There's something magical listening to the radio late at night. Whether it's a station emitting waves from far away places that only seem to be captured through the night air when the fastpaced competitive day static has died down for the night, or it's a local dial playing all night jazz tunes, there's a sense of hushed intimacy felt by the D.J. and the listener. If you're listening to just the right program that pulls you out into the night sky, it can lull you to sleep.
Tonight, my 8 year old (soon to be 9 and counting the days) son and I settled into his bed after a successful first day of school. What a difference in energy level compared to last night when the nervous jitters and excitement stirred around the house until way past bedtime. There was a sense of relief and contented fatigue as we returned to the book we had started reading together before summer holidays............as we returned to a routine.
After reading a couple of pages, he reached down to turn on the radio. The Jays-Indians ballgame was on. I turned off the light and we tucked in to listen to a familiar sports commentator voice describe the action on the field..........
"What a beautiful night for baseball and the teams haven't disappointed the fans who have come out in droves tonight to the Sky Dome despite the fact that it's the first day of school. I guess we're all just holding onto a bit of summer still. For those of you just joining us on back to school lunchbox night, welcome out there. It's the top of the 5th. The game is tied at 2. Cleveland's up to bat with 2 outs, and 1 man on first. The count is 1 and 2.............Roy Holliday was slowing down a bit, but still had his surefire fastball. He's pitched a great game for the home fans. So far, he's struck 8 out. Here comes the pitch........He throws............and he misses........................ball 1."
"Mom," my son whispers,.........."can you rub my back?"
"Sure honey," I reply. "Can you hear the broadcaster clearly? It sounds so far away....."
"Yeah.........well it is. They're in Toronto. It is far away.............says my son philosophically"
Back to the soothing radio voice..........."Yeah, Roy has thrown over 100 pitches tonight. He's kept the Jays in the game, but they don't seem to be generating the runs for him........he winds up a throws a low fastball.......right across the knees............he swings and he misses! Strikes em out! Number 9 for Holliday. That pitch had a lot of fire to it............."
This summer, my son's love and interest for baseball grew and grew as his knowledge and understanding of the intricacies of the game increased. During the between innings commercials, we lay still as he calms towards slumber.............still half listening..........starting to dream.....................
Back to the game, bottom of the 5th.............."It's Benji Molina to start off the Jays.........walked the first time up and swung out the second time................here's the pitch.............he's swings......oh he's connected with the ball............................looks like it has a chance.........................goodbye! It's outta here! Molina has put the Jays in the lead with his one run one homerun............!!!!!"
My son pops up, big smiles and announces the # of homeruns this ballplayer has for the season so far.................happy the Jays have taken the lead. We talk about the ballplayer, and wonder if the season is really over for our team this year as we settle back to connecting to the announcers and getting back into the land of radio..................
"I love you mom................" a sign that he's ready to fall asleep..........content that his team is in the lead..........ready to let go into dreamland.
"I love you too sweetie...........goodnight............." I lay there content to hold onto this moment and my young son, content to listen to the ballgame like I have done many times in my life, content to review the day in my head..............happy to know that all is well and safe tonight with my family, in my neighbourhood.
Tonight, my 8 year old (soon to be 9 and counting the days) son and I settled into his bed after a successful first day of school. What a difference in energy level compared to last night when the nervous jitters and excitement stirred around the house until way past bedtime. There was a sense of relief and contented fatigue as we returned to the book we had started reading together before summer holidays............as we returned to a routine.
After reading a couple of pages, he reached down to turn on the radio. The Jays-Indians ballgame was on. I turned off the light and we tucked in to listen to a familiar sports commentator voice describe the action on the field..........
"What a beautiful night for baseball and the teams haven't disappointed the fans who have come out in droves tonight to the Sky Dome despite the fact that it's the first day of school. I guess we're all just holding onto a bit of summer still. For those of you just joining us on back to school lunchbox night, welcome out there. It's the top of the 5th. The game is tied at 2. Cleveland's up to bat with 2 outs, and 1 man on first. The count is 1 and 2.............Roy Holliday was slowing down a bit, but still had his surefire fastball. He's pitched a great game for the home fans. So far, he's struck 8 out. Here comes the pitch........He throws............and he misses........................ball 1."
"Mom," my son whispers,.........."can you rub my back?"
"Sure honey," I reply. "Can you hear the broadcaster clearly? It sounds so far away....."
"Yeah.........well it is. They're in Toronto. It is far away.............says my son philosophically"
Back to the soothing radio voice..........."Yeah, Roy has thrown over 100 pitches tonight. He's kept the Jays in the game, but they don't seem to be generating the runs for him........he winds up a throws a low fastball.......right across the knees............he swings and he misses! Strikes em out! Number 9 for Holliday. That pitch had a lot of fire to it............."
This summer, my son's love and interest for baseball grew and grew as his knowledge and understanding of the intricacies of the game increased. During the between innings commercials, we lay still as he calms towards slumber.............still half listening..........starting to dream.....................
Back to the game, bottom of the 5th.............."It's Benji Molina to start off the Jays.........walked the first time up and swung out the second time................here's the pitch.............he's swings......oh he's connected with the ball............................looks like it has a chance.........................goodbye! It's outta here! Molina has put the Jays in the lead with his one run one homerun............!!!!!"
My son pops up, big smiles and announces the # of homeruns this ballplayer has for the season so far.................happy the Jays have taken the lead. We talk about the ballplayer, and wonder if the season is really over for our team this year as we settle back to connecting to the announcers and getting back into the land of radio..................
"I love you mom................" a sign that he's ready to fall asleep..........content that his team is in the lead..........ready to let go into dreamland.
"I love you too sweetie...........goodnight............." I lay there content to hold onto this moment and my young son, content to listen to the ballgame like I have done many times in my life, content to review the day in my head..............happy to know that all is well and safe tonight with my family, in my neighbourhood.
6 comments:
Beautiful post A..
brought tears to my eyes. Seriously.
I love baseball too, and can even remember my first trip to Shea Stadium in New York City when I was a wee lass.
Your post reminded me of when I was a young mother and enjoyed reading to my son at night. It was our time to be together and read cool Dr. Suess books that we would get such a tickle over. I remember reading some lines over and over again just so I could hear him laugh.... he had a wonderful childs laugh. But alas, they grow up too soon, and now he's reading college texts and wondering why I bother to keep interrupting him so much over dinner plans. Hold onto these moments for as long as you can... they are so fleeting past the age of 10.
Such a great portrait of a family. Love the post, hope that is school day was a great one.
Scott
what a wonderful post capturing such a magical moment - the feeling of contentment and love is palpable from here....
Those are the kind of treasured childhood memories that stay with us for ever
Thank you all. I'm glad I was able to capture the moment in the right words to describe it. They are precious moments and I think I realized last night the fact that my youngest wont want me to cuddle up beside him to read and to listen to ballgames for much longer. I'm lucky he still does.
the most precious moments of my existence are when my children, for whatever reason, let their unconditional love overflow and allow their being to collapse into mine....
i confess my response was that of urbanmonks
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