orleans famous. And it did not disappoint.

Before we knew it, 2am had rolled around, so the four of us decided to walk all the way back to Cafe du Mon for some more of those addicting Beignets.

PC: Sam Chen

Finally, our tiredness got the better of us and we all headed back to the airbnb and hit the sack. 

Day 3 in the books, be on the look out for the conclusion!