Appreciation

The winter weather across the United States has been worse than brutal this year. Everybody is sick and tired of the cold and snow except perhaps the polar bears and penguins at the zoo.
Pitchers and catchers reporting next week will warm our hearts, a bit, when we see the highlights on TV of grown men stretching, soft tossing and jogging on the warning track in the sunshine at various spring training ballparks in Arizona and Florida.
But when we step outside, it will still be cold and snowy and all the highlights in the world won't make us forget winter is still smacking us in the face.
But when baseball finally arrives, when we go to the park and the weather is nice, the hot dogs hot, and the drinks are cold, we will appreciate the fact that we survived another winter and the grand old game is back.
The appreciation I feel doesn't hit me until I go to a day game in warm temperatures. Going to Opening Day when it is usually still cold is nice, but I really thank God when I go to the yard on the first really nice day. Usually in May, sometimes in April. Can we really, truly appreciate great baseball weather if we don't experience the harshness of winter?
To me, nothing is better than going to a ballgame when the temperatures are in the 80's, no chance of rain and the sun shines bright. To me, that's a feeling I never get tired of. Never. I don't care who is playing or which ballpark I'm at, a feeling of content comes over me. Be it a high school game, a minor league game or a big league game, it doesn't matter. I feel another year older, another year wiser and I still feel like a kid when that magical first perfect day for baseball arrives.
Until then, I'll do my best to deal with the crappy weather, the snow, the ice, the wind and the seemingly never-ending horrible forecasts. Because I know I have to be patient. I have no choice. Sooner or later baseball will be back and life will be good. Again.