Last spring and summer were very different for me because it was the first year with the boys here. We spent most afternoons at the playground/ballpark, often with a picnic. Tio played baseball, Kit and Doc met up with friends and worked out their afternoon energies.
As I leaned on the fence watching Tio practice with his team, my other eye on the Jungle Jim, I sucked in the warm spring air and remembered what a pleasure it was to have those afternoons last year. With the team running bases and the other boys running around with friends, I had nowhere to go and watching the boys give their all on the field of battle while the sun settled into the west was a calming pleasure.
I never saw or played a baseball game before getting Tio involved. I taught him to catch when he was five and he started T Ball soon after. We went to a minor league game once but it wasn't half as much fun as watching his midget league figure the game out. Last year was the first year they actually had enough skill to make the game interesting, instead of the pigpile scramble that beginners engage in. You know what I mean: as soon as some kid is lucky enough to connect the bat with the ball, all the boys lose their minds, forget their positions, and chase the thing down.
So here it is the beginning of another season and I'm looking forward to spending some slow, warm afternoons at the park watching the boys put on a good game and letting the world worry its own head for a couple of hours.
