It is always strange for me the week after my annual vacation to performing arts camp.

Last week marked the eighth straight year that Diane and I have visited the family camp in Cazadero, California. It is a beautiful spot in the middle of a redwood grove, with an outdoor amphitheater and a bunch of my friends from the local music scene, as well as other friends from all over.

During the week I try not to talk about baseball. My cell phone does not work, and I do not bring my laptop; in fact the only electronic things I bring are a couple of amps and the guitars and pedals to channel through them.

It is a fine thing to be so "remote", if you would call car camping that (we do sleep in a tent on an air mattress there) remote. It is fun, and not knowing what happened in the world while I am gone is also kind of fun. Upon returning, I very slowly work my way back into sports and music and my email and what columns are due and who left messages at home let alone on my cell phone.

Truth is, I only thought about my Tout Wars team three times during the week, and the rest of the time I did not think about any of my teams at all. I don't know about you, but my teams do seem to tank when I am away and cannot compulsively oversee their progress, although I prefer to think in terms of sending my players "good energy".

True to form, my Tout team dropped a couple of points, and my STATS team tanked, going from two games under .500 to six just because I was not around to send them good vibes.

My Strat teams could wait a bit though, as the deadline to complete games for the month is August 20, so I can reacclimate there in a fun way. In fact, I just played a couple of games before writing this, to get back in the groove.

The Mounties, who need to get hot for a shot at the postseason, won a game and then got beat, but it was fun, although a different kind than being in the woods rocking out to Sweet Jane in the open air theater with some of my favorite people on the planet, morning sun breaking through the giant trees.

Since I seem to be able to have both experiences, I guess that sort of speaks for itself. So, if you will excuse me, I have about 18 games to still play!