Spring, Baseball and the Boys

Good Friday.
Exactly where did Christmas go? Even the kids are saying, "It is almost April?" Is it me or did the beginning of this year go whizzzzzzzzzzing by?
As for Spring, I hope she shows herself soon, we need a boost in temp here on Long Island. My neice and my sister live way upstate, in a town called, Olean, near Buffalo. The didn't get as much snow as we have been bombarded with this winter! They usually have feet, not inches, but not this year. Really a good thing though, Marge wouldn't have survived her first winter with that much snow(that is my sister.) She is a self proclaimed scardey cat especially when she needs to drive in the snow, so...............................................
Last nite, my younger son had a baseball practice, boy was it chilly, but the kids were so enthusiastic. The were fooling around, jumping in front of each other, and the like. That didn't make the coach too happy. My son came home with very red cheeks, cold hands, filthy pants (white baseball no less) but the glow in his eyes was unmistakeable. He went to bed early, exhausted from the workout and the chill in the air. So, Coach, you did something right!
Next Sunday, he begins his Spring Travel season, a double header somewhere on the Island! And we become the traveling caravan again.
My older son is chomping at the bit to get out there and practice. He loves the game, and would play 24/7. He loved traveling too, we did it for him for 3 years, and probably would still be doing it if it wasn't for a cut last year. I will elaborate more on his baseball when he starts to play. He is a big kid, almost as tall as his Mom, at 12, wears an 11(men's) shoe, and is at that age where there is no where to be comfortable. He is driving us a little nuts, "growing pains" my mother in law calls it. I guess that is true, physically he is the size of an adult, but he is still 12. I do remember being awkward and 12. It was a case of not knowing where i fit, and feeling wrong all of the time. Baseball is the place that he feels "right." It is a place where nobody can tell you, you are wrong for being in love with the game. He plays for the sheer Joy in putting on a uniform, in smelling the freshly mown grass, in sliding into 2nd base, in getting baseball clay all over his pants. He is more alive with a glove on his hand, and a helmet on his head, than anywhere else!
Well, that is all for now, the kiddies are starting to rise, and "Mommie" time is over.