Through a Glass, Darkly

MIKE: What are the Grasshoppers‘ colors?

KARI: Green and *mumble*

MIKE: What?

KARI: *sigh* Green and orange.

MIKE: Oh, so I can wear this shirt!

KARI: NO! I’m wearing orange! You can’t wear orange!

MIKE: No one will notice.

KARI: I hate matching! We cannot match! If we match we can’t sit together!

MIKE: I’ll have to wear my UNCG hoodie, too. For when it gets cool.

KARI: NO! I’m wearing MY UNCG hoodie!

MIKE: I’ve worn my hoodie every day this week! I’m wearing it to the game!

KARI: I don’t want to go to the game anymore.

Despite my misgivings regarding our apparel, I was really excited about going to the Grasshoppers’ Opening Day. I had a lot of fun last year at the games we went to, and I was excited about the season starting. I love being outside at this time of year. After the long cold days of winter, something inside of me just needs to be outside. Preferably in the sun. In a pinch, a lighted baseball field will do.

The whole week, I waxed melodic about baseball – the crack of the bats, the hotdogs, the WAFFLES. In reality, it was a lot more chaotic than that, since we went with a large group of people, including kids. When I think of baseball, I think of long relaxing afternoon games and long relaxing games under the lights. And maybe that would be true if Mike and I went alone, or if we went with another couple. But, instead, living in community meant that I got to spend less time watching the game and more time chatting. I’d like to say that I helped with the kids, but it’s just not true – the moms had it all under control. So I chatted. And that was good, too, because this semester has been so busy that we’ve been almost unsociable. We haven’t had people over to the house since Christmas (Christmas!), and we’ve spent time with people, but a lot of it has been in groups, so I haven’t gotten to talk to my friends as much. Baseball, though, with Spaz (the guy who runs around between innings and directs the games) yelling and music playing, means less large group conversation and more one-on-one or small group conversation. We talked about all kinds of things: The Amazing Race, work, school, Christian college groups, breeding cats, dogs, basketball . . . all of it good for the soul.

We didn’t stay for the end, which is a shame, because the Grasshoppers pulled it out after all. This morning I’ve been thinking about how I was looking forward to a long relaxing night of watching baseball at the ballpark, and what I got instead was a long relaxing night at the ballpark with my friends. I think that was what I needed after all.

(Other pictures from the game can be found here.)