Definition of Cold

The high school baseball season has started and we just finished our first two weeks.  I absolutely love going to baseball at this time of the year.  We have a nice high school stadium and from most of the field we look east into the Great Western Divide of the Sierras and the snow capped peaks smile back.  But as soon as the sun starts to drop towards the horizon, the temperature drops with it and it is COLD.  Or as I tell my students, there is a decided lack of heat in the air.  Some days I have more wool on than a lamb and I am still cold.  But there is still nothing like hearing the smack of a baseball on a wooden bat, even if it is a fungo.

Yesterday I took a class that is preparing me in new skills.  I'm hesitant to say what those skills are because of my normal reluctance and because some information just needs to be kept to a few people.  The course was good, but basic.  I came away with more questions, but I had more questions answered than are left to ask at this time.  I'm sure as I gain more skills, many more questions will be thought of to ask.  The class was with a cross section of people and everyone had their own reasons to be there.  I wondered quietly why some were there, or if they were ready yet for the class, but that is my natural bent on most things.  I question myself about my own actions so deeply, that I'm taken aback sometimes when others don't do the same.  And that is a criticism of myself, not others.  In the end, I learned and honed some skills.  I polished my thinking during the day and regardless of what may happen, I feel better prepared for the future.

We have a new coach this year.  He is a former player and friend and he is a fisherman.  We have another fisherman on the staff and they keep telling me they will take me out sometime.  With the chilly weather lately, they have been comparing "Cold Fishing Day" stories. I do want to rekindle or restart fishing.  It's one of the activities I stopped doing when I started teaching and coaching.  I know this is obvious to most, but have you ever made a list of what you no longer do that you did before you married, had children and worked at a career instead of a job?  Again this is not a whine as much as thinking out loud about where we are in our life.  Or it is to me at least.  More importantly, I'm thankful for the opportunity to try some things and hopefully I can actually start doing some of them again.

The freeze has hurt some of the local citrus groves.  We have had some damage, but we haven't inspected the gardens in detail.  That is going to happen today.