Baker's heartbeat

  Mick Baker of Chicago plays fast-pitch softball. He was in a Walcott tournament and is shown with his Grandpa, Steve Baker.      Men's fastpitch softball is alive and thriving, with a recent example seen in the community of Walcott, Iowa, located a few miles west of Davenport and the Quad-Cities.     Walcott (population, 1,500) has a long history with softball and in late June hosted the Larry Koberg Iowa Area Men's Fast-pitch Softball tournament -- a qualifier for the world tournament later this summer.     That's the most recent iteration of favored summer pastime.       The game of softball has a long and complicated history, according to The New Republic, a news magazine. In an article from 2016, the respected magazine explained that softball traces its roots to 1887. A group of men had gathered to watch the Harvard/Yale football game via ticker-tape. Yale won, and a happy fan picked up a boxing glove, and threw it up in the air. A Harvard fan hit it with a broom sti

       "The Starry Night" is one of Vincent Van Gogh's most famous works of art. It is now on display at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City.      In August of 1976, this blogger decided to buy some posters for her next home: A dorm room in Maple Hall at Iowa State University, Ames.     I and others at Tipton High School had been introduced to art, and the Expressionists, during an  advanced-level humanities class.  "The Starry Night" by Vincent van Gogh was available as a poster and it was the first thing I purchased and put up in the dorm room.       The interest has never waned. In 1995 I saw Van Gogh's work displayed in the Louvre Museum, Paris.     This week a friend and I visited the "Beyond Van Gogh" exhibit at the RiverCenter, Davenport. I would heartily suggest this immersive experience, especially for those of you who appreciate art and the artists behind the work.     Modern artists may take photos of what they reproduce in paint. Wh