BACK TO THE PLAYGROUND...

As I was going for a walk the other evening, I strolled (well actually I don’t stroll, I walk at a fairly high rate of speed for walking. It is not really a pertinent piece of info here, but my mother will comment on my use of the word stroll and so I thought I would just go ahead and clear it up) Ok, so back to my walk… I frequently walk with my iPod shuffle randomly choosing upbeat music to inspire me to burn some calories. However, there is one thing that will always make me turn it off. It is one of my all time favorite things. I am guessing that I am not the only person in my family that enjoys this particular thing. I am actually pretty confident in saying that both of my brothers and most likely my father also think this thing is one of the best sounds ever and is a sure sign that summer is here. So what is this sound? I don’t know how exactly to describe it, but it is the sound you hear when the baseball bat makes solid contact with the baseball. Well as I was watching and enjoying the sounds of the baseball game that was going on, it occurred to me that it sure looks a lot like yet another post-playground game… We all know what this game looks like in the relationship world. Words like “Maybe we should just be friends.” or “I don’t want to break up, I just need some space.” or “I think we should date other people.” get thrown around regularly in the post-playground game of baseball. Plus, in this situation not only do you have additional players, but also several pieces of equipment. Stay with me here cause I have a lot of thoughts running through my mind right now and it is probably going to get confusing, but is definitely right on!

Ok, referring back to one of my last posts, let's say that a couple have been playing the “game of tennis” and that it has been going on well, for basically anymore time than a couple of hits back and forth. Often times it is after several matches, (or dates in this case) but as we all know, once the game begins then it is on and whether it is two or three dates, two or three months, or two or three years, it all feels the same. Then one day, what used to be a 2-person game of tennis somehow becomes a group sport. The game of baseball! (And now back to my epiphany while watching the baseball game…)
Well, the way I see this is basically one of the former “tennis” players decides that they are no longer going to play only with just one person, but instead they want to play with another and maybe another and maybe yet another. This leaves the initial tennis partner in a precarious position. They have now been thrown into a new game and usually not of their choosing. Instead of being the only other person involved in the relationship, they have now become just one of players (or batters in this case) in the game. I am sure everyone is familiar with the baseball game. You know, the batter has to gear up with a bat and helmet and be ready to try to hit the few pitches that will come their way and then hope to hit the ball to a place where they are still in the game…usually hoping that they make it around the bases and get safely back to home plate. Now in the real game of baseball, one cheers on the other 8 batters who are on their team. In this case however, every batter is openly hoping that the other batters strike out! Now in some cases, if the batter can talk their friends into playing outfield they can possibly manipulate the game (you know, throw the ball around etc.) enough to allow their friend to have some advantages. And if they are really good friends, they will try to make sure that all the other batters get out. If not, well then it’s back to the bench. At this point, the batter can choose whether or not they want to sit the bench until their turn to bat comes around again, or if they want to kick the pitcher and their game to the curb and attempt to find another game with less players.

What I (a self-admitting bench-warmer on occasion) have observed is that most of the time what happens is that the moment the batter/benchwarmer decides to ditch the game and starts to leave the dugout, amazingly all of a sudden it’s their turn to be back in the game and they are up to bat. Now comes the hard part – (Especially for some of us) because if a person is an optimist like I am then they think this could indeed be the time that they get the perfect pitch and they have the perfect hit and that the baseball game with several players somehow will miraculously turn back into the nice two-player badminton game that it once was. This is what dreams are made of folks. Could this be why they call it the “field of dreams?” And has it ever worked out? Of course it has or we would never stay in the game. And who might you ask, has this worked out for? Well, several well-known people. Um like Kathleen Kelly, Jane Goodale, Sally Albright, Gracie Hart… (I could go on but I think I have made my point.) And what is it that all these people have in common??? If you don’t know, they are all FICTIONAL characters from romantic comedies. And even though we all know this, we still sometimes sit the bench waiting and wanting to believe that we might just be the lucky one and that the next romantic blockbuster will be based on our true story.

Hey the ever optimist in me says “it could happen,” the realist in me however, says “if you don’t get your behind off that doggone bench, you will never find out what great thing might be in the cornfield, just beyond the “Field of Dreams!”