Baseball

My husband decided that our son needed to start playing baseball this year. I was reticent. Not that I don't want my children to participate in sports and healthy recreational activities, I was worried about the schedule. I should mention that one should NEVER ask me about adding an activity anywhere near the end of a school year. Honestly, that last month is made for killing off parents. Plus, we had just BARELY finished soccer.

I am now entirely converted to youth baseball.

1. How darn cute is my little boy in his uniform? Love it! He wears that hat from sun-up to sun-down.

2. He loves baseball so much I can pretty much get him to do ANYTHING I want. Handy.

3. The games are just plain fun!

Picture this, in my opinion I live in one of the single most beautiful places on the planet. The games take place in the cool of the evening, the temperature is perfect and the sun is just going down and casts that beautiful, magic, golden light over everything. The boys are playing in the park where members of my family five generations ago helped plant the beautiful pine trees that circle the park. The church that they also helped build has bells that play music on the hour and hearing them never fails to bring a smile to my face. I remember playing in this park as a child while my parents played co-ed softball and those memories add pleasure to the ones I am making now as I sit with my other children as we talk and laugh and watch my son play. Friends that I haven't seen for years sit next to us and we talk about how we are all so blessed to have been able to move back to this valley that we all love so much. We catch up on each others lives and share the joy of watching our children grow up together like we did. We share the joy of cheering for every kid because there is no keeping score here and the hardest job belongs to the coach because every child wants to hit that ball so badly. You can feel a tension building as bats are swung and pitches missed until the moment when that lovely "thwack" comes and everyone lets out the breath that they didn't know they were holding. Tomorrow night is our last game and I am heartbroken. I have grown to love these evenings more than my son and I can't wait for next year!