Batter up! - guest Mim memory du jour

My thanks to our cousin, BOB RIPLEY (ANC '68), for the following memories of Mim & for his permission to share with Mim's circle for family, friends & fans.  Background - When they hit 15, Peter, Mike & Mim each spent the summer on the the Ripley ranch outside Sacramento, CA.  (Aunt Betty was Mom's BFF & her baby sister.)  Imagine the times they had, connecting with their California cousins - David, Linda & Bob -  AND helping Uncle Paul as ranch hands.  Mim went out the Summer of '59, the summer after Ian died.

Hi Elsa (OK, Deev),

    I want to thank you so much for your great Mim postings! This is a great way to honor her. These stories bring back so many memories and really cause me to reflect back on my life. I remember when Mim came out to 'the ranch' in the early sixties (or was it late fifties?). 

Linda and I just loved her and were so excited that she was visiting us. I remember her introducing us to S'mores, which we thought were the greatest thing in the world. I remember she and Linda going bonkers over Frankie Avalon and Fabian. 

She also introduced the new concept to us that it was OK to be silly or even non-conforming - probably known now as playfully thinking outside the box. I think I really embraced this concept and adopted it to be a part of my life from then on. I found my creativity and successful risks really blossomed with my newly-found gift.


    I was enthralled when she spoke of her children's activities and  starting a football team, because I had always wanted to form a baseball team with us country boys whose fathers worked and mothers didn't drive or didn't have a 2nd car. Without Moms driving, most of us couldn't get to Little League practice and games. This desire had been left only as  a thought until I met Mim. 

After she left, I had the courage to start the "Newcastle Colts" country baseball squad. We practiced on my baseball diamond that Dad had let me build down by the stream. We never did play any other teams but had a ball practicing in the hot summer sun from daybreak into the night sometimes. With our homemade uniforms and our intense love of the sport, we were the consummate Boys of Summer. And Mom would always have the Kool Aid ready for us at lunchtime. 

I feel like I was the Lion in the Wizard of Oz, who lacked the 'currage' to be brave, until that great someone (Mim) told me that I could do that - if I had the desire, I actually also had the ability. Over the past 55 years I have started more baseball teams and leagues than I can count on both hands.

My latest venture was the Newcastle Nine men's over-28 hardball team. We won the local league championship and the went down to Sacramento to win their championship also. That was about 6 years ago. In  researching Newcastle history, I found that, in the late 1800's, Newcastle had a men's baseball team (Newcastle Nine)  that beat all the Sacramento and San Francisco teams. It was an honor, when Gil and I started the youth league here in 1979, to play on the same hallowed grounds on which these men had played.  And I owe a huge part of these impassioned activities to Mim.
   
 Your story of the Sunday adventures really rang a familiar bell with me. In the late 80's, I would take Nick, Angie and Amy out early on Sunday mornings for our 'Sunday Morning Adventure Team' forays. It was initially designed to give mom a break but turned out to be a great tradition. We would go get donuts then head out to our adventure - we had no idea what we would be doing that morning and would  formulate the plan as we got our donuts. One time we followed right underneath a hot air balloon down to Lincoln, 8 miles away, where the craft landed. They were happy to show the kids everything about the balloon and the kids were in heaven. We would follow fire engines and just about anything else that moved.

So many great memories - and thanks so much for helping me relive them!!

Bob