ANXIOUS FOR SPRING

It's snowing here again today. A lighter snow than we had yesterday. Thursday's snow was very wet and shoveling it was like trying to move wet cement. We got our new roof rake which has a very long skinny wobbly handle but I was able to go up onto the back porch landing and rake off a ton of the wet stuff. Then of course I had to remove the snow from the landing - double work. By the time I was finished my gloves were soaked. It costs us $35 to have our long and wide driveway plowed and it breaks my heart to think we have to have it done again today.

OK, I am willing to admit to my friends in Florida that I am ready for spring! (I didn't say I am ready to move back to Florida. I just said I'm ready for spring.)

We are also running out of seasoned wood. Lately we've been mixing in wood not quite cured enough to burn. Quite a few folks we know around here have the same problem. We've had some really cold spells this winter and I guess we just burned the wood up like crazy.

As you can see in the photo above my Baltimore Orioles are down in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida for spring training. They are trying a youth movement this spring to see if that will help them stop their 10 losing seasons in a row. They have 37 pitchers trying out for 13 jobs. (Sounds like the present unemployment crisis doesn't it?) They made a couple smart trades this winter and they have baseball's best young prospect in the minor leagues banging on the clubhouse door. I know I am risking losing you right now if I don't stop with all this........

But for me baseball is the call of spring. Growing up it was hard to concentrate in school once baseball season started. I just wanted to be outside playing catch. I used to bring my hat and glove to school and throw the ball with my buddies every chance I had during recess. I was not very interested in math, science, or English once the smell of the new grasses filled the air. Things haven't changed much now except our grass is still covered in snow.

All I ever really wanted to be was a baseball coach. Then I found I couldn't turn away from the madness of the world. But every spring I get pulled back again to the sound of the crack of the bat hitting the ball, the pop of the pitcher throwing the ball into the catchers mitt, and the sounds of the crowd at a game.

Baseball also means optimism. For a few weeks before the season starts every fan entertains the notion that their team just might be able to make a run for the pennant this year. Even with the evidence of 10 losing seasons behind me I still have hope for change - at least for awhile anyway.