MEME: Baseball Becomes Athena

Athena Scalzi's Weekend Assignment #130: From Athena

This week we have guest assigner for the Weekend Assignment: Athena! To recap: Tell us if you like or don't like baseball (which is Athena's favorite sport), and (as extra credit) if you played it as a kid (or would play it, if you were a kid now). Write it up in your blog or journal and then come back here and leave a link. Athena thanks you for your cooperation.

Dear Athena,

Heck of a week, what with frost and pretty sunsets and the start of Autumn and all. Had one of my least favorite things happen this past weekend – a mosquito hatch! We have lots of the buzzing bugs here, in fact they're on the State of Maine Seal as the “State Bird” because that's how big they are. most of us look like bleeding pin cushions after an afternoon out in the garden or on the water in our kayaks. Or when playing baseball or softball. Got to be careful with those pop flies, for instance. Sometimes they just fly off into the sunset. (Its a mosquito, the ball is at the batter's feet.)

So, as you might have guessed, I'm sort of partial to baseball. We played it a lot when I was a kid, my brothers and I, along with the rest of the kids on the farm. We played in the pasture across from the calf barn and used cow chips for bases! Not much fun sliding into one of them, but it kept the dirty clothes complaints from Mom down to a dull roar. There wasn't any kind of organized sports until you got to junior high school back then, so we ALL played baseball. It was just expected. There were only 9 or 10 kids, total, on the farm, so in order to field a “team” it took all of us. It used to be pretty fast-paced with so few players, so I was surprised at how slow and b-o-r-i-n-g playing on a real team at school was! Although, it was sure was exciting the day I broke my third grade teacher's finger with a drive right up the center that she tried to stop barehanded!

I was always a good hitter and a fair fielder, but I really shone when I played as catcher! As least it gave me something to stay busy with when we played at school. So I guess you can say I like to play baseball. However, watching a game, in person or on TV is excruciating, unless I'm in the right frame of mind, sort of tired and ready to just veg. Then again, my home team has always been the Boston Red Sox and they're known for crapping out at the end of a game (and the end of the season) so perhaps that is why I don't much care to watch. Baseball. There's other things I like watching just fine.

You tell your daddy that he needs to get back to work dreaming up these assignments as you have better things to do. Like playing baseball. And watching the playoffs. And the World Series, too. Even if it IS past your bedtime (not that THAT will sway your mother-- it didn't work with mine, back in the dark ages, either).

Say Hi! To your folks for me. And riddle me this: Does your chewing gum lose it's flavor, on the bed post overnight?

wil