Tuesday, March 08, 2005

almost springtime in middle tennessee.....

This past weekend was a bit windy but warm. As I'm driving out of the garage this morning, I looked up and saw snow coming down. Must be March in Franklin.

Softball practices started for both Meg and Sara on Saturday. We've got 14 girls on Sara's team, and 10 made it to the first practice. Meg's team will end up with 11 or 12. The winds made it seem much colder than it actually was on Saturday, and during Sara's practice most of the girls were in either long sleeve t-shirts or sweatshirts. As the day wore on it got much colder. Meg's practice started at 4:00, and some of the girls had on shorts and t-shirts. I was in left field shagging balls and freezing in jeans and a pullover. I guess 14-year-old girls have better blood flow than 40-year-old men.

Sara's practice last night was cut short due to rain. We got there early and went ahead and got Sara's and the coaches' daughter's batting practice in. By then some of the other girls started showing up, and I started pitching to the others while the rest of the girls lined the infield. At about 6:10, the rain started coming down in sheets, and the girls loved it. Well, most of them loved it. One of them (her mother complained about her lack of playing time last year, but the truth is she could get hurt playing some of the positions she wants to play; while playing first last night, Sara hummed one from shortstop that almost took her head off), after about 3 minutes of rain, said "ok, I'm outta' here!" and she was gone. I started slipping and sliding as I planted my foot while pitching and lost my touch, so we decided to call it about about 20 minutes. Everyone was soaked, players, coaches and parents. We were both pretty cold when we got home, but it was fun being out in the rain.

I started counting the pictures that we took while in California, and I believe there were around 175. I'll take them to Wolf after work tonight to get them developed. It's amazing how digital photography has changed the way we take pictures. We deleted several pictures immediately after we took them when they didn't turn out right. That's pictures that we don't have to develop, saving us money right there.

As for springtime in Franklin, Sara and I saw some beautiful flowers on our way to practice that had recently bloomed; bright, vivid yellow flowers that you see when it turns spring. I mowed for the first time on Saturday, and the yard is a deep green and thick with grass. The hosta and monkey grass are both starting to come out just a bit. Sure it means more work in the yard, but I love it. If springtime only included the college football season, it would be perfect.....

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