So the ski season is winding down which is a bummer. We had the last weekend of team this weekend and the kids said goodbye to their mountain friends. The boy got to be really good friends with a little feller named Gabe. I had the pleasure of skiing with Gabe from time to time, and I can see why Jackson liked hanging out with him so much. A more positive about life little boy would be hard to come by. I was skiing with the girl and her team on Sunday when Jackson and Gabe came ripping down this pretty difficult slope. They were flying and I could barely get a hello out of the boy as he continued on down the hill. I was a bit mortified at the speed he was carrying, but I have to admit that he actually looked in control. I was impressed, no doubt. Anyway, later that day I asked him why he didn't stop and he imparted that he was racing Gabe. I asked him how often they raced, and he advised that they did it all the time. I guess competition breeds success.


And so now we are onto baseball. Last year I made a deal with the boy that I'd buy him a milkshake if he hit the ball out to the outfield. He popped one out there last year but it was caught, so, no shake. But dread not, because he also gets a shake if he makes a particularly great defensive play. If you ever saw me flash a glove while playing baseball, well, then you weren't looking very closely because fielding wasn't my cup of tea. The boy takes it more seriously than I ever did and he is improving by leaps and bounds. Yesterday was our first game and in the boy's third at bat, he crushed one that went opposite field. He easily made it to second base and probably could have kept going to third, but stopped because there was a boy that stopped on third. It was then that the boy looked directly at me and flashed his watermelon smile. And I smiled back knowing that he was going to hit me up for a shake after the game. When he came around to score on the next hit, he asked me if we still were doing the milkshake deal. I confirmed that we were, and then he asked what would happen if he hit another one. I advised that he could always bank one or give it to his sister or even me. He informed me that he was going to hit another one when his turn came up, and he did. While he trotted down to first base he gave me a very proud, "I told you I'd do it." He was pretty proud of himself, but I know somebody else who was prouder. Anyway, hope you are well.

Johnny GoFast