Let's Play Ball...in the Snow?

If you know me well, you know I'm a rabid baseball fan and have been since I was a kid. Some wonder how I ended up a Boston Red Sox fan since I've lived in New York my entire life. Short version: My Dad was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan who followed the Mets after the Dodgers left Brooklyn, married my mother when both were going to college in Connecticut, and was offered a ticket to Game 2 of the 1967 World Series at Fenway Park in Boston. Since then he's been a Red Sox fan and I have too. It's not always easy being in New York, but that got a bit easier in 2004 when the Sox won it all and made grown men from all over New England cry like babies.

As a fanatic, the beginning of April is a joyous time since the boys of summer start their work after a long cold winter. I'm used to seeing wide green fields of grass bathed in golden sunlight, but while the boy and I were watching today it was snowing instead. What? It's not exactly a new happening and it has been more common since Opening Day was moved from the third week in April to the first one. One time my Dad and I went to an April game at Fenway which was delayed for about an hour or two so they could shovel the outfield! I remember one of the outfielders slipped on the wet grass and broke his leg, so he ended up being out for the season. Fortunately, I haven't heard of that happening this year.

It's been fun for me watching games with the boy since he finds movement on the TV interesting but doesn't really have any idea what's taking place. His favorite moment is when they put the score up on the screen and he points to the letters and numbers. He also responds whenever they say "ball" which in his voice sounds more like "baaaah", but the best part is the huge tooth filled smile he gets on his face. After being sick for the last week he's really returned to his old self which is a wonderful thing to see. The kid is just so happy and steady, although he has been more likely to get frustrated when he needs something or simply wants something. I think he's just learning to ask for what he wants and isn't always sure how to do that. Some call this the beginning of the terrible twos, referring to themselves as the ones who have it "terrible", but it's really the kids that have it that way since there's so much they want to do but don't know how to do. That has to be very overwhelming for him at times, but he always seems to bounce back anew.

So, I'm looking forward to watching more games and hopefully taking the boy to one before long. He and I also play soccer with an undersized ball (small for me, just right for him) which my parents gave him last summer. Whether he hears me say ball or from the TV, he goes and grabs it so he can get me to kick it around with him. Eventually I'm sure we'll get him a glove and basebaaaah to go along with his soccer ball, but I think I'll wait until it stops snowing each spring before we go out and play catch.