BC versus Harvey (Otherwise Known as Sticks and Gnats)

"So, is this one of your hotter days?"

That was  a third-quarter question asked near the goal as one of Harvey School's players conversed with a BC Cadet. We parents couldn't help chuckling. On its spring break, Harvey School of Ketonah New York sent its boys' lacrosse teams below the Mason-Dixon line for a little southern hospitality and some lacrosse practice. They met up with the BC Cadets on the first day of spring.

After a rainy St. Patrick's Day and a couple of chilly follow-up days, we Savannahians relished the blue skies, 76 degree temperatures, and the chance to get outdoors again. Of course, the boys on the field, having run about 16 miles in as many minutes, were a little warmer than we. But still: "Is this one of your hotter days?"

I've been in New York when it's hotter.

I happened to get a shot of the conversation.

I just wish I'd been able to hear our cadet's reply to that question.

Clearly, Harvey School's lacrosse team has much more experience and skill, as evidence by the final score. I stopped counting at 12-2. I was pleased the game wasn't a shutout. Yesterday's game was a learning experience for our boys. But the Harvey team learned about something too:  gnats. As we on the sidelines swatted, slapped, and counted the tiny pink bites on our skin, the Harvey boys in blue had to push through their plays with the irritation of those invisible nuisances. And the gnats were out in full force yesterday. They're not used to hiding out for such a long winter.

The Harvey boys also weren't expecting our sand covered field, which has become much more grainy after so much wear and tear this spring. When a BC cadet dropped his mouth guard in the sand, he and to suck it up and put it back in his mouth. A Harvey boy had the same misfortune a few minutes later. He tried to get away with playing without it. The official caught him, though, and put the boy in the penalty box. 

I wonder how long that young man brushed his teeth last night. 

Here's Lawson going after Harvey's #11.

Two BC players scored for the Cadets yesterday, and they deserve recognition here: 

• Jack the Ripper (11) scored the team's first point among loud cheers from the parents, who were afraid for a moment the team would go home with a big goose egg. Jack saved us from that. 
• And then there was John Sharpley (29), who scored in the second half of the game. John's shown some real aggressiveness on the field, so it was just a matter of time before he slammed that ball in the net. Way to go, Sharp-eye Sharpley! (By the way, our roster shows that John is #31 on the team, but he's really 29. Please make note of that on your copy).
• Our goalies are showing much improvement this week, so I need to put in a shout out to Athen Abercrombie, who stands at that goal waiting for a solid rubber ball to come sailing right at him. Although the Harvey team get a number of scores past him, Athen also stopped just as many. He's making great strides there. Go, Athen!
• One more shout out goes to Robbie and Alison White, who always make sure all the parents have a roster of both the JV and varsity teams, complete with parents' names. Not only did they extend that effort this year, but when new players joined the team, they went back to their list, corrected it, laminated each one, and handed them out a second time. When Robbie handed one to me, he said, "This one has mistakes on it too, but we'll just have to deal with it. I'm not going to make these again." No worries, Robbie and Alison. We appreciate the effort. You're rock stars.

Other highlights of the game:

• All JV players showed much more aggressiveness on the field yesterday. Lacrosse is such a high impact game. In fact, when people first watch the sport, they're a little surprised that the players can hit each other with their sticks. But once you get use to it, it's surprisingly a little fun to yell, "Whack him, Lawson! Poke him!" Lawson did a lot of that yesterday.
• And while I know I should take the officials' calls more seriously, I do get a little amused at how Coach Daly will get in their faces when he disagrees with their decisions. Coach is also a lacrosse referee, so he knows when the calls are good and bad, and I appreciate his going to bat for his team (pardon the mixed metaphor). But when the game official threw a flag on Coach, I had to chuckle just a little bit.

This is just after one such incident.

So now the BC Cadets pack up and head to Atlanta, where they will play St. Pius and Collins Hill. I'm sure the JV boys are looking forward to their first road trip. I hope they win like they pounded on Bluffton High School last week. The Remlers won't be able to attend the games, so if any parents have photos they want to share, please send them our way! 

Go Cadets!

Top O' The Mornin'

On this rainy St. Patrick's Day I sit at my computer wearing my green Peanuts(c) tee shirt and hoping for the best for my freshman BC Cadet who awaits his turn in the parade. Call me and Stephen bad parents, but we just didn't see the point in standing in the rain for an hour until our drenched son walks by. So sorry, Lawson.

Because weather forecasters have been predicting today's rain for the last week, the Remlers decided to celebrate St. Patrick's Day Tybee style, so this past weekend we packed a cooler, some folding chairs, a big salad and our cameras, and we made a day of it on Butler Avenue for Tybee's annual St. Patrick's Day parade.

The delight of this event is manifold:

• It's only an hour long, as opposed to Savannah's 3-4 hour production.
• Lawson doesn't have to march in it, and that makes him happy.
• It runs down Butler Avenue, a four-lane street, which gives the parade participants much room to walk
• The wide street gives spectators much room to spectate
• Parade participants are allowed to interact with the spectators, even giving out beads, candy, and tickets (from the Shriners' Keystone Kops)
• The Remlers always have a place to park because the parade runs right by JoJo and Pop Pop's house
• That means when the parade is over, we simply go inside and feast on fried chicken

Who wouldn't love that?

To top it off, the sun was shining and the temperatures were in the '70's.

Our friend Kimberly Saxon took her five year-old Holden to his first parade, and he had a ball. Who wouldn't. He sat in his chair and watched entertainment walk by, and periodically, someone walked up and handed him a goodie, which he stuck in his pocket. By parade's end, his little blue jeans were weighed down with lollipops, Tootsie Rolls, and plastic green beads.

And to top it off, he got to ride up and down JoJo's elevator.

Good stuff.

I have only one recommendation to the city of Tybee Island: Make sure all city employees understand the event is intended to welcome visitors, not turn them off.

Prior to the parade, Tybee residents and tourists had lined up along Butler Avenue with chairs, coolers, strollers, and the like. We Remlers were at the end of 10th Court, and some other Tybee residents (we didn't catch their names) had set up camp in an adjacent parking space.

A Tybee Parking Services employee approached them and told them that if they intended to sit in that parking space, they had to pay the meter.

What???

No traffic is allowed on Butler Avenue during the parade. Did this guy really want us to believe the city intended to check meters during the event? And what did the island stand to lose during that one hour? A buck? Two? Puh-leez.

Of course, our neighbors ignored his warning and enjoyed the parade without incident. But that one moment of stupidity gave the city a little black spot. And if that parking attendant spoke to every family standing in a parking space, well, that's not very good for tourism. Just saying.

Fortunately, everything else about the parade was fun and upbeat, and we're glad we got a chance to wave and cheer at the grand marshal, the Beach Chair Brigade, Father O'Brien, and a fat man who really should put his clothes on.

We'll miss all that Savannah excitement today, but we'll catch it again next year. For now, Tybee's parade served as a great substitute.

Cadets Trap the Wildcats in a Stunning JV Match

Since Davis graduated in 2012, the Remler family has missed a fun springtime activity: Benedictine Lacrosse. Lawson was in the seventh grade when Davis graduated, so we had a couple of years of getting our younger son trained and ready for the high school lacrosse environment. He played on St. Peters's inaugural LAX team and attended summer and fall camps, but this year he's graduated to the BC team, and Stephen and I are glad to be back in the stands.

The year started out with intensive training. An entire semester of yoga helped Lawson increase his flexibility while maintaining his strength. I must say I'm impressed with his ability to perform the crow pose, which I've never been able to do after about four years of doing yoga.

After the yoga series, he progressed to field training--daily after school workouts and practice sessions to prepare him for the tryouts. 

Lawson made the JV team, which started its season in February with the Ricky McAllaster Memorial Lacrosse Classic. He actually played on the RIP-10 team that weekend, and wore the special number 10 for that tournament. RIP-10 made it to the final round, but they lost to Henry County. Still, they played a good game.

When the regular season started, the BC boys changed their uniforms, and Lawson converted to Davis's number 16. That makes it easier for us to find him, but still I want to get him some bright yellow cleats to make him stand out on the field. Lawson is a middie (midfield), and he runs across that field like an antelope. So far the team has played some tough games. Wando High School stomped the cadets, but Wednesday night, BC played Bluffton High school and won 17-3.

Go, BC! But in addition to congratulating the team on their win, I think other words of praise are in order:

• Three cheers go out to Avis Coleman for loading her full-sized van with teenaged boys and driving them to Bluffton High School. Armed with a full tank of gas and cases of Girl Scout Cookies, Avis helped out the team when the BC bus filled up. We appreciate her volunteerism, especially after the game, when she had to endure the stench of sweaty helmets and pads on the trip home.
• Seven cheers go out to Avis's son Jack Coleman, who scored as many goals for the JV cadets! What he lacks in size, Jack makes up for in energy and skill. He's all around that goal like a mosquito, and the opposing teams don't really know what to do about that. Jack had the ball in the net before the goalie saw him coming. And for that Coleman's new field name is Jack the Ripper.
• More cheers sound for other members of BC's JV team:  John Sharpley, Matthew Whelan, and Drew Tison, who scored, assisted with scores, and defended the ball when BC had possession. They all made for an exciting game.
• And for his long-legged lopes across the field, we give a shout out to Lawson Remler. At six feet tall, most of it leg, Lawson can cross that field in half the steps it takes its teammates. We watch the other BC players churn their legs like locomotives. And then here comes Lawson: whomp...whomp...whomp. I'm sure he doesn't like the comparison, but he honestly does look like he's doing jete's across that field.
• Most cheers go out to the coaches, Dennis Daly and Dick McAllaster, who give all their afternoons to tune these boys up and get them ready for competition. For that we give these men accolades, cheers, huzzahs, and two thumbs up.

BC's varsity team plays Tuesday the 18th in Atlanta. We wish them the best of luck as they face their opponents. While the Remlers cheer on the varsity players, Remlerville reports will focus on JV games, since these are the boys we'll be watching for the next four years.

Go Cadets!

Mailbox Mystery: Solved

Back in September--actually it was Labor Day weekend--about two weeks after I'd left Davis Remler in New York for his second year of college, I discovered the obituary of Effingham County's William Freddie McCullough in Savannah Morning News. I didn't know Mr. McCullough, but after reading his obituary, I wished I had. If you're not familiar with that obituary, please take a few moments to read it here. It'll the the most amusing moments of your day, I promise.

(William Freddie McCullough)

Thinking Davis would like it, I cut it out, stuck it in an envelope, and mailed it to him at SUNY Maritime College. A week went by. I spoke to Davis by phone a few times; he never mentioned the obituary. After two weeks, I asked, "Have you gotten a letter from me?"

"No," he replied. "Nothing."

Later I learned that JoJo and Pop Pop had sent him a check. But that hadn't arrived either. Neither had the letter from Hugh and BB. I cursed the mail room at the college. Then I printed the online version of the obituary and sent it to his roommate's house in Yonkers. Fortunately, the Dronzek family is always willing to oblige where Davis's mail is concerned, so a couple months later when Davis asked me to mail some important documents to him, I decided to forego SUNY's mail room and instead send right to Yonkers. The envelope arrived in a couple of days.

After the holidays, though, I started thinking: Somebody must be getting mail at the maritime college. Are some administrators privileged over the cadets? What if I mailed a package to the provost at the same time I mailed one to Davis? Who would get his package first? My money was on the provost.

So I baked cookies. Dozens of them. Cookie palooza. I also baked some drunk blondies to boot.

Fortunately, Davis had given me a Foodsaver® for Christmas, so I sealed all my baked goods in freshness for a trip via the U.S. Postal Service to the Big Apple. Then I learned how much it cost to send cookies to New York, and I took the provost out of the experiment. I don't even know the provost. I'm certainly not going to spend that much money to ship him some chocolate chip oatmeal treats. Because my fresh-sealed snacks wouldn't fit in the post office's flat rate boxes, so I had to resort to shoe boxes for the experiment. And then I ran out of those. So one package got shipped in a raisin bran box.

Four boxes in all traveled to the Empire State:

• One for Davis and David, mailed to the Dronzek house in Yonkers
• One for Jill, David's girlfriend, who lives in the neighboring community
• One for Conner Deaton, Davis's friend from Savannah, also at SUNY Maritime
• And one for Matt Cannon, another third class cadet at the college (He got the raisin bran box)

                                    

               (Davis, Conner, Matt)                                            (Jill and David)

Inside each package was a note explaining my experiment. I provided my email address, Facebook page, and phone number for texting. I asked each recipient to alert me when his/her package arrived. All packages arrived on the same day, but I heard from the recipients in stages: first Jill, then Matt. Davis called me for another reason, so I asked him about the package. That's when he said the package was in Yonkers and he would go get it that weekend. Later I heard from Conner.

Everyone said the cookies arrived intact and they were delicious. So what had happened to all of that previous mail? Why could a box of cookies show up, but not a simple envelope? I scratched my head, then had to get on with my life.

Meanwhile, the boys across the hall from Davis and David expressed a little cookie envy. Off went a package to them. I'm told the box now hangs on the wall of their room in homage. That makes me so happy. (More cookies are going out to them this week).

Ultimately I decided that if mail is to be delivered at the SUNY Maritime College, it had to be in a box. Envelopes, somehow, disappeared. 

Or did they?

Two nights ago we got a phone call from Davis. "Guess what?" he said. "I found my mail box. They'd moved it from last year, and I didn't know that."

We were talking via Skype. He held up an envelope. "Here's the obituary you sent me back in September. Here's the check from JoJo and Pop Pop. And here's the letter from BB."

So mystery solved. Envelopes do go to SUNY Maritime. Where at SUNY Maritime, it seems, is still up for debate, but our mail does arrive there. I think, though, just for good measure, I'm going to hold onto the Dronzeks' home address.

Ode to Caryn: New Year's Day in the Kitchen

"Do you want pie crust on your chicken pot pie, or do you want me to cover it with biscuits?"

"Biscuits," Davis replied. Stephen never had a chance to answer.

I went into the kitchen and pulled out the flour, the butter, the new dough cutter I got for Christmas. I kneaded dough while vegetables cooked on the stove. I'd just wiped flour off my forehead when Davis entered.

"I thought we were going out to eat," he said.

"What made you think that?" I flattened the dough, preparing to cut out biscuits.

"Because we haven't done anything all day but watch football."

"Oh." I  nodded, reflecting on the two online literature courses I uploaded this morning before cooking Harley burgers for Davis's lunch. I thought about the laundry I'd done before he'd gotten up (at 11:30) and the hour of aerobics I'd done this afternoon while he and his father watched the Dawgs lose the Gator bowl. I considered the the two additional syllabi I composed before stopping myself to ask what topping my nineteen year-old wanted on his pie. Yes, I could see how he'd think that added up to a bunch of nothing. "You haven't said anything about going out to eat. I'm already making chicken pot pie."

"Well, are you going to bake the biscuits first, or are you going to put them on the pie and let them bake?"

"I'll bake them first," I answered. "I've tried it the other way before, and the bottoms of the biscuits don't cook." I stirred the vegetables in the skillet to keep them from scorching.

"Oh…" He frowned and pondered my dough.

"Do you want the biscuits to bake on the pie?"

"Yes," he said, nodding vigorously. "I like them better that way."

"I'll make you a tiny pot pie like that, but I can't promise the biscuit will cook all the way."

He pointed to the skillet. "Are you going to put okra in the pie?"

"Yes."

"Oh…"More frowning. More pondering.

"You don't like okra?"

"No, not really. Could you not put okra in my pie?"

I eyed him with one brow elevated. The expression should have been self-explanatory, but still he lifted his palms to the air and asked, "What?"

"Do you talk to Caryn Dronzek that way? I hope not." I put the pan of cut biscuits in the fridge before pouring a little chicken broth into the vegetables.

"Oh, no," he said. "Caryn always asks me what I want for dinner first."

I shoved him away from the stove. "Guess what, Dorothy? You're not in Oz anymore."

I couldn't help noticing he ate two helpings of chicken pot pie at dinner. Four biscuits. But on his plate were several picked out slices of okra.

Remlerville Holidays

Remember Cindy Lou Who? The tiny tot of Whoville who convinced the old Grinch that Christmas meant much more than stuff?

She sure was cute, wasn't she?

I've been thinking about Cindy Lou a lot lately as I review all my holiday photos. Not because anybody tried to steal the Remler Christmas, but because as I browse all the photos of family gatherings and jocularity it occurs to me that the Remlers are a lot like the Whos. Especially when it comes to meals. We haven't eaten any roast beast, but we ate a lot of other roasts, and we had much fun doing so. 

Christmas Eve

JoJo and Pop Pop hosted a Christmas Eve dinner for their children and grandchildren, and everyone except the Ulmers were able to attend. Cousin Carol Ann from Tampa also traveled north to join us, so we had two tables full of siblings, cousins, and in-laws feasting on the beef tenderloin JoJo cooked for us. 

Her tables were beautiful, with each setting adorned with a musical Christmas tie for each male and a Santa hat-adorned sleigh bell for each female. We almost hated to mess up the table settings by putting food atop those dishes. But somehow we managed, and we filled ourselves better than any family in Whoville.

 Leaving no stone unturned, JoJo also accompanied

each place setting with a small flashlight in a box--

just in case the lights went out.

Fortunately, that didn't happen.

And after a satisfying Christmas Eve dinner, we all retired downstairs for the opening of gifts, the viewing of Brian Remler's fifth grade performance in the Christmas pageant, and family photos.

All the men made sure to wear their musical ties.

One Christmas treat was that Lawson agreed to have his photo taken with me.

And he smiled! Oh, joy!

The highlight of the gift exchange was Pop Pop's gift to JoJo:  a stunning diamond and emerald bracelet that would rival the star of Bethlehem. For security reasons, I won't post the photo here, but imagine the diamond and emerald bracelet you'd like to see under your tree and then multiply it by about six thousand. That was JoJo's gift. She's going to have to lift weights just to hold her arm up now. But something tells me she won't mind.

Christmas Day

The Stephen Remler family has created its own traditions over the years, and most of them have to do with food. Stephen loves to get up Christmas morning and make pigs in blankets for breakfast. We munch on them throughout the day as we open our presents:

No piggy survived the day.

And in keeping with the food theme this year, Davis and Lawson gave me a food saver, which vacuum seals just about anything to keep it fresh. As luck would have it, we had some fresh venison in the cooler outside that needed to be packed up and frozen, so part of Christmas day involved meat processing setup out by the fire pit. By sundown, I had about a dozen vacuum sealed packets of meat ready to go in the freezer.

Another form of family togetherness in the kitchen.

But that wasn't all! Lawson gave me a dough cutter, so now I can make buttery, delicious biscuits to go with our venison stew. And I'd be remiss if I overlooked my own Christmas tradition. I like to make a seven-layer salad for Christmas day. Some folks like fruitcake. Some like candy canes. I like seven-layer salad. So I munch on that throughout the day. Stephen, Davis, and Lawson are welcome to have some, and Stephen will partake of a bowl or two, but Davis and Lawson generally decline. That's fine. More for me.

Stephen stepped up to the Big Green Egg for Christmas dinner, presenting us with a beautiful boneless standing rib roast we'd bought from M&T meats. It was better than any roast beast the Grinch would have tried to steal.

Suffice it to say, nobody starved to death in our house that day.

Cork Club

Then the following Saturday, I traveled up to Atlanta to Sabra and Martin's house for her monthly cork club party. Because of the holidays, this month's theme was sparkling wine, and a house full of friends and relatives gathered around Sabra's breakfast room table to sample about, oh, a dozen bottles of various bubbly spirits.

And of course one must have food to go with wine, and Sabra had plenty, complete with a chocolate fountain!

I enjoyed visiting with my Davis/Klein family members, including Aunt Mary, Buz, and Elizabeth. And I was especially delighted to see Rhonda, my former roommate, and before that Sabra's college roommate from the University of Georgia. So cork club was a reunion in several different ways.

The nice young man on the left is David Ocampo--

Elizabeth's boyfriend. We think he's not only 

a great guy; we think he's blog-worthy!

Elizabeth is next to him, and Aunt Mary is on the right.

Roommate reunion: Sabra, Rhonda, and Nancy

Food, spirits, and fun didn't stop when the cork club meeting ended. Afterward, several of us gathered around the table for a spirited game of Smart Ass. If you've never played that game, you should. It's a hoot! Think Trivial Pursuit with donkeys.

Aunt Mary won with her lightning-fast knowledge of history, geography, and popular culture.

And I couldn't help noticing that once again, nobody starved to death! Thank heavens!

So now we begin 2014 with full tummies and anticipation of health and prosperity. Of course, the holidays aren't about the food, but somehow it seems to bring us together.

And here are some other fun photos from Christmas

Davis and Lawson smiling--Can't get enough of that!

Stephen makes pigs in blankets

JoJo poses with the guys in their ties.

Roukos Live: A Night at Old BC

Two days before Thanksgiving, Lawson stopped me in the hallway and said, "I need to let you know that am singing in the Christmas concert next weekend--December 8th."

"Hold on a minute," I replied before I went into the bathroom to clean out my ears.  When I returned, I said, "Now what did you say?"

"I'm singing in the Christmas concert next weekend at the cathedral."

So I had heard correctly.

"You?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Music is going to come out of your mouth?" The last time Lawson sang was--well, I've never heard Lawson sing. In church, Lawson stands during the hymns, patiently listening until the music stops. Here's a picture of Lawson singing:

"Yes," he said. "Believe it or not."

"What provoked you to sign up to sing in the Christmas concert?" There had to be more to his decision than holiday spirit.

"I need extra credit for my biology class."

That's when I stopped asking questions. Instead, I put December 8th on my calendar and looked forward to Lawson's musical debut.

In the week that followed, Lawson went to school, attended lacrosse practice afterward, and did his homework. Never did he mention choral rehearsals. When I asked if he'd practiced that day with Father Ronald, the answer was always no. I asked him, "What are you going to sing?"

"I don't know," he replied. "I guess I'll find out when I get there."

I thought, This ought to be good. "What time do you have to be at the cathedral Sunday?"

"I'm not sure," he said. "I think around 7:00 that morning."

"So you're singing at the 8:00 Mass?"

"No, it's a Christmas concert."

"I think you need to call Mills and find out when you should be there." Mills always has the answer.

"I'm pretty sure it's 7:00."

"Call Mills."

"Mom, I know what I'm talking about."

"Call."

So Lawson called. No, I take that back. He texted. "Mills says we have to be there at 5:00 pm. The concert's at 7:00."

That sounded more like it.

So after a weekend of crossing the state for BC's game in the GHSA AA semifinals and a Lawson family reunion, my son and I ventured downtown for a night of Christmas hymns. Stephen opted out. He wasn't interested in waiting two hours for a concert when football was on TV.  "Besides," he said, "he hasn't practiced a bit for this thing. I don't want to go listen to that."

I couldn't argue with his logic, but I just had to see Lawson performing live. It might be my only chance.

So in the two-hour space between arrival and curtain time, I walked downtown's Broughton Street with Carmen, mother of Mills. Then we found seats near the front of the sanctuary for the big performance.

First of all, the cadets filed in, seniors first, in order of rank, and they looked so distinguished in their Class A uniforms.

And the cathedral itself is beautiful, as you can see from the photo above, so the ambience alone made the evening worth it. The concert included musical selections on the organ, a few songs by a soloist, and some carols by a local barbershop quartet. But the BC boys sang most of the songs. Some selections featured the BC chorus alone, and then others included additional boys from the religious studies classes (and, I suppose, the biology classes).

Still skeptical, I envisioned Lawson mouthing the word watermelon through every hymn, but he surprised me. If he was faking it, he did a pretty good job, but I dare say the boy was actually singing!

To the left of Lawson is Mills. And to the left of Mills is Harrison Hughes. All three boys sang like adolescent angels. And then there was the kid to the right. He was having none of it, which made me wonder why he showed up at all. Look at how he didn't even bother to read the music. I wanted to sneak up to the front of the church and whisper, "Just mouth the words elephant shoes," but I thought I'd be too conspicuous. So there he stood, waiting patiently for the concert to be over. I wonder if he's going to get extra credit in biology for standing there.

Was it the Mormon Tabernacle choir? No. But still, the concert got me in the Christmas spirit, and I got to see Lawson sing. Few people will be able to say the same.

Check out the video of the live performance on YouTube!