Stop Signs
September 15, 2000
7:24 a.m.
There I was, racing as fast as I could. The wind was whipping through my ears. My hair was flying. The third baseman stood aside, giving me a clear path to the square base. All I needed was to turn the corner crisply. I concentrated on the base. I planted my foot at the edge and turned. I raised my gaze. Home plate loomed. But something was wrong. From the corner of my eye I saw the third base coach. His arms were up and waving frantically. "No!" he was yelling. "Don't go." So I slammed on the brakes.   I was about ready to make a fool of myself. (What's new, you say?) You see, I had a long discussion that I was ready to put up today. I had my dander up, and I was going to 'splain myself in so far as the 25,000 word challenge is concerned. I wrote it over two days time, and it said pretty much all I think needed saying on the subject. I had turned the corner and was heading for home. But something felt wrong about it. So, I'm not posting it. Sorry. Maybe later. The problem with journals is that we're quite able to put things on-line in the heat of the moment that are not quite what we meant. Or maybe they are what we meant, but we don't mean them any more--if that makes sense. Sometimes we need to stop and think. Sometimes we need to act responsibly. So I returned to third. The ball, white blurring to pink from the rotating seams, flew on a line toward the catcher who stood firmly in my way, dressed in hard shiny armor that reflected the stadium lights. The sound of the ball hitting leather was an explosion. As I stood on the base I knew I wouldn't have beaten the ball. Maybe I still would have been safe, though. Maybe I would have knocked the ball from the catcher's mitt and I would have sprawled over and touched home plate. But it would have required a big collision. People get hurt in big collisions. Sometimes things are important enough that you have to have the big collisions. Sometimes it's worth risking pain. But the score was 15-1. What difference would one run make? Have a great day.  A run's a run, man ... Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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