Daddy Blog (3/26/12)

Playing Catch

By: Danny Thomas

A lot of my blogs start
with a train of thought
during a ride in the car
by myself,
often, early in the morning
which rarely happens these days.

sometimes,
I remember something
that I thought of earlier
in the week.
Or recall that Jen said, “you should blog about that…”
Usually I don’t remember anything, and my brain
finds its own path.

This week
I had a moment
that was all three.
I remembered an inspiring moment
that also happened to be something
Jennifer commented on…
and my mind took a little journey
along that way.
That is the best.

I was thinking about playing catch…

Earlier in the week,
I played catch with Lil’ Chaos.
We kicked a ball too.

I was also thinking about playing catch with my dad.
And my mom.
We played catch a lot,
It was the best.
Baseball, Football, Frisbee, Soccer…

And I was thinking about the ways in which playing catch are transcendent, rapturous, innumerable, and ineffable.

It is healthy; beneficial to the mind, body and spirit.

I was never much for Little League
I don’t think I had the attention span
for organized baseball…
I was one of those distracted by dandelions in left field..
An airplane over third base
could steal my attention from
whatever was going on in the game…

But I love to play catch…

The fact that Lil’ Chaos and I have
reached a point on our journey together
that playing catch
with a ball,
kicked or tossed,
is enjoyable
and gripping
for both of us
at least, for a period of time
is, for me, profound.

we played ball
in the backyard for
nearly an hour
worked on hitting for a while
and tossed the ball
and kicked one for a while too.

The peals of laughter,
pure joy
as she caught ball after ball…
and as she figured out how to get a ball to me
how to “hit me in the numbers”

Also, I was thinking about baseball mitts…

The baseball mitt
is a singular experience,
a unique sensuality.

We had a few around the house.
They didn’t come from anywhere,
they were just there.
There was a catcher’s mitt I liked best.
and it was the one right handed mitt around that fit me,
so that was lucky.

Maya is a lefty.
She needs a new mitt
the one she has is too small.
It’s also pink
and purple
and has Dora on it.
We are beyond that now…