Baker's heartbeat

       That's Kirstin Baker (yellow top), age 8, at the Junior Bix in 1998      It was the summer of 1998, and our active 8-year-old daughter, Kirstin, enjoyed running around our Scott County neighborhood.     It made sense for husband Steve and I, both employed at the Quad-City Times, to register Kirstin for the first "Junior  Bix"  event planned for the Friday night before the famous 7-mile race.     Kirstin had taken part in a children's race before and it seemed a no-brainer. We got everyone loaded into the car on Friday, July 24, and headed for the Times.       We had no idea what to expect.     That first event has been termed "organized chaos" in the 25 years since it was held.      Those who planned the Quad-City Times Bix 7 thought a special race for children was a great idea. They expected some 1,500 entries, but an additional 5,000 children, parents, grandparents, fri...

  Grandchildren include: Collin, Nathan, Mick, Brady, Bryant, with Hailey and Myla in front row     Welcome to Baker Land, where the grass is green, the flowers are blooming and the grandchildren are above average.     Earlier this month, many years of watching grandkids in local high school sports came to an end. Brady Hansen, a recent graduate of Davenport West High School, was a pitcher and starting catcher on the Falcons team.     To begin at the beginning: The eldest grandson, Bryant Campbell, was the first one to follow. He and his cousin, Mick Baker, were on a 2013 Davenport Assumption baseball team that made the state tournament but lost in a heart-breaking fashion.      Mick was on the 2014 Assumption team that did win the state tournament. That included a substate game against Central DeWitt, versus T.J. Sikkema, who now is a pitcher for the Kansas City Royals organization. Mick held his own against Sikkema in that game, in mos...

  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 ...

       "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 art...

       The Amtrak train enters the station in Princeton, Ill.      The idea of train travel from the Quad-Cities to Chicago has been bandied about for years. It would be a valuable asset, if and when it happens.     The latest news on this topic came in the Quad-City Times newspaper, Feb. 28, 2023. In a story by Gretchen Teske and Grace Kinnicutt, it was reported that Iowa Interstate Railroad was asking for too much money to pay for needed improvements on the rail line it controls.     This line is the quickest local link to Chicago, but it must be upgraded before Amtrak can use it for passengers.     We Bakers recently took the train from Princeton, Ill., to Chicago. Princeton is about 70 minutes from our home in Eldridge.       I was determined to write a blog and to get the photo, above. That led to a bit of trouble: The woman who was working at the train station came out to ask me to move. "The tr...

"Reservation Dogs," available on Hulu, is a terrific  coming-of-age television show.       To those of you who appreciate good television I offer this name: Taika Waititi.     Waititi, of New Zealand, is an artist who has achieved numerous awards and achievements. He is a director, screenwriter and producer, as well as actor and comedian.     I first learned of Waititi -- also known as Taika David Cohen -- when he was involved in a television series, " Flight of the Conchords ."      T hat show was on HBO several years ago: Comics Jermaine Clement and Bret McKenzie travel from their native home in New Zealand to New York City, aiming to find love and success in the Big Apple.     " Reservation Dogs ," is a more recent Waititi show which I found on Hulu. Waititi co-created the show with  Sterlin Harjo and is one of the writers.      This series focuses on young, Native American teens who l...

      Iowa's Caitlin Clark, in action earlier in 2023. Photo originally appeared in the Chattanooga Times Free Press .      The last few weeks have been a blast watching Caitlin Clark and the terrific Hawkeye women's basketball team win game after game until reaching the NCAA finals.     The highlight was the smack-down on March 31 when the Hawks bested undefeated South Carolina 77-73 in the NCAA Final Four.     Most of blog readers who know me realize I'm a devoted Iowa State fan. That's where I went to college and that's an obvious place for my first loyalties.     That said, the Iowa women's team had us mesmerized in 2023.       Credit Clark and the entire team for pulling most of the state of Iowa -- and people from across the nation -- into the aura of women's sports.     Women have a long history of sports participation in Iowa. But it takes a talent like Clark to  publicize th...