Afterglow 2012 - Day 3 Monday

After working up a sticky sweat playing baseball the best remedy is a cool swim in the waters of Afterglow Lake. It is the best remedy for just about any ailment that plagues you. If the medical community caught on, we wouldn't be alone up here.

Somehow I got roped into playing Afterglow softball. I certainly wasn't properly equipped to play seeing as I was wearing a swimsuit and sandals and I had left my glove at home. But my love of baseball overcame that and I settled in at 2nd base, the position played by my favorite Brewers player Rickie Weeks. Afterglow softball welcomes all, even the smallest of people (kids to the lay person). While the kids bat you are free to relax or do other things like play soccer, as Mark and Gary did while Maddie was at the plate.

Nate stood by his father Mark in centerfield and prepared to spring into action if needed. Nate has all sorts of health issues that I won't get into. But even though his heart is medically weak, it is the heart of a champion. Such an amazing little kid.

Gary is also a very fun one to watch because he looks like he doesn't give a shit while at the same time giving 110% effort. I don't know how he does it but this may be a very good reason why he is more successful in life than I am. Someday I might offer him a fistful of dollars and ask him to train me. I'm afraid that he may decline to teach me his ways, for there can only be one supreme being.

I don't think that Kevin played softball. He might someday correct me on this and I'd like to say that I'll come back here and correct that statement, but we all know that's not going to happen. Heaven forbid I tell the real story of what happened.

It doesn't take a lot of convincing to get people to hang out in the pristine waters of Afterglow Lake. For me and Kevin we just need to be here. That's enough to get us to go swimming. But for some people the temperature needs to be favorable and the sun needs to be out. I don't subscribe to that logic but if it takes the perfect conditions for other people to join in the fun then I will continually ask for the perfect conditions on a daily basis. Because then Jenny Reck will join me. And the world can always use a little more Jenny Reck time.

Home

The raft really is a beautiful thing. A beacon in the darkness guiding us towards the light. It is a meeting place for all of the lost souls who choose to believe in the bountiful greatness of its' everlasting joy and fruitfulness. I wish I could always be there.

It was just me and Kevin hanging out all morning until this point and it took until this moment to meet up with another family member. Jenny Reck was sitting on the end of the pier enjoying the day and we somehow convinced her to come swimming.

After we went swimming we wandered up by the KK to watch the softball game. We had a feeling that there were some people we knew who were playing in today's game. And of course we were right because Afterglow is such a tight knit community that we know practically everyone up here. But none of them are as fun to watch as the biggest kid of them all, Dale McKissick, father to Gary, Kevin and Beege and one of Afterglow's most celebrated athletes. Watching him swing for the fences is worth the price of admission.

Pete is the owner and operator of this Lake Resort and he certainly works hard to keep this place in good working order. But one thing that he has taken on in recent years is chief documentarian of all things Afterglow. It is his responsibility to take photographs and video so that it can be presented on Awards Night. After softball he asked us all to get together for a group picture. We all graciously accepted his humble request but when he asked us to jump I respectfully declined. He might be able to trick the others, but I play by my rules.

You can fake a lot of things. A smile is one of those. But I can guarantee you beyond a shadow of a doubt that these smiles are indeed genuine. That's what Afterglow does to you. It brings out the joy. That's what makes it so hard to be away from this place.