Note: if you are receiving this by email notification, you must go directly to the website http://www.harshfamily.blogspot.com/ to view the videos.
~Oh yeh, we came to this island to play baseball didn’t we? True, this was the means for which our journey was begun, but in the bigger scheme of things life has a way of using circumstance and situations as a catalyst for something greater. At least this is the code I’ve adopted. I like to call it the “Providential Code” whereby God orders and directs our path according to what He sees that will benefit Him and His greater purpose in our lives, and in the lives of our children as well. What we are experiencing here in PR is much bigger than Hunter and a baseball opportunity or training. It includes every one of us on this journey; the pages of each of our lives are still being written, and the plot and purpose are still to be discovered. Nevertheless, this post is about baseball! But not just an update on Hunter’s training, rather some fun information on Wyatt and his becoming a little leaguer in Puerto Rico. Again, we stand in awe of how all is orchestrated on our behalf, and how we just “happened” to be indirectly directed to the best little league organization on the island. I was reluctant to take part in what might be a foreign language fiasco and perhaps have me traveling in high crime areas to attend practice and games. After several phone calls from connection Hunter’s coach had, we met with one Piry Vega (pronounced “Petey”) who came to meet us at the corner McDonalds so we could follow him to the practice field after our getting lost. Piry has been running Roosevelt Little League for 50 years and only speaks a little English, but enough to give me the names of about 7 or 8 major league players who got their start on Roosevelt fields. It was a delight to watch as this kind, older gentleman welcome Wyatt to his league and insist, with a big smile, that Wyatt at least try some Spanish. He assured Wyatt that the boys on the team he would be placed all speak English. Wyatt’s biggest fear was that he would not be able to communicate with anyone and had him going to bed in a fit of anxiety the night before the first practice. The photos will tell how it all played out, which couldn’t have been better. It was the red-headed, fair-freckled Puerto Rican boy named Andréas that said, “Hey Wyatt, come one!” and took him under his wing right away.(red-headed Puerto Rican, no kidding! That's what is so great and interesting about PR, the diversity of its people.) What I most want to report on is the opening ceremonies of Wyatt's little league. We were told we didn’t want to miss it because, as with everything else, Puerto Rican’s know how to have fun and celebrate any and all occasions. The opening of the little league season is no different. It was held on the fairest of nights with a cool breeze and a nice manicured field which was all lit up with white folding chairs lined in the infield to take in the teams and players that would stroll into the ball park after completing their march along the parade route. That’s right, a parade complete with school band and a girls twirling team. Each of the little league teams walking along the neighborhood streets around the field in their very cool unofficial major league uniforms (the best looking uniforms our boys have ever worn), from the youngest team to the oldest boys followed by a small band of local men and dads playing their drums and horns. There amidst it all was this little blue-eyed blonde boy hailing from somewhere between College Station and Huntsville in a land far, far away…that little town of Shiro, Texas! It was Wyatt Harsh, or as his new baseball buddies say, “wY-At”. The parents that I am surrounded with at practice and games couldn’t be a better group of people. All are so warm and inviting, wanting to make sure we are not the least bit held back by anything. I just wish David were a part of all this with me as we are use to being back at home. To make up for it, I text and send photos from my phone from the practices as well as the games. Sometimes Wyatt calls dad on the way back to our apartment to give a report. He is arriving for a visit next week to see it all. He can’t wait, and neither can we!
~Hunter continues to play and train. However, we still have only seen one game of his which was during the holidays. They do not follow a regular schedule of games but pick them up as the week goes along and coach makes plan to play in this town or that. All of them seem to be on the opposite end of the island and too far for us to drive. Gas prices have gone up here just as we have heard they have back home. With the cost of living in PR, I have to be very conservative with gas in order to get Hunter back and forth to the academy and to get Wyatt to his practice and games. The senior boys on Hunter’s team are being scouted and given scholarships to attend colleges in the states. Penn State was recently scouting the team and approached Hunter. Intrigued by his being the only “gringo” on the team they wanted to know his story and what brought him to PR. They asked how long he will be here, so maybe they will put a mark by his name and come back next year when he is an eligible senior. That is our hope although he is making his list of potential colleges in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. He can’t go too far from home; mom and dad want to watch some college ball! The team is getting ready to attend some of Major League Baseball’s Spring Training camps in Florida both for observation and a chance to meet with the clubs top coaches. They will be playing in a tournament while there.
The weather is unusually cool and rainy for this time of year in San Juan, or so the locals tell us. We are enjoying it though! Sure makes for nice afternoons with the doors and windows open. It’s been so windy and cool at the beach that we’ve had to leave early. Don’t you hate when that happens??? But then again, there’s always tomorrow. Every day is just as beautiful as the day before!
I've also included some other random photo's of all that is unique and/or beautiful around the island.
I guess it's just another day at the ballpark in Puerto Rico when a former Major League Coach comes out the ballpark and gives batting and fielding instruction. That's what happened last week at practice. I walked up to the fence to ask one of the dads who "that man" was conducting Wyatt's practice. It was Edwin Rodriguez, coach of the Florida Marlins in the 2010/11 season.
I've mentioned before thatI go out to the baseball academy Hunter attends and give an English lesson to the boys. They are enrolled in online schooling, so the Coach was thrilled when I offered to give them a "real" classroom experience once a week. I'm setting the bar high for these aspiring ballplayers from PR! Our copies of Homer's Iliad just arrived and we have begun reading... Improving their English while reading the classics; a rewarding experience for me every week.
This is my drive to the baseball academy...into the beautiful mountains of central Puerto Rico. The photo doesn't compare to what it looks like to the naked eye; a sight that I never tire of seeing week after week.
The photos below are not postcards, but he beautiful beach area of Ocean Park and Condado where we live!
Beach Patrol
Our apartment is a couple of blocks just behind the condo's in the photo below.
Condado Lagoon where we like to paddle board
James 1:17, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
