My favorite sport is baseball. I played Little League, Pony League and High School. So, each summer I love to watch the Little League World Series playoffs. The final championship game is today, Sunday.

The kids today are really talented, much more so than when I played almost 70 years ago. As the playoffs progress, the remaining teams are more talented, the games mean more, and the tension grows.

The kids who win are like those in the picture above. It’s a great moment for them. The kids who lose are often devastated, crying with each other. In some ways I can relate to the losing kids more than those who win as I’ve lost many times in my life.

Out of my few wins and several losses, I’ve learned one thing. The greatest lesson you can learn in life is how to lose, not how to win.

I’ve learned much more from my losses than from my wins.

The greatest loss was when I learned I was not the captain of my soul. Out of that loss, I received my greatest victory. I deserved condemnation and punishment, but I received mercy and grace – and a changed life.

The first Cracker Barrel restaurant opened on September 19, 1969, near Lebanon, Tennessee, on the Gallatin Highway 109 exit just off Interstate 40. (This was close to my folks home at the time.) It was founded by Dan Evins, who created the concept to attract highway travelers by combining a restaurant with a gift store, modeled after the traditional country stores of the American South. The original location served Southern cuisine, including biscuits, grits, country ham, and turnip greens, and was initially built as a restaurant-gas station combo to boost fuel sales.

The gas pumps didn’t last, but the original idea for Cracker Barrel lasted for 56 years as a place where you could get away from sterile franchise restaurants to enjoy a family style meal in a comfortable atmosphere with a wood fire during the Winter months. Even though all the restaurants had odd artifacts and pictures on their walls, they were all different.

When people saw the original logo with the old gentleman sitting next to a cracker barrel, they knew what they would get that was special and comfortably different from other restaurants.

For some reason, the management of Cracker Barrel wants to change that. The new logo has the same sterile feel of McDonalds.

What’s worst is the new sterile feel of the restaurant itself. This could be a Chilis or Applebees. It’s definitely not Cracker Barrel.

If they continue with this it could be another Bud Light experience. The stock price is down over 7%.

Dan Evins has to be rolling over in his grave.

Our trip last weekend to Bowling Green, KY for my sister Jane’s funeral was sad, but it went well. On Friday, Betty and I did the eulogy in 93 degree heat and 90 percent humidity at the grave side. Not pleasant, but you do what you have to do.

The next day, Saturday, we drove to Brentwood, TN, just outside of Nashville to spend the day and evening with our ‘cousin’ Jerre Ann and her housemate, Diane. Jerre Ann has been a part of our lives for many years and we’re very close. Chris and Deborah joined us for the afternoon and evening.

Jerre Ann took us all to The Factory in Franklin, TN. It’s an old stove factory that has been remodeled to include many great restaurants, stores and a full-size carousel. All the animals were carved by one man over 30 years. We all rode it and, since it was my birthday, they let us ride for free.

That evening we had a great barbecue dinner at Jerre Ann’s and they surprised me with a birthday ice cream cake. It was delicious.

The weekend was a mix of sad and happy, but it ended on a very happy note with me enjoying a great birthday for my 80 years with good friends and family. I’m a blessed man.

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This is so true. The humidity while we were in Kentucky for my sister’s funeral was over 90% with the temperature in the 90s …

This is probably the best weather forecasting you can find. Always accurate …

Betty and I would love this place. We agreed a long time ago, no phones during our meals …

And here’s why we would love the place with no Wifi …

Please take heed of this sign …

No telling what he would have invented during COVID …

You have to take your emergency elsewhere …

Usually I like the book and hate the movie …

Episode of ‘Ancient Aliens’ I guess …

This guy probably has a jar full of saved wine corks as well …

Looks like a Rainbow Trout to me …

Where do I apply? …

God’s terms and conditions were a lot shorter than what you’re faced with today …

Me too, Dennis, me too …

Once again, Monday humor will be tomorrow. Betty and I were in Tennessee for my sister’s funeral and we didn’t get home until Sunday night.

Work on keeping your own humor up until tomorrow.