Today (unless it gets rained out by the major storms hitting the area this afternoon) is opening day for the St. Louis Cardinals. It should be an interesting season for the Redbirds, that’s for sure. We have many new faces on the team, most of them young talent. It’ll be nerve-racking to see how the Cards do this year with so many young players.
The time is approaching. You can hear it swimming through the air. Closer and closer. You hear a crack. A sound so familiar, but you can’t quite figure out where you’ve heard it before.
Time passes. The trees are bare. Then the noises get louder. This time the crack is accompanied by a thud. It sounds like a broom beating on an old rug. Again, it is a recognizable sound, but you still can’t figure out where and when you first heard it.
Time passes and snow covers the ground. The noise comes back, and this time, every one of your senses is bombarded by blurry visions, sounds, and smells.
The snow melts. The smells get stronger. You know what that smell is. It is a smell that you recognize as one of your first childhood memories. Visions of sunny days fill your mind. The sounds are back, and this time, you recognize them. You close your eyes and live in the moment. You look around. There are people everywhere. You smell stale beer. The kind of smell that could only come from years and years of spilt beer staining concrete. But this is not a bad thing. It reminds you of all the good times you’ve had, and the great ones to come. The noise is deafening. You hear people cheering. You hear loudspeakers, cracks, and thuds. A new smell comes over you. You inhale. When you do, memories of watching your dad cut the grass when you were little float forward. Yes, the smell of freshly cut grass overpowers the stale beer smell. Now the musty smell of wet dirt travels through the air to where you are. The loudspeaker explodes with sound. You hear names being called. People cheer. You feel like you are there. At that moment. At that place.
Time passes. The grass turns green. All those wonderful smells, visions, and noises come back. This time they are as strong as ever. It is time. You don’t have to imagine anymore.
The day comes. You stand in line, smiling. You talk with other people enthusiastically. You talk about how this is the year. You never give up hope. Neither do they. For all your differences, this is the one thing you have in common. The one thing that binds you, and fifty-thousand other people in the vicinity, together. Nothing can taint this feeling. Not talks of financial problems or drug problems. This is the perfect moment. You walk in. Your heart beats swiftly. You hear the loudspeaker. You hear those familiar names. This time it is real. You smell the great smells of stale beer, cut grass, and wet dirt. You hear cheering. You see the color that dominates the town. The color you are wearing on this day, at this moment. People continue to cheer. Thud! That?s all right. Everyone knows to lay off the first one. Then you hear it. CRACK! A line drive base hit. And the season is under way. What a great one it will be.
Dedicated to Baseball, and those that made it great. The ones that are alive in person, and those that are alive in our memories.
I’m 25
Well, I’m officially 25. Yesterday was my birthday and now I’m a quarter of a century old. I had a good birthday. My parents and sisters got me exactly what I asked for and my mom cooked one of my favorite meals. Not only that, but it was sunny, warm, and the Cardinals won. A good day all around.
As I look back at the last couple years since college, and we all tend to look at ourselves a little more harshly around birthday time, I do realize I’m not where I want to be with my life. The job I have is not the job I want (or need). The people here are great, but it’s not the teaching position that I wanted to get into as soon as I got out of college. In order to get a high school position, I may have to move. I’ve been thinking about going back to Springfield. I know the schools and the area to an extent, so it shouldn’t be hard to adjust. I would rather go to Springfield than Kansas City (even though several of my college friends now live there). I couldn’t live with Royals baseball. Cardinals all the way! Anyway, I have got to find a position somewhere for next school year. Cross your fingers and hope I find something because I’m 25 now. Too old to still be here.
Bush Censorship
Bush continues to be a shining light for democracy and freedom. Now he’s censoring information about abortion on health websites. It never ceases to amaze me how religious this moron is and is so against abortion because it’s wrong but has no problem killing thousands of people for oil money. I really do hate this man. Might as well call us China with his spying on the American people and censoring public information because it goes against his beliefs. Here’s the article from Wired:
The Last Hurrah
Sunday is my last hurrah. I will be turning 25, the last good year. What I mean by this is this is the last year that something somewhat major happens. 16 you get your license, 18 you can vote, 21 you can drink. At 25 your car insurance drops and you can rent a car. After this, it’s all down hill. From now on you get gag parties in which people give you gifts referencing how old you are. 30, 40, 50. It really isn’t until you hit 90 that these birthdays stop. Then at this point you’re just amazed you’re still alive. So yeah, this Sunday I will be turning 25. I should be living it up and partying hard for my last good birthday, so I probably need to call up some old friends and get them to take me out, buy me drinks, and make it legendary. (I’m a realist so I’ll go ahead and say this probably won’t happen).
Memories
You know, it’s funny what a young man recollects. ‘Cause I don’t remember being born. I don’t recall what I got for my first Christmas and I don’t know when I went on my first outdoor picnic. Oh wait, that was Forrest Gump, not me. It really is funny what you do remember though. The past couple nights I’ve fallen asleep listening to music. Then I remembered something that for some reason always in the back of my mind. When I was really young I remember being at my Grandma and Grandpa Schepker’s house. They had cable and we didn’t. I remember watching MTV. Now, I couldn’t have been any older than 9 at the time. I was probably younger. I remember watching a black and white music video there. What stuck out in my mind about it was how the video was shot. Not only was it in black and white, but there were a lot of unfocused close-ups and what I would now call “lazy” camera work. This was intentional. In fact, it reminds me a lot of the same style of camera work that made the tv show NYPD Blue famous. Those things, and not who was on the video, made an impression on me. Years later, after seeing that video again, I realized that it was a video for a song called “Brenda’s Got a Baby” by Tupac Shakur. Those who know me know I’m a huge Tupac fan. It’s funny how I was connected with him that young, years before I became a fan of his music and it’s funny that I would still remember seeing a single video over fifteen years ago. It was a good video though.
The Boys are Back in Town
Today (unless it gets rained out by the major storms hitting the area this afternoon) is opening day for the St. Louis Cardinals. It should be an interesting season for the Redbirds, that’s for sure. We have many new faces on the team, most of them young talent. It’ll be nerve-racking to see how the Cards do this year with so many young players.