Last Saturday, Hurricane Ike hit Galveston and Houston. Early Sunday morning, the remnants of the storm inundated St. Louis with rain. Ferguson got 5 inches in an hour. Of course, I slept through it all.
Deluged, delayed
This summer I signed up to play softball. And I have been — every few weeks.
The problem is that the midwest has been inundated with rain all year. We’re soaked, soggy, and flooded. And that also goes for the baseball fields where our softball league is supposed to play each Sunday. We’ve had so many rainouts I can’t keep track anymore.
This past Sunday was to be a doubleheader. I called the rainout number before church and after church, just to be certain. The fields were fine. I was very happy: dry fields and beautiful temperatures (mid-70s). It looked like the perfect Sunday for a doubleheader.
So I drove out and met up with my teammates. We were warming up, and my throws were as wild as ever. Four other teams were nearly finished playing their early games. I was just starting to get loose when the sky let loose a soaking rain.
We took cover under a pavilion, waiting to see if the games would be cancelled. Of course, they were. The infield was just too slippery to be safe.
Some folks went home, but others stuck around. Eventually those of us left on my team and the opposing team started throwing the ball again and practicing fielding out in the outfield. After a bit, we decided to play a game just for fun (and badly-needed practice). At first we were going to play “Indian ball” so nobody would have to run the bases, but then we decided to play a regular softball game … but in the outfield grass.
I have to say it was loads of fun. I went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored — my first hits of the season. I probably could have scored again, but while I was standing on second base another round of rain started up.
I hope we get to play next week. And I hope we have as much fun then as I did yesterday.