Baseball Diamond

Baseball Diamond
Today brought another fabulous weather day...and another run around the park. Tonight my legs are sore, and I am wondering if I am too old for this...
As I have said before, I have lived in Curtis Park for newly 15 years. Today as I ran around the park, as I have been doing semi-regularly for nearly a year, I really "saw" the baseball diamond that sits in the middle. Actually, what I saw was the vision of the baseball years of the "Peterson Poopers".
Every summer from the time I was 6 to 18, I spent the summer with my Dad, his current wife, and my new siblings...one night each week, my Dad would collect the neighborhoods kids, and pile us in the Grand Safari Station Wagon...with emphasis on "pile"...and we would drive the 6 miles to the Elementary School that was at the end of my Grandparents' Street. My Grandfather, one of the best men the World has ever seen, would meet us there...sides were chosen...my Dad was the permanant pitcher, my Grandfather was the permanant catcher. We took our turn at bat, cheered each other on, ran the bases, took the field, caught an occasional flyball, missed an occasional "sure catch", taunted my Dad about his pitch, and questioned my Grandfather's "calls". All in all a fabulous 2 hours.
The most important thing to know is that even though my Dad enjoyed the pitching...the main purpose of these outtings was to involve my brother and I with a group of kids that we saw only on major Holidays, and during the summer. It was difficult to morph between 2 sets of friends, when our time was divided, and young memories are short...another example as to why my Father is my hero...
After each game, it was the walk down the street to my Grandparent's House...I can vividly see the salmon (canned) colored stucco. Soda and endless supply of homemade cookies awaited...a treat not to be missed. Funny how a run around the park evoked all of these memories...and how nice that it did...