Spring is here

Well, spring is here.  It got here quietly here in Arizona.  It was heralded with warm weather (mid to upper 80s) and clear skies (skys?). 

Spring is a time of renewal and hope.  It's when the plants wake up from their winter nap and blossom and bud and shoot pollen into the air so we can all partake of their fragrances (and sneeze our heads off and spend hundreds of dollars on allergy medicine).  Around here it's time for the rattlesnakes and spiders and scorpions to wake up and stretch their legs (well except for the snakes, they don't have legs, but then you knew that didn't you).  We live in a well populated part of the city so the scorpions and rattlesnakes I don't worry about.  We have lizards in the back yard and they take care of other little critters (insects and such).  It's also a time when the weather gets "nice".  Around here that means it's a week or 2 of 80s then straight up to 90s and doesn't stop until it's over 110 during the summer.

Most importantly, even more so than the plants and animals and the weather is the baseball season.  That's right baseball.  By the way congratulations to the Dominican Republic for winning the World Baseball Classic.  They went undefeated if I heard correctly.  Baseball.  I don't care what anybody says, it's America's pasttime.  It's a time when all the teams are even and everybody from the Yankees and Giants down to the D'backs and Astros have hopes and their sites set on winning the World Series.  On April 1st all the teams will have the same chance to win.  The fans all believe their team WILL win.  Baseball season is a time when we can partially divert our attention from the bad news that's going on and check the box scores to see how our team did.  Why else was it important for baseball to go on during World War II?  The events of 911 did not stop the season, but merely delayed things for a week or so.  Why?  Because we need the distraction.  We need the time to take our brains out and just watch men try to hit a little ball that's thrown upwards to over 100 mph and try to hit it with a stick.  We revel in it.  We cheer each win and feel down with each loss.

I like spring.  It's the best time for the weather and it's the best time for baseball.  I hope each and every one of you have a team you can root for and spend at least a few minutes every day for the next 6 months away from the cares of the world and enjoy a good game.