Bryan’s Ramblings

Finally, anecdotes from my life. Here comes a mish mosh…

Last night we played a double header to finish off our season and won both games, beating the first place team 15-11. My sister is back from school so she joined in. We all played great and they were maybe the best games I’ve played. I played a little first base too, which has been fun.

However, the real fun didn’t start until I got home, when I got to deal with my leaking water heater and the havoc that it wreaked all over my garage. That means no shower, call a plumber, be late to work, deal with an insurance company, and spend money – basically all negative events. Aren’t I lucky?

Thankfully, I’m going on vacation next week. Boy, do I need it. The only crazy thing is, there is so much to get done before I can leave, I feel like the next week will be a total whirlwind, which it will be. I have nothing to really complain about, though. A week cruise through the Mediterranean should be enough to lighten my mood.

Okay, I’m done with the vent session. I now return you to your regularly scheduled event already in progress…

Few places house as many childhood memories as a local community park. Of course, a childhood home, a school, and perhaps a grandparent’s house would likely top the list. However, a community park is a close second for sure. For me, that place is Borchard Park, spanning my life from my early youth until this very day. I’m proud of almost everything I did there (soccer, baseball, basketball, summer camp and other various activities) and only slightly ashamed of a few things that happened there from my more adolescent years (like playing Magic the Gathering and making out with girls).

My earliest memory of Borchard Park consists of being taken with my mom to her Jazzercise classes and being dumped into a room full of children and a couple of semi-clueless supervisors tasked with watching all of us little pistols while our moms jumped around to various 80s songs. I actually can’t even recall if my sister was with me, though I think she was. I do distinctly remember playing the same thing every time: spaceship. The pine tree in the corner of the fenced in outside area became my personal spaceship and I remember bossing other younger kids around as my crew. Even then I was an egotistical prick.

Later on I remember numerous summer camps there where we played games like “Capture the Flag” or “Kickball”. There were a ton of very creative, great games and a share of fun friends as well as utterly annoying kids. Still, it was a fun time. I remember the preschool-like classroom where we would often have a break, eat a snack, and listen to a story or something. That part of the park defines that “era” of Borchard to me.

Let’s not forget the “playground” there either. The great metal slides and monkey bars have been long since replaced by lame plastic tubes and ropes, but I remember every piece of it as if I played on it every single day. I can’t even name all the kids I played with on those things.

Of course, I soon graduated from kiddie stuff to heavy duty recreation like youth soccer and basketball. I was pretty bad at sports. Regardless, most of the games happened at Borchard. The soccer field is so engrained in me that I have a hard time thinking back to my pee-wee soccer days when we played elsewhere. With basketball, I hardly remember when we moved to playing at the high school. To me, Borchard was the place. While I never did play baseball there (that was at the junior high school), my sister had many softball games there, and I kept score at virtually all of them. I remember many sunflower seeds and Ring Pops during those games, as well as red pencils, screaming parents and crazy umpires. Ah, memories.

Finally, I’ve come full circle to be playing softball on those same fields myself, this time with my co-workers. Being there is such a trip. That place holds so much of my childhood that it is very strange to be there as an adult, seeing as how much has changed there. (The Oaks Mall is another place that comes to mind as far as great change over the years.) Maybe one day my own kids will build memories there, or at some other ever-changing park. For now, though, I’ll just continue the tradition and enjoy softball as long as I can.

I’m psyched about my first softball game of the Fall season tonight. Our Summer league was so fun that I’m really stoked to get back into it. Playing softball is great for the following reasons:

1. Exercise. It’s not something that I get a lot of, so any outside activities involving body movements is a plus. Considering I sit a desk for about 8-10 hours of my regular day, a little action is welcome. Even if I ever start going to the gym, it won’t be as fun since there is no competitive edge or joyful aspect to lifting weights and running on a treadmill.
2. Fun. Nothing beats the thrill of trying to catch a fly ball or getting a hit and rounding the bases. As a kid who loved baseball and everything the Dodgers, I of course dreamed of being a big leaguer. However, I lack the physical prowess, not to mention the skills or even the talent to become one realistically, so I’ll have to settle for the lowest division of community softball.
3. Bonding. I play with a bunch of my coworkers, and playing on a team together has pretty much been the greatest thing to happen to us as a group. We’ve really gotten to know each other and each other’s families through playing this game, and the feeling of comradery has never felt better.
4. Ego. I realize I’m not particularly good, however, when I do well it is an incredible ego boost. Since I am basically the youngest team member (now that my sister is gone), I am in better shape than most of the rest of the team. Even if I’m not in better shape, I’m more resilient without any of the knee or back injuries that go along with being over 30.
5. Escaping. For the hour and half (or so) that I’m playing, I’m not worrying about work or school or my car or my house or my laundry or my bills or anything else. I’m only worrying about left field and home plate. It’s a nice escape, especially with my other escape (the Dodgers) playing so poorly of late.

So, yeah, that’s it. I can’t wait to get out there and man left field. I will miss my sister this season, since she was always a spark for our team’s fire. Oh well… Time to go play ball!