Jitterbugs Are Back

Dear Jitterbug Fans -

Many apologies for the very long delay since the last post - a combination of a vacation, a 600-mile move, and a notebook temporarily lost in the shuffle have kept your blogger away for awhile. And even though the minds of Nebraskans have turned from America's pasttime to the Husker football juggernaut, the remainder of the Jitterbugs trip will not be forgotten.

So, if you can turn back the clock from the pleasantness of early September to the peak of baking summer, let's head back to Seward. Like just about every other game, it was clear and hot and still. Since it was a weeknight, a number of our regulars couldn't make it, but Alex Brown's father Steve and his brothers Jordan and Evan stepped up and took the field, as did current Farmhouse resident Bryan Harris, who drove all the way from Lincoln to make the game. The last time Steve Brown played hardball "I Will Survive" was topping the charts, Dustin Hoffman was yelling a lot in "Kramer Vs. Kramer," and muttonchops were still cool. (But muttchops have always been cool for Jitterbugs.) But Steve's decades of softball certainly prepared him for the game. He was a rock on first base, and when he was in the box, he put the bat on the ball.

So did the other Jitterbugs. Seven of us RBI'd, and a three-run fourth inning gave us a 4-2 lead. We never looked back. Paul Demmel threw nine strikeouts and managed to stifle every Seward rally. Despite an injured leg, catcher Justin Snyder held the defense together and scored a run of his own, riding the pony home. And what sealed the deal was Matt Greenquist's ninth-inning rip to center field, a stand-up triple that drove in two runs. The final score: Jitterbugs 9, Seward 5.

As we collected our gear after the game, roman candles were firing everywhere - it was the last day of June in Seward, the 4th of July capital of Nebraska - and driving the Dolphin camper back to The Roy, we stopped near Ashland's racetrack to watch the end of their annual show.
At the Roy we fried up our covertly caught catfish and then ate it in the front yard, washing it down with High Life and playing Swedish horseshoes in the dark.