In the interest of fair reporting, and honesty, I’ll admit that this particular blog installment has a chance to be a bit of a rambling runaway train. Why? Because I have a lot of little things to write about, but not one big subject. That’s the way blogging works, though, and I’m quite accustomed to sitting down at my desk without a real plan. Sometimes, the plan becomes clear once the words are on the page.

So, I’ll be getting on an airplane tomorrow, heading for St. Louis. There are all sorts of reasons why that’s a good thing. 1) I’m looking forward to seeing all of my former NHRA colleagues again. 2) I’ll be at the track on Saturday and that’s the single biggest day of the year for Levi, Ray & Shoup and Team Wilkerson, with Dick Levi in the house and thousands of guests at the race. 3) After I arrive on Friday I’ll be seeing my niece Kimberly and her husband Chris at Farotto’s for my favorite pizza on the planet Earth, with some epic toasted ravioli thrown in for good measure. 4) It’s my hometown.

The last time I lived in St. Louis was 1994. In March of that year, I accepted an offer to become the general manager of the Kansas City Attack indoor soccer franchise, and I left the Gateway Arch, Busch Stadium, Kirkwood, and Forest Park behind. But, and this is something most people can relate to, it’s still home and always will be.

I’ll spend Saturday at the track, reconnecting with some of the best people I ever worked alongside, and then I think I’ll switch to a later afternoon flight on Sunday, just to give myself a few hours to tour around town.

Typically, over the course of the many of the years we’ve been racing in St. Louis, I’d barely give myself enough time to see any of the old neighborhoods or landmarks, but this time I left myself the option of taking Sunday to do that. If that feels like the right thing to do, when I get up that morning, then that’s what I’ll do.

I always like visiting Woodleaf Court, the little cul de sac in Kirkwood where we all grew up. There’s no longer a basketball hoop next to the driveway in front of the house, but my footprints will always be associated with that strip of asphalt. Whether it was playing my sister Mary in a game of H-O-R-S-E or my buddy Mitch in an epic series of Whiffle Ball games, that driveway and I are forever linked. For the record, Mary routinely beat me at H-O-R-S-E but Mitch could not handle my sidearm slider. It was my go-to out pitch.

The weather forecast for the weekend calls for it to be pretty hot, like in the 90s, and I’m clearly not in shape for that. We’ve turned the corner to much cooler temperatures up here in Minnesota, and we’ve also had a lot of rain lately, so 92 degrees with typical St. Louis humidity is going to require quite an adjustment, as well as weather-correct clothes. When Barbara and I went out for a quick dinner last night, I almost grabbed a jacket.

And speaking of our home here in Woodbury, I’m proud to announce that for the first time in my life I’m now sitting on a Board of Directors, and not just one but two! Okay, they’re unpaid positions and nobody else seemed to want to do it, but it’s good experience and I feel like I’m helping the neighborhood.

Our new home here is in a large Woodbury development called Dancing Waters. Within Dancing Waters are a number of individual neighborhoods, ranging from large traditional homes, to townhouses, and detached townhomes (like ours). Each subdivision has its own board, and I’m now the Vice President of the St. John’s Village board of directors. We work directly with the property management company that acts as our Home Owners Association.

Each sub board also puts one director on the Dancing Waters Master Association board, and that’s me for the next two years. I’ve attended one Master board meeting, but I was just tagging along with my neighbor Jerry, to see how it all worked. After that meeting, I took over Jerry’s spot on the Master. We’ve also had one meeting as the St. John’s Village board, and at that one I was officially welcomed to the group.

When we moved to Woodbury originally, in 2002, the population was around 30,000. Now, in 2016, it’s over 60,000 and still rising. Dancing Waters was a big part of that population growth, as a fully pre-designed community, and it’s now almost completely built out. Seems like yesterday when Barbara and I would ride our bikes over here and walk through various homes under construction, trying to get a feeling for how it would all turn out.

The great news is we live in a fantastic neighborhood, and the entire development of Dancing Waters is very well kept and in great financial shape. It’s a great place to live, and we plan to make it even nicer.

One of my favorite things about this development is how they built it in harmony with nature. We have miles of trails, acres of native prairie grasses, dozens of ponds, and beautiful features that allow you to walk out of your front door and feel like you’re in the rural countryside.

I went on a walk the other day, when the weather was defined as “perfect” and just marveled at it all. So much of suburbia, even here in Woodbury, is basically just sprawl, where disconnected subdivisions pop up like mushrooms overnight. In our part of town, it’s all integrated into a lifestyle, and we try to take advantage of the trails all year long. It won’t be long before I’ll be able to take this same photo but ice fishing will be happening out there.

We also have no shortage of wildlife, and that keeps Buster and Boofus pretty busy. They sit out on the screened porch, or at the sliding door that’s behind me down here in my work space, and keep track of the little birds, the doves, the blue jays, and the squirrels. Every now and then, a majestic Bald Eagle will pay a visit, eyeing the ponds for signs of lunch, and although we no longer live directly next to a pond, like we did at our Marsh Creek home, we still get visits from herons.

This guy had Boofie enthralled for 10 minutes.

Dancing Waters is also totally designed to be a real neighborhood. People are always outside, walking their dogs (or in our case, cats) and interacting. In St. John’s Village, we all have covered front porches, and almost everyone in the neighborhood takes the time to sit out there and interact when the weather is good. It’s a wonderful place to live.

As for my full-time job of being the author of “Bats, Balls, & Burnouts” I’m well into chapter 32 now. It starts with me joining Team Wilkerson, but that coincided with a long-planned Caribbean cruise vacation, so technically I started with the team by leaving the continental United States. That’s a great gig if you can get it.

We visited Aruba, Curacao, the Panama Canal, and Costa Rica on a trip that can only be described as incredible. That’s the last cruise we’ve been on, and it was eight years ago, so that tells me it’s about time for us to get back on a boat.

The Panama Canal visit was one of the most fascinating “bucket list” things we’ve ever done. Here’s a snippet from Chapter 32 that references that experience.

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After another day at sea, we arrived at the canal before sunrise. We awoke at 5:00 a.m. and walked to a forward viewing area on Deck 6, where the staff had croissants and orange juice waiting for us.

We staked out a spot at the railing, staring off into the distance as the running lights from dozens of freighter ships sparkled all around us. They were waiting to make their passage. Another large cruise ship was directly ahead of us, and we’d get the “express” lane trip. As the sun began to rise, it all came into focus.

We could see the canal in the distance, as we slowly approached. The first set of locks, which would raise our ship 85 feet, would get us to Gatun Lake. There are two “lanes” to get through the locks at each level, but the canal is not necessarily a strict two-way street. Ships are raised or lowered as the traffic demands, and we were going in with the other cruise ship right next to us. To see the giant vessel rise so quickly as the locks were flooded was astonishing. Within an hour after arriving at the locks, we were sailing into Gatun Lake. We stayed there a couple of hours, and then returned to the Atlantic Ocean by heading back down the locks to sea level. It was one of the most fascinating things I’d ever experienced.

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Yeah, we really need to do that again. Over dinner last night, we were talking about these memories and how vivid they still are, and we both agreed that Costa Rica was as fantastic as the Panama Canal, but just in a totally different way. To be within 15 yards of a group of Howler Monkeys allows you to fully understand how they got their name.

And if you want to win a bet at a bar, just ask someone what direction they’d be sailing if they traversed the Panama Canal from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. You’d be going west, of course. Except you wouldn’t be, because Panama has a tricky dogleg shape and much of the voyage toward the Pacific is southbound or even eastbound. That’s totally counterintuitive, but take a look on a map and you’ll see it’s true.

On a completely different subject, it’s worth noting here that this past weekend featured the final “Jersey Boys” show in Las Vegas. I’ve known Buck Hujabre since just before he landed his first “Jersey Boys” gig in the national touring company, and the first time we ever met face-to-face was during the touring company’s initial run in Minneapolis. I only know the guy as a performer, and now he’s a civilian. He’s not planning on doing whatever it takes to keep acting and performing, because he’s doing very well in real-estate out in Vegas and he’s been craving a more normal life with his wonderful wife Mary and their boys Gibson and Hudson.

As Buck put it, “When the boys were really little, it was the perfect job because I could interact all day with them and then they’d be going to bed right after I left for the theater. Now that they’re both in school, it’s just the opposite. They’re gone during the day and right after they get home from school I have to leave for the show. When I get back from work, they’re asleep.”

I can’t wait to see the entire Hujabre clan when I head to the Vegas race next month. Buck and Mary are two of the most genuine, and most wonderful, people I’ve ever had the pleasure to know.

So, as advertised this did ramble around in circles fairly well. Sometimes I just sit down and start typing and then I read what’s on the screen to see what I wrote. It’s a weird process.

So I’m off to my hometown to see all my peeps. If you’re going to the race, and you see me, give me a shout!

Bob Wilber, at your service and on my way to St. Loo.