Isaac had his first baseball game a couple of weeks ago. I
knew it would be a little chilly so I wore my heavier windbreaker. That was a
bad idea. As the evening drug on, the wind picked up and the temperature
dropped. Soon I was shivering and several of us parents were discussing
breaking up some of the bleachers and starting a bon fire to provide some
warmth. However, we all decided one of the best things about spring sports is
that the weather does get better later in the season.
A week ago Tatum had a track meet. The temperature was in
the forties, learning from my experience I broke out one of my winter coats and
brought a pair of gloves. I felt a little silly, after all it was well into
April and the calendar said it was officially spring. It wasn’t very long
before someone pointed out the flakes of snow in the air. Discussion centered
on the fact that normally we would be more worried about sunburn than
hypothermia, but surely the track meet next week would be better.
Then this week I watched the weather forecast as I prepared
to go out the door to Tatum’s next track meet. Temperatures in the forties with
a stiff North wind and wind chill in the low thirties. I dug out my heavy
winter coat, a pair of heavy gloves and a stocking cap. It wasn’t enough. Several
of us parents discussed the new ice age as we huddled behind the South wall of
the concessions stand. It seemed more like football season than track, since each
week the weather got progressively colder.
Being cold during my kid’s sporting events is only annoying.
A few minutes in the car and a tall cup of coffee remedy the problem quickly. I
suspect that my writing about it in this week’s column will most likely solve
the problem. By the time you read this temperature will probably be in the
eighties and we will be searching for short sleeved shirts. I look forward to
that change, we need it.
I will continue to go to the kids games, no matter the
temperature, but we really need it to warm up. Ground temperature is nowhere
near warm enough to plant corn and the grass is not growing. At least the cold
weather has brought us a little moisture. I cling to the hope that maybe the
colder than normal temperatures and increased rainfall mean we have broken free
of the drought and heat of last year.
I know at some point this cool, wet weather will change and
soon I will be complaining about the heat and praying for rain. Please also note
that I am not, I repeat not, complaining about the rain. It will taken inches
of rain and a lot of mud before I grow weary of precipitation. I am, however,
tired of being cold. I know the beauty of Kansas is that if I wait a day it
will all change. Well, I am waiting.
Isaac has a baseball game Thursday and I notice that the
weatherman is calling for cold temperatures and even a chance of snow. Snow at
a baseball game that will be a new
experience. I have already broken out my heaviest coat, heaviest gloves and
stocking cap. Where do I go from there?
I guess I will follow the lead of some of my fellow parents
and start wearing my bibs. It is a drastic measure and one that I had hoped I
wouldn’t have to take. I have not yet washed my bibs and the evidence of
calving season is still quite prevalent. I am also just as sure that they
really don’t smell all that good, kind of a cross between wet sheep, cow manure
and after-birth. Wearing them in public is something I am not real excited
about but desperate times call for desperate measures.
So if you happen to be at one of my kid’s sporting events in
the next couple of weeks and it does not warm up, I should be pretty easy to
spot, and I might be even easier to smell .In any case, I will be the parent
standing all by myself downwind of the crowd. Let’s just hope for warmer
weather because the alternative is not anything any of us want.
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