Ah, yes, it's humid, hot and I can hear the sounds of chatter in the distance that can only mean that a softball game is in progress. The metallic *PING!* of the aluminum bat against the fluorescent green hide of the ball confirms it. From the presence of men wearing various colors of T-shirts, it seems that a small church league tournament was being played.
Both of the park's diamonds were in use and there was a healthy smattering of wives in attendance, cheering on their men. The spectators sat on bleachers or camp chairs shaded by trees. The man in the top picture had stopped with his little boys to watch from a left field bench, taking a break from their bicycle ride around the neighborhood.
There wasn't a scoreboard in sight but while the game was informal, you could tell from the postures of some of the players, long-remembered habits and drills learned as school boys were being lived out; in their approach to the plate for their turn at bat, the way they trotted around the bases, how they scooped up a ball and threw it to a baseman, it all came back to them for the afternoon. And for a while, in the hot summer sun they were living their dream.
5 comments:
Looks like an idyllic way to while away a sunny Sunday, Speedway. That second shot is great; you must have been either very brave or very foolhardy to stand behind the batsman to take it.
I'm surprised to see football posts in the background (by football I mean what you guys call "soccer") as I didn't think it got played much in the Colonies. Having said that, there are some pretty decent American players in our football league so I suppose - like most things in life - I'm a little out of touch these days.
Yes, those are soccer goals, several pair of them on that field. I sometimes like to watch the little kids play, boys and girls together, running up and down the field chasing a ball that seems to be nearly as deep as their little legs are long. The kids are cute in their little shorts with teeny shin guards, too! In fact, the term "soccer mom" came about in the mid-90s to describe life of a suburban mom drives her kids to their after-school activities.
I think soccer for kids started here in the early 70s. Friends of mine enrolled their daughter in a pee-wee league early on. She played all through school & went on to earn a paid athletic scholarship for college, where she played all 4 years. USA women's teams have won Olympic gold medals on a couple occasions and the US team just made the Women's World Cup semi-finals in dramatic fashion.
I wasn't being brave when I took that shot, Dive. There is a chain link fence backstop to prevent the ball from hitting spectators, going into the street, etc. I just poked the camera lens through an opening, easy as pie.
Sweet trick with the chain link fence!
Yay USA for getting into the Women's World Cup semis! I must confess to not watching football over here (or just about any other sport as Murdoch has the monopoly on TV sports here and I'm not giving him a penny).
Dive, does anyone over there have anything like a Newmarket DP where I might see a lot of pictures of the Thoroughbreds and their stables, etc?
I only have a small camera, Dive, a Canon PowerShot SX120. Its lens is just about the diameter of the fence openings. Again, easy as pie.
Over here, Fox Sports each year telecasts a few of the NASCAR races and 2-3 F1 races. With the News of the World fiasco, I've just about determined I can do w/o looking at those.
This is about all I can find on Newmarket:
http://www.newmarketracecourses.co.uk/about-the-home-of-racing/
It's only an hour's drive from my house but I must confess I've never been to the races there. I tend to get my horse fix at Great Yarmouth, which is just down the road.
Thos small Canons are awesome cameras. I've got a pocket one myself for when I can't be bothered lugging and SLR around (the G11) and I got Mum a cute little shiny pink one which she takes amazing photos with. I'd never have guessed you didn't use an SLR.
A pox on Fox. I can't turn on the news over here without Murdoch's disgusting face looming at me. Bleah!
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