Twain in Europe

Opuses

Found this quotation in A Tramp Abroad (pub. 1880) and I think it’s worth sharing.

From ch. 46: “But in Europe everywhere except in the mountains, the water is flat and insipid beyond the power of words to describe. It is served lukewarm; but no matter, ice could not help it; it is incurably flat, incurably insipid. It is only good to wash with; I wonder it doesn’t occur to the average inhabitant to try it for that.”

MG comments, “Zing! Score 1 for Twain, The whole of 19th Century Europe 0! It started off so unsuspecting…just a critical remark on water in Europe…I read the end and immediately thought OH!”

ZH (recently back from Europe) responds, “It is still an issue! No ice…it’s too expensive!”

T-Ball

Family

Last year G played tee-ball but we weren’t sure whether he enjoyed it or not. He said he had fun but didn’t seem to get into the games as much. This is understandable since he’s very competitive and they don’t keep score in tee-ball. Of course we don’t want to force baseball but this spring we asked and “yes” he did want to play baseball. So far, they have missed a game and a practice on account of the rain. He was quite disappointed when the game was cancelled, then when practice was cancelled he kept asking why. I said the field was too muddy and he said, “It can’t be. Our yard isn’t muddy. Can we go have a practice of our own?” I said yes, so he put on his team shirt and cap and strapped on his cleats and we went to the back yard. He set up the bases and we started by warming up, then took some batting practice and played a one-inning game with the neighbor girl.

I say there is a good chance that G will dive whole-heartedly into baseball because it’s right in his line. He displays an uncommon passion for gameplay, competition, and strategy. Recently, we started listening to some baseball games on the radio. Now he’s asking me questions like, “So dad, if I hit a foul ball, is that a strike or a do-over?”