Growing up my adventure in sports started with baseball, the one round, white, stitched with red thread seams
At first, usually not picked until the lineups were pretty full, the message was practice
Practice to get good enough to get picked earlier
I played multiple positions at first because that was available, then by choice to be available
Wherever needed, even behind the plate, fully decked out in protective gear to play on a hot day
And play is what I wanted, i needed to play so I could get up to hit
Hitting was where it was happening, waiting on the pitch,
Was it good enough to hit, or should I lay off, decisions, split second choices
Going with the pitch when I could, making contact, becoming a regular hitter, lots of solid hits
As i grew taller, the bigger round, orange ball, yes, basketball was recommended
So i learned to play that too, the same routine as when starting baseball, picked last
Again, the message was to practice, so I did, and it was easier with a ball and a hoop even alone
Even if the court was uneven, as long as the rim was close to standard height
The practice was worthy and over time, I moved up the pecking order
Getting picked earlier for my height and then for my grit
Doing the little things, playing defense, boxing out, calling out,
making good passes, all the little things for team play developed a decent shot, balance, aim and follow through, hitting high percentage free throws
Still later along in life, the other large ball, also white but mostly stitched in white threads,
Softball, and not really that soft, called for an after work game with colleagues
Able to do something different than making phone calls, pushing paper
Slow pitch, high arc, shorter base paths, all dirt but otherwise
Similar hitting, catching, throwing, and smart running
Made for a good game with liquid refreshments post game
Later still, walking now, the running and aggressive action days are mostly behind me
Walking is my fun, time to observe, time to think through things, time to work things out
Preparing the storylines, crafting the writing, virtually and in real life
Sharing on the page, the lessons learned, the trials suffered, challenges survived
Building toward a better place, a hopeful future, finding words worthy of the time
That once was real and can be recalled again with the right words and phrases
shared with the Senior Story Hour on July 13, 2022
