Emotions of the last month...

The following touches on my thoughts and feelings over the last month, rather than descriptions of what I have been doing. As such, it is more of a post for me as opposed to one for you all, but feel free to read if you would like. Descriptions of what I have been doing can be found in the posts that will follow (above)... As always, thanks for reading!


Where to begin, where to begin? I guess I owe an apology for leaving everyone hanging in suspense for the last month. It isn't that I wasn't thinking about you all, in fact it was quite the opposite. I have been thinking about you all non-stop but just didn't have it in me to pound the keyboard with updates.

The last month has been an intense and trying time for me, a roller coaster of emotions and experiences. What is forthcoming will also be an intense period of transition, as I leave the international baseball playing and traveling behind and return home to stay. My time in Australia is rapidly coming to an end as I chase summer back up into the northern hemisphere. With a return to the States and school lurking in the not so distant future, change in lifestyle and culture shock are imminent. The time of transition has been amplified by a constant stream of thoughts going through my head, feelings of fortune, sorrow, happiness, and the like. It seems like the last month has provided me with every emotion from the lowest valley to the highest peak.

A little less than a month ago, one of the best people in this world left us. The definition of a "top bloke," Scott's death has hit me harder than anything that has ever happened. Being so far from it only made controlling and dealing with my emotions harder. After looking into options to get home and talking with people close to me, I decided to do what I thought Scott would want me to do... what I would want someone to do if the situation was reversed. I decided to honor my commitment to playing in the Provincial League Championships outside of Sydney and finish my intended time in Australia before returning home to pay my respects.

My plans included travel following the tournament and I just returned to Perth after 19 days split between baseball/tourism in Sydney, and taking in Melbourne and Cairns.
We took Gold in the rain-shortened tournament, which I played with my socks up to honor #20, and touring the hot spots of East Australia was amazing... but the trip constantly left me in internal struggle, feelings fluctuating between guilt and happiness, but above all feeling fortunate.

I have been so fortunate to get the opportunities I have had, to meet the people I have, and all of these experiences and people will continue to shape the way I look at life and appreciate life far, far in the future. I am very grateful for having you as an audience to share bits and pieces of my experiences with you, and for that I thank you. I will get away from this writing now, and tell you a bit about my experiences out East. I could write for days about the great experiences out there but will pick just a few to share... I hope you enjoy...