Sat'day Special

Man - I am pooped. Mentioned in an earlier post that my buddy Christopher and I went to the baseball field down the street to throw a softball around and take some batting practice. Christopher has been itching to get on the field for weeks.. apparently he joined a softball league recently and not having swung a bat in close to three years he wanted to get some practice in so as not to look like a complete fool by the time the actual games rolled around. There was very little rust that needed to be shaken off, as it turns out and we both got some good practice in while dancing around the dog crap (quite a shame, people must let their dogs shit all over the outfield as it was literally everywhere.) Anyway, about an hour into it two kids show up in Little League uniforms thinking they have a game, yet no one else from their team has bothered to show up. So, they play with us for awhile... as it turns out both of them are pitchers so we let them get their practice in while we caught. After about 45 minutes, it's clear there will be no game as still no one has bothered to show up. So, as we're leaving Christopher volunteers my taxi services and offers the kids a ride home (they had tried to get a hold of their mother, who couldn't be reached and they weren't scheduled to be picked up for another three hours.)

So, when we ask the kids where they live they say "Blue Hill", so I think fine.. I'll drive to Blue Hill Ave and take a right and head towards the actual Blue Hill. Long story short, once we got to Milton I realized we had probably gone too far. I ask the kids the name of their actual street and they say "Intervale." At that point, my eyebrows raise. I know where Intervale is (the complete opposite direction) and I also know that it's not particularly a place I want to be driving. No need to go into details, but suffice it to say a long existing Boston street gang named themselves after it. Thankfully though, due to some quick shortcuts from one of the kids we get there and drop them off and make our way back home. One of the kids was a hoot actually - tried to give us directions to Toys 'R Us (I knew exactly where he was trying to take us) and also wanted us to meet them there again next week. I was a little surprised they accepted the ride home, to be honest. When I was growing up, I was always taught to never accept rides from strangers. These kids were pretty damned trusting, which while flattering I suppose, is also kind of dangerous.

Regardless, it was an enjoyable time outdoors if you ignore the fact that I came home two hours later than I wanted to and covered in dogshit. But still, t'was good to play a little base/softball and get some exercise in on a beautiful day. I later met some friends downtown and grabbed a bite to eat with them, and then proceeded to walk around the Back Bay while eating ice cream.

All in all a long day, but a good one. And oh yes - the Red Sox also bounced back in fine fashion by spanking the Yankees around for 17 runs. So yeah, it really was a nifty day indeed.