Auld Lang Syne

It's that time of the year* when media outlets of all forms and sizes publish their year in review stories. Here is a new take on the seasonal regurgitation ... the blog posts I never wrote!

What Now? Chow-Chow!

Continuing to tidy up my apartment, I made a new discovery: a jar of chow-chow from Aplin farms, bought at a Birmingham farmers market on our 2007 trip there. I must have been saving it for a special occasion.

How now brown chow? The photo makes the relish look darker than it is, but I am sure it is more brown than when I bought it six-and-a-half years ago. The lid is on tight and isn't distended ... what do you think readers? Should I give it a try?

Lost and Found

While tidying up my apartment, a task I have undertaken to forestall losing my current romantic interest, I have come across a considerable amount of forgotten ephemera from various trips along the baseball byways.

I avoided looking too closely at most of it, a potential distraction from my chore. However, a handful of items did catch my eye. An eight-by-ten glossy photograph of the 24 (as of 2012?) astronauts from Ohio? What did I think I was going to do with that? It's gone now, just like John H. Glenn, Jr. (first row, third from right).

Keep It Simple

A perfectly conventional view of the action at the Kane County Cougars,
on the last day of the 2013 season

When we started this deathmarch (no, I love it, I do!), we were really enamored with the idea that you could see so many minor-league teams in relatively short order, given how compact the clusters of teams are in some places. The holy grail was to somehow see two games in different cities on the same day—a matinee in one place and a night game in the next. So, naturally, we soon embarked on huge trips to far-flung locations, such as all the teams in Texas, the cross-country odyssey of 2009, and the Lightning Field wanderjahr.

In 2014, we're getting back to basics. There will be some adjustments, no doubt, but here's what we're contemplating right now—a lot of short drives, and a lot of two-city doubleheaders.

April 13–21

• Gwinnett County Braves / Atlanta Braves
• Rome Braves
• Augusta Green Jackets
• Hickory Crawdads / Charlotte Knights
• Myrtle Beach Pelicans / Charleston RiverDogs
• Savannah Sand Gnats
• Jacksonville Suns
• Daytona Cubs

July 1213–16, 20–23

• Wilmington Blue Rocks
• Frederick Keys / Baltimore Orioles / Aberdeen Ironbirds
• Bowie BaySox / Frederick Keys Aberdeen Ironbirds
• Hagerstown Suns
• Eastern League All-Star Game (Altoona)
• Reading Fightin' Phils / Wilmington Blue Rocks
• Philadelphia Phillies

If you can believe it, we've seen roughly two thirds of all the minor-league teams now, and the first trip will knock off a number more. (Rob has seen all the teams on the second trip, but he's kindly allowing me to catch up.)

Onward, Byways soldiers!