A couple of weeks ago, in a moment of uncommon bliss, I expressed my love of rain--pointing out what I thought were all of the positive, happy points. At that time, I was reveling in the first rain of the season, but little did I know that God was reading my article and thought I was enjoying it a little too much.
He looked down and laughed, and thought to himself, “Bill seems to think that rain is all warm and fuzzy. I think he needs to experience the flip side of that coin.” He chose to do it with an exclamation point for the benefit of all those who did not share my feelings about the rain.
Last Friday, March 5, at Millham Field at Longden School in Temple City, it was Opening Day Ceremonies for Temple City National Little League. After weeks of preparation the payoff for all our hard work was finally here. That payoff is in the looks on the kids' faces as they took the field for the first time to be introduced as a team to all in attendance.
As our President, Kristen Dearth, took the microphone, the evening got off to a great start. The kids were giddy with excitement as they ran onto the field as their teams were called. Their brand new uniforms shiny and colorful under the bright lights, the cleanest they will be for the rest of the season. Jeff Bearman directed them to their spots on the field and it flowed like a well-oiled machine.
Kristen was beaming as she made her announcements, followed by Al Millham leading the players in the Little League oath, seeming to be proud of the field that bears his name. Next was Gaylon the Barber playing the National Anthem on his trumpet. The kid's excitement level rose again as Kristen and Debbie Rea started raffling off gifts to all the players. Then as it ended, the coup de Gras, each player got a free T-shirt, hot dog, coke and a Snickers bar. It doesn't get any better than that.
Next up was the first game of the season, the Major Dodgers versus the Major Pirates. Although many people had left, the stands were still full, standing room only. The snack bar was hustling and bustling, selling all those Little League culinary delights at a furious pace. Being a relative newcomer to the Little League scene, I was staying mobile, cruising around and being a people watcher with one eye, and keeping the other on my kids who seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
The night was colder than usual and most people were bundled up in winter garb. I am a particularly warm blooded individual who rarely wears a jacket and if at all possible wears T-shirts and shorts when I am not working. On this night, sweat pants were in order, but still no jacket. But as the night wore on, it got colder than I had anticipated, and I began to regret it.
Then as the second inning began something caught my eye. High in the dark night sky, far to the southwest a flash of light. It happened so subtly I barely noticed it, almost as if I was seeing things. As I moved out to the parking lot I kept my eyes trained on that part of the sky to see if there was any follow ups or if I was just hallucinating.
Remembering the old adage that a watched pot never boils, I turned to walk away. Suddenly two more flashes in the same spot in rapid succession. It was still too far away to hear the thunder, but it seemed much closer and seemed to be moving fast. Standing nearby was Dermot Cullen, the player agent, surrounded, as usual, by people asking him questions about the league. They all stopped and asked, “Was that lighting?” With typical Dermot calm he responded “Yeah that was lighting” and returned to the conversation.
I decided to find my son just in case it started raining. By the time I reached the snack bar I could feel the first few drops. First, I spotted my wife, Stacey, who was still collecting money for the 50/50. For the non-Little Leaguers out there, the 50/50 is a mini raffle where you buy tickets and split the pot with the league. This happens at every game, so come by and try it. Wait a minute I got off track here, back to the story.
I go up to my wife, who instructed me to find our daughter Rachel. As these words were leaving her lips the rain became steady as someone over the loudspeaker continued to tout the 50/50. Another flash of lighting came and this time it's accompanied by thunder. The umpire does not miss a beat, threw up his hands, and called the game.
As soon as the game is called, and the rain was now coming down really hard, people were either fleeing to their cars or are taking refuge under the eaves of the snack bar. There were people scurrying around everywhere as the rain came down harder and harder. I couldn't find Rachel. But in the midst of the swarm of the rain-drenched crowd, I found my son Alex. At that moment, the rain turned to hail. I am very aware of this due to the fact that I was not wearing a jacket, as I mentioned earlier, and the hail was actually stinging me. Alex had had enough of this and wanted me to take him to the car. No argument from me and off we went.
After I got Alex settled in the car I set out looking for Rachel but to no avail, and the hail was now coming down full bore. I returned to the car thinking she'd show up any second, which she did. She told me to get out of the car as I am telling her to get in. Of course I won this argument through the glass and she got in. I asked her why she wanted me to get out and she said mommy wanted us to go into the snack bar to get out of the hail. I pointed out we were out of the hail and we would wait for her.
The true diehards stuck close to the snack bar eaves waiting for the 50/50 results to be announced. Suddenly Stacey appeared at my door--completely soaked--asking why we were here and not in the snack bar. I said because I thought we would be leaving shortly. She asked where are our 50/50 tickets, because they were about to announce the numbers. Diehards indeed.
At first I can't find the tickets. Stacey ran back to the snack barn and a minute later I found the tickets. So back out in the rain and hail I went. I gave her the tickets and returned to the car, twice as wet and cold as I was before. A few minutes later she returned to the car. They had done the 50/50 and we had not won, what a shock. When God decides to make a point, he leaves no stone unturned.
So, in closing, let me reevaluate my prior reflections as far as rain is concerned. During baseball season rain sucks, Amen.
