Douglassville, PA

This is the time of year that makes Pennsylvanians glad they live here! Beautiful clear fresh air with just a touch of a cool autumn breeze...

And this is also the time of year you notice those hot air balloons...no, this is not a ReMax ad post...It's just that those of us in the Amity Township area of Berks County are afforded the additional pleasure of 'Hot Air Balloon' watching...a great fall pastime for NCAA football halftimes...that's right...what better way to get some fresh air than to get outdoors and breathe in some of that rejuvenating autumn fresh air and watch the flight of those colorfully decorated hot air balloons...

You see, we're smack in the flight path of those balloons which are launched west of here and travel between the beautiful rolling hills that surround us and that border our neighbor, the vast French Creek State Park...and wind up landing close by...sometimes in our very back yards...what a sight!

On the other hand, you could be watching one of those cable TV channels...you know...the ones who feature those political talking heads who predict the catastrophic future of our country so that you can stay tuned or tune in often for updates...Hot Air Buffoons...!

So have a wonderful autumn...get outside and enjoy the cool fresh air of fall...and get away from those talking head hot air buffoons...they will soon be selling their crystal balls at yard sales to be used by bargain hunters for paper weights!

So Saturday evening we headed to the Texas baseball field in neighbor Birdsboro, PA for a 6:00PM baseball game...we got there about 5:15PM...

Guess what...we saw no familiar faces, no other team members or coaches, and moreover there was already a game going that was only in the third inning...!

Oops! We messed up! The game was actually scheduled to start at 7:00PM, not 6:00PM as we thought...now what do we do?

We didn't want to pack up and drive back home, it was too humid to stick around and wait (all of us had a rough day on Saturday), so we decided to grab a quick pizza at someplace close so we wouldn't have to eat our dinner after the game, then drive back to the field to arrive at just the perfect time. Great game plan, don't you think...yeah, except for two things...we had to eat quickly, but more importantly we only had about 25 dollars between us...

No problem...Lubrano's Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant to the rescue...and only 5 minutes from the baseball field...

We pull into the parking lot hoping they weren't overly busy...good so far...and they had two tables available...just enough for the 7 of us (they specialize in takeout and home delivery)...We find a special that seemed like it would work for us...A large pizza (huge), A large cheesesteak stromboli, and a 2 liter bottle of your favorite beverage for under 20 dollars...perfect! Now if they could only accommodate our time schedule...!

Not only did they come through with flying colors, but the food was superb, tastefully prepared by what looked like close Italian family members, cordial service, clean facilities, and a great menu to boot...! And very competitive prices!

I'm telling you, if you live in the Douglassville/Birdsboro area of Berks County Pennsylvania and don't try Lubranos, you're missing the boat...and by the way, we took a good portion of our order home for later enjoyment and left an appreciative tip, and still got out of there at less than 25 dollars...and we made it to the game in plenty of time and no one was rushed!!!

Try Lubrano's...they're diagonally opposite another famous pizza venue in the area!!!

Lubrano's Pizzeria
300 Ben Franklin Highway /Route 422
Douglassville, PA 19518
610-404-2600

We're hunkered in as a family riding out the remnants of Hurricane Hanna...Not our usual Saturday afternoon activity...!

You sit in your favorite chair, watch the weather channel, peek outside occasionally to see if it's still raining, listen to the kids getting on each others nerves, try to write your next post, and think of all the things you could be doing...and THEN...

You begin to think of all the wonderful things you enjoyed this past week...delicious sweet seedless chilled watermelon...locally grown Pennsylvania sweet corn on the cob (the best in the world)...so sweet you eat it plain, with no sugar in the boiling water, no salt, no butter...all those tastes are built right into that PA sweet corn...why ruin it...the first middle school scrimmage, fall ball, blogging on Active Rain, fixing things, tomorrows first mites football game, and the Phillies shutout win over the Mets last night...

It just doesn't get much better than this folks!!! Life is Great!

And oh yes, my new hero...Governor Sarah Palin...!!!

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Every year for the last 6 years I have had at least one son playing what we call 'Midget Football'...

The season starts with rigorous 4 days a week practices lasting 2 hours...the kids whose ages range from 7 through 13 are sorted out by age and assigned to appropriate teams...

The practices are from 6PM to 8PM so as to avoid the usual intense heat of the day and take advantage of an early evening breeze which occurs most everyday in our area!

The practices consist of a series of calesthenics, stretching, and warming up activities and then break up into smaller groups to run through play drills and special skills exercises!

There are about 8 or 9 teams covering three age groups...not counting 'flag football' for the really young and football eager kids!

At the same time all this practicing and perspiring and hard work and tackling and getting tackled are going on there are about 150 cheerleading aspirants practicing with about the same intensity as the footballers...

At any given time it is not unusual to see close to 500 kids, parents, and younger siblings taking advantage of this late summer into autumn sporting activity...which truly makes it a family event...and it does a heart good to see the new facilities provided by the local township to make this all possible...

Now, I love football, almost as much as I like baseball, and I and several of my kids have been involved in youth football over the years in a couple different organizations, but I must admit to you I've struggled seriously with the merits of allowing kids to engage in a sport which seems to expose children at a relatively young age to a higher level of body stress than nature intended...but, having said that, I have deferred to my kids wishes to participate and so they have...!

Again, there seems to be a healthy balance that is so challenging and elusive to master in life, that it occupies our every waking moment and desire to be great parents...that 'juggling act' I so often talk about!

I would personally like to thank Amity Township, Daniel Boone School District, and The Blazer Midget Football Organization and its volunteers for allowing so many children and families to engage in this fun and healthy activity...!