Have A Ball

This morning I walked through downtown and saw the parks and recreation crew setting up the Autumnfest Parade reviewing stand. The guys said hi to Lily and as usual she jumped into their arms. I told them to look for us in the parade. I continued on to Cold Spring Park in the North End, and decided to visit the baseball field. When I descended the hill I could see that all the fence gates were wide open and an old man was in the outfield practicing his golf swing. With Lily in tow I went around the field, closing each gate. When I got to the big gate near the golfer I asked him if he minded sharing the field with us. He volunteered to move his golf game just outside the fence, a few feet away. We had the park to ourselves, playing our respective ball games.

The sun was illuminating the field and the grass was still wet from dew. I threw the baseball for Lily to chase. When I tossed the ball in the direction of the sun, it would roll across the wet grass, spraying water lit up in the sunshine. Lily chased the ball, running and prancing in circles and then dropping it back at my feet. We played fetch for a few minutes and then I found a bottle of water in the outfield and poured some into my cupped hand for her. Then I tossed her the empty plastic bottle and she ran with it in her mouth, making crunchy noises and prancing around some more. When I was ready to leave I attached her green leash, shoved the empty bottle in my bag, and thanked the golfing man on our way out. We headed back home, walking in the striped shadows cast from the fence along Railroad Street. When we reached our neighborhood, I walked through the park where all the Autumnfest booths were being set up for the weekend.