Springing into the Season
Having emerged from my file-reading hibernation, completed
accepted student receptions in Northern and Southern California and Idaho, and returned from an admissions conference in Denver, I am ready to
face the spring!
I’m about a month and a half late, but the Seattle weather is just starting to catch up
too. Today is bright and clear and sunny and gorgeous and my scooter ride this
morning was equally exquisite; it’s nice that I can start commuting without
having to take the extra time every morning and afternoon to ensure I’m
appropriately layered.
The spring also means the start of baseball season, which I
always anticipate with fervor. (I still assert that the happiest moment of my
life was being in the third deck of the right field Kingdome bleachers when
Edgar Martinez doubled down the left field line off Jack McDowell of the
Yankees to score Joey Cora from third and Ken Griffey Jr. from first in the
bottom of the 11th of the 5th game of the 1995 Divisional
Series to send the Mariners to the ALCS… just so you know…) My M’s have made it
through 27 games and they’re still above .500, which these days is cause for
celebration in Seattle.
Baseball season also means I’ll be suiting up as an umpire
three to four times a week for the local little league. Fewer day-to-day things
are as discouraging as an 11 year old who can throw harder than I can. Umpiring
also reminds me, however, that the stress for family members that can be a part
of the college admissions process doesn’t hold a candle to the anxiety of Little
League parents and the creative ways they can communicate that anxiety to the
person behind the plate. Besides the ability to enjoy the sun and have the chance
to remain involved in the game, it’s a good way to thicken one’s skin, and skin-thickening,
as we all know, is an opportunity never to be turned down.