A Day In Stanford

Jim and Katy Baughman live on the Baughman homestead in Stanford, Kentucky and we spent the day with them today. It's not often in todays times that children who live in the city have a chance to experience a little taste of farm life. I was fortunate to have grandparents who had a large farm three counties east of Louisville. Hailee and Tristan had a large time running around exploring the farm and both did not want to leave at the end of the day.

I'd almost forgotten how Jim Baughman plays tennis since it's been so long since we've played. It's a combination of trick shots, slop tennis, moon balls and drop shots. It's like playing tennis in slow motion. There's no pace to play off of and I can never get a feel for that kind of play. There's no tempo to get used to and no flow to the game. I hate to admit it but Jim beat me like a drum. Hailee was our ball girl and she did an excellent job. Now I know how the pro's feel, having the balls retrieved for you.

There is a hammock strung between a couple of trees in front of Jim and Katy's and it looks deceptively relaxing. It's a fine art getting into the thing without being thrown to the ground. the hammock seems almost alive, as if it's a horse that hasn't been broken. I stretch out across the hammock on my back and then I turn my body ninety degrees. You do this very slowly as you resist the urge to say soothing words to keep the hammock calm. All the while you can feel it quivering as you're trying to orient yourself into the correct position. I'm finally in the correct position. Jim says "you don't look very relaxed bear." Everyone laughs. I can't laugh and have to stay perfectly still to maintain my enjoyable hammock experience. Hailee comes up and put both her hands on the edge and has a smile on her face. "Hailee, if you dump me off this thing, you'd better start running!" After a while I actually start to doze off. Charlene wakes me saying it's time to go. The process get off the thing is reversed and very slowly I get back off the thing. I don't know if it's worth the effort or not. Give me a good couch and I'll be happy.