The week gone by — July 11

When the Yankees were playing terribly recently, I decided I had to step away for a bit.

It’s not like I was going to choose a new team — even though I live in Massachusetts, I won’t root for the Red Sox if you put a gun to my head — or not check to see if they won each night, but I just wasn’t going to watch for a spell.

Soccer in the rain

The result was pretty much a foregone conclusion, but for those interested in the details — the U.S. women’s soccer team beat Mexico 4-0.

Sisters Kristie and Samantha Mewis — the pride of Whitman-Hanson Regional High School in Massachusetts — opened the scoring, with Kristie setting up Samantha.

Christen Press scored two goals, and Tobin Heath connected on a rocket shortly after coming into the game, scoring right below where we were standing.

Where delusions go to die

When you’re as bad at golf as I am, you define “success” differently.

Eagles are out of the question unless you see one flying overhead. Birdies and even pars are usually too much to ask.

Instead, you accept the modest victories. For example, I have yet to kill anyone with an errant shot.

You learn something new …

I noticed the mural on the side of a building as we pulled into the parking lot behind Nashua City Hall.

It was of legendary Brooklyn Dodgers Don Newcombe and Roy Campanella, commemorating their time playing minor-league ball in the city.

I thought it was interesting, and made a mental note to check it out when we came back, but we had another matter to attend to first.

Finally … baseball

When we left Hadlock Field a couple summers ago, I didn’t know where and when my next baseball game would be.

It probably wouldn’t have been a return visit to Portland, not right away, but maybe there would be a road trip to Cape Cod in our future. Manchester and Lowell are two of my favorites. Hartford has a beautiful ballpark I have to get to again, and of course I’ll always want to see the Yankees if our mostly annual trip to New York City comes at the right time.

Perhaps our travels would bring us to a ballpark large or small, or maybe we’d go for a serious adventure … Boston.

Maybe I’m not as ready as I thought

I woke up on the proverbial wrong side of the bed … and pretty much stayed there all day.

Our regular Wednesday trail walk did a little for my mood — when I wasn’t rolling up my sleeves and then pushing them down because I was alternately too hot or too cold — but it didn’t last very long.

I was moody, crabby, irritable, cranky … whatever words you like for someone who’s just a pain to be around.

The week gone by — Feb. 21

I’m not a particularly religious man, but …

The shortest day

I had to get out. Right then.

There was no time to wait … literally.

It was 4 o’clock. It was going to be dark soon.

Dreams, but whose dreams?

Updated Nov. 1

I saw an article on parents obsessed with getting their children into an Ivy League school that had me wondering when children’s desires stop being their own and start being their parents’ … and what that means.

I did a whole podcast on it, but the article was retracted because of numerous issues. Therefore, I deleted the podcast.

The week gone by — Sept. 27

Shivam is a 10-year-old boy from the West Midlands in England, and is mad about cricket.

According to his mother, Rosie D., Shivam watches regardless of the format or who’s playing, and also loves women’s cricket.

Shivam started playing cricket a couple years ago, and while he was a little behind the other kids, he’s learning … and he looks pretty snazzy in his cricket gear.