Sunday, June 4th
Amherst, OH to Erie, PA (Mecca)
Arrive in town to head to my cousin Matt’s graduation form school. Significant for a number of reasons. First, Matt is my youngest cousin on my Dad’s side of the family and he is my godson. Second Matt is graduating from Prep, my alma mater, which is Erie Cathedral Preparatory School for Boys for the uninitiated, and ECP to those familiar with my ramblings and subsequent friend mocking. It was great to see Matt graduate. The graduation was exactly the same as mine 17 years earlier. It felt like a time warp and made me remember people and things that I had not thought of for many years.

Saturday, June 3rd
Lima, OH to Amherst, OH
A nice visit to my Godparents, Leonard and Jean V. Leonard was the basketball coach my Dad’s first job in Lima and he and his wife took him under their wing. They have always been around for the significant events of my life despite not living in Erie. I am trying to that type of Godfather to my god children. Yes, there are two sets of peoplewho have chosen me to be the spiritual guidance to their children. The first is Matt, my youngest cousin. He is going to Christian Brothers on a full schoolarship for academics and athletics (Story). The second is my former teaching and coaching colleague. Wes and Anotnia, and their daughter Alexis. I think I have done a decent job so far. We'll see.

Friday, June 2nd
Memphis, TN to Lima, OH

After some significant beer drinking with R. Weiss and others at the Celtic C. on Thursday I left Memphis for Lima, OH. Lima is my Mom’s hometown and the location of Dad’s first teaching job. I don’t get there as often as I would like to or should. It is always fun. Squarely middle America. Both parents have fond memories and great friends from here.

Who is Pete BigBear?

What makes someone so narcissistic that they start a blog? There are a number a reasons; vanity, boredom, lack of a recognizable social life, giving friends updates, or at least providing friends an outlet from the workaday world. A number of my friends have blogs and quite frankly their efforts fall into the last category. I truly believe that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so here I go. I have always kept a journal whenever I travel. The journaling process has provided some valuable self reflection and after the journey it provides an excellent tool to remember the adventures and my feelings while experiencing them.

Here is the gist of this effort. As a teacher my summers are off. Most teachers relax, kick back and hang out. I can’t do that. Let’s just say that free time is dangerous to me. During prolonged days off I struggle to find reasons NOT to start drinking beer at noon. I enjoy beer drinking and I honesty believe beer drinking enjoys me. There are probably some red flags going up, but honestly it is one of my favorite hobbies. Therefore in the summers I have often worked for various non profits in the mid south. I find the work with the students and fellow staff energizing and it keeps me sharp.

I also love Memphis. However the phrase, “Absence makes the heart grow founder”, rings true to me. Therefore significant time away from the Mempho helps me truly appreciate the Bluff City. Although a Memphis resident for the last 18 years, wow I’m old. Raised in Northwest PA on the shores of Lake Erie, I am a Yankee at heart. Getting a chance to go home touch base with family and friends reminds of who I am and where I come from. The analogy that I often think of is that a traveler who makes sure they have their compass pointing accurately to due north. With out this basic reference point the compass is worthless. My childhood and family is my due North.

Enough nostalgic crap. I promise that this blog will be poorly edited and will contain significant style and spelling errors. I aint doin’ no grammar in the summer.


What the hell kind of name is Pete Big Bear?

First off hear is the story. This from a friends web site:
http://lucafinn.pitas.com/
The story of Pete

Memorial day weekend at the lakehouse with some friends, everyone is in the livingroom watching Star Wars. Our friend John is on the other side of the room from Luca. Luca looks over and asks, "What's your name?" John replies, "John."Luca says, "Your name should be Pete."Several minutes go by and Luca looks back over at John and says, "Do you know why you should be called 'Pete?' Because you're big and fat, and you look like you could crush things easily.

Pete Revisited

We(Brand and Luca) went to a KC Royals game last night. The Royals were playing the Yankees. Yankees infielder Jason Giambi got up to bat, and his face and stats were flashed up on the Jumbo-tron. Luca pointed and said, "Hey! That guy looks like Pete!"