Home to Greensboro

If it has seemed a bit quiet around here lately, that’s because my family and I have spent the last two weeks visiting my parents in my hometown of Greensboro, N.C. It’s a long way to travel, especially with two young children, but worth it. Actually, Greensboro is nice place for children at this time of year (before the oppressive summer heat) and has lots of parks, gardens, and other little attractions.

The main attraction for me, other than spending time with my family, was to catch up with the local minor-league baseball team, the Greensboro Grasshoppers. In all, I saw 2.5 games (we went to a double-header, but the first game went extra-innings, so we only stayed for half of the second). In those 20-odd innings, the Grasshoppers only managed 2 runs, both on solo homers… Even though all three games were loses – hot dogs and crackerjacks were eaten, great plays were witnessed, one window was shattered, one t-shirt thrown into the crowd was caught, and one baseball cap was purchased!

The cap, however, is not for the Grasshoppers. It turns out, later this season, the team will be changing its name to the Ocelots for 8 games in order to celebrate the many Hispanic players who have come through the organization (and to sell suckers like me another hat). Anyway, I couldn’t resist the bright, colourful Ocelots logo.  I suspect I now have the only Ocelots de Greensboro hat in the whole of Britain! (Although if this not the case, I’d love to hear about it!).

We also managed a quick trip to see my aunt in Arden, N.C., up in the mountains. We went on a walk to a lovely waterfall, swollen by recent storms, saw a copperhead, and ate lunch at a place that served ‘corn nuggets’ – described to me as ‘deep-fried creamed corn’.

Anyway, we are home now, struggling to get the kids back on a normal sleep schedule. Lots to catch-up on, lots to do.