Rainy Day (and) Saturday

“Daddy, I’m bored.”

That’s not exactly what you want the first words coming out of your 6-year-old’s mouth to be at 6:30 in the morning. Especially when the forecast calls for rain to last throughout the day beginning at noon. This is something that is probably payback for all the times my parents had to endure that phrase.

A quick digression for posterity when Connor is in his teens. He began Wednesday morning (again at 6:30) saying, “Can we turn the light on? We slept in.” I guess technically that was true.

So, Connor began running through progressions of what we might be able to do including a trip to the zoo---which he nixed about 30 seconds later---or playing baseball at a local park. Harper chimed in with riding horses at the Fort Gordon stables, our local Army garrison. We hoped they would forget about riding the horses, which was an idea for the weekend we had pitched earlier in the week. Before Pandemic (BP) it was fairly easy to get a pass to the post and Connor had ridden horses before, but regulations have changed and civilians can’t gain access.

Connor hadn’t been interested in baseball for a while, but maybe since he’s seen some highlights on TV recently it stoked his interest.

At Patriots Park it became clear quickly the difference between playing baseball at home with a tennis ball and with a hard ball on a real field. At home, the slightly deflated tennis ball is hit across the street into our patient neighbors’ lawns; not too bad a hike. On the real field, the ball travels well and I found myself sprinting to the outfield and back numerous times. Sweating has always been something I'm good at and my shirt gained about two pounds. Hitting-wise, the kid is ready for coach pitch next year.

Between that and time at the playground, the kids were tired enough that they weren’t trying to run up and down the aisles at Publix, grabbing every bit of junk they could find. It saved a spike to my blood pressure.

Being down South helped the rest of the day. After a break for lunch and recuperation, Connor wanted to head to the pool. Growing up, the pool always closed after Labor Day, but here our community pool stays open until October. Weatherman be damned we headed out.

It was the perfect day. There were just two other people at the pool and we stayed for an hour and a half. It might have been longer, but after two Florida-like monsoon downpours, thunder rolled in, hastening out departure.

Currently a Curious George movie is on TV. Harper is curled up on Melanie’s lap; both of them fighting off sleep, while Connor is quietly entranced.

Now, what to do tomorrow?