Springtime

I absolutely love this time of year.

I'm not a huge sports fan, but there are several sports things that I am damn-near psychotic about. The first is my Sox. I grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts. The Boston Red Sox have been a backdrop to almost every event of my life. I played little league baseball all through my childhood (more on that later) and have been a die-hard baseball fan as far back as I can remember. I love playing fantasy baseball, wear my Sox baseball hat pretty much everywhere I go, and literally broke into tears when I watched them beat the Yankees in the ALCS two years ago. I took a picture of Cowboy, who was three at the time, smiling in front of the TV mid-way through Game 7 when it became clear that they were going to win--so he can show his kids 25 years from now.

The other sports love I have is golf. Funny thing is is that I suck at it. Usually it's a hobby, an excuse to drink beer at 10 am, a way to get out of work. However, one time a year it becomes an obsession for me--something I go practice every day, work out to get in shape for, watch on TV almost constantly and read every magazine and book I can get my hands on. That time is right about now.

When Princess was born my parents came to town to spend some time with their first grandchild. My Dad and I went out to play golf, something we are always very comeptitive at. We agreed to play five rounds of golf and keep score--kind of a miniature tournament between the two of us. Since Princess was born in mid-June, I jokingly called it the "1st Annual Father's Day Golf Tourney." We did it again the following year. After the third year the tradition stuck, and it has become the event of the year for me. Every year around Father's Day we somehow have managed to get together and play five rounds of golf. We're usually very close in score, but he has always beaten me--even when I led by quite a bit going into the 5th round last year. My hope is that eventually this will include not just us, but my sons and nephews and brother-in-law at some point. I'm telling you--this event is bigger than Christmas for me. Some of the best memories I have had in the last eight years were created on the golf courses at 0600.

So today I'm going to the driving range at lunch. I'll probably go every day that I can for the next two months with the sole thought in my head that this is the year that I finally get the trophy that we say we'll build every year but haven't yet.

It's my favorite time of year.


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