“Pea-corn. Pop-nuts. Chewing gars. Ci-gum. Magazettes!”   

While my Dad (and my Grandfather before him) often belted this out as if a food vendor at a ballpark, it seems that another baseball-ism fits today. This one is from Yogi Berra:

“It’s like déjà vu all over again.” 

After reading Ana’s section about looking back through the Newsletter archives, I decided to do the same thing. I started with Bil Ledoux’s first column (page 18),in which he talks about looking back through the Newsletter archives, which brought me to Don Anderson’s column (page 10) about looking back through the Newsletter archives…

Yep, déjà vu all over again.

In reading these older Newsletters, I recognized how they capture not just the facts, but also the feelings of our Society. They do so with a good mix of humor and humility, and a strong appreciation for the teamwork necessary to create something good. (There used to be a Newsletter Editorial Board?? News to me!) In my tenure as Editor, I hope to continue the tradition of an informative and entertaining Newsletter that helps to bring our Society closer together… déjà vu all over again.

I also recognize that many of us are still experiencing some pea-corn, pop-nuts moments where things seem both familiar and not quite the same. I felt this as I was reading (and experiencing) all the excitement about getting together in person at NACOB, and also knowing that not everyone will be joining us this year. I know that travel is more challenging these days — in expense (wow, that flight costs more than I thought!), in time (what if my flight gets cancelled?), and in exposure (what if I get sick and can’t get back right away to my family / my lab / my class?).

And I also know that, for many of us, our reserves have been depleted over the past two and a half years, not only by COVID-19 but by many other things happening in our world. And we may need to take some time away to recharge and reconnect. So maybe this year just wasn’t the right time for you to prioritize a scientific meeting (even one as great as NACOB), and that is okay too.

Here’s the awesome thing about our ASB family. Whether you oversleep the morning symposium, or prioritize a walk in nature instead of the afternoon sessions, or miss an annual meeting or two, we’re still here for you. No matter your disciplines, or even if we have membership disciplines (see Ana’s section), we all know what brings us together… our love of baseball… I mean Biomechanics!