A Surprising Recruit

Saturday, May 12, 2012

For the first time – maybe ever – OLeif was taking up the bat for a good cause.
The church’s woefully terrible softball team.
Collette had mentioned to Richard, the recruiter, that OLeif had never played.
Ever.
Ok, well, maybe in Kindergarten, but that didn’t count.
They had been warned.

So a double-header every week…
At Blanchette Park, the site of a wedding reception about eight years ago now.
Dad was there, ready to go, jogging around the park as a warm-up. OLeif got busy slicing – well, lobbing – green-yellow softballs through the air, back and forth. And Mom had also come to watch. OLeif was quickly designated catcher. And Collette found herself score keeper, while Puck eagerly assisted with the “bat kids”.
“Fans!” Babe Ruth greeted them. “Well, all I can say is, focus on God’s glory in the game, and not so much the score.”
Amazingly, both games were won..
17-1.
6-4.
Dad got in some good hits too, advising OLeif not to run too hard…
“It’s not worth tearing anything over this,” he suggested.
Dad had learned from past experience. But OLeif – the biggest surprise of all – went 4 for 4 – swaying jack-in-the-box style between pads at the suggestions of the base coaches. And all with a busted toe, after tripping over Puck’s bike, an empty stomach, and a swig of water. Collette never could convince that boy to eat breakfast.
“Nice job,” one of the dad’s congratulated OLeif.
“Thanks. Haven’t played since I was six.”
“Well, you’re returning to form.”
“Don’t think I ever had it,” OLeif laughed.

Gloria was presented a framed photograph of the three-Silverspoon family and a bundle of sorry-looking flowers for an early Mother’s Day. Theodore was out of town for a class reunion in Texas, but Izzy was back for the summer, although out for a seven-hour photo shoot.
A quick astronomy lesson involving a grapefruit over lunch and the light fixture above the kitchen table…
“Everyone in the world is eating lunch right now!” Puck announced.
His mind was pretty much blown when he discovered that the other side of the world was currently asleep, as he chomped through a plate rich in roast, potatoes, broccoli, cantaloupe, and strawberries.
Apple pie, and vanilla ice cream
A little toss and catch on the deck with a squishy bowling ball, but the day was getting pretty warm.

OLeif worked through a three-hour final that night.
Puck caught a little singing-Viking-garbed vegetables.
And there were brownies as the Cards crumbled into a fiery disaster implosion of terrific horribleness.