it's been a busy day. my son aaron turned 11 and he wanted to start the day out by getting a dozen doughnuts from the bakery and then settling in to watch the giants/pirates this morning at 9:30. the kid is baseball crazy coming off a giants world series win. fortunately they won their rubber match today for him against the bucs at that beautiful park that so echoes the look and feel of our own.
later he opened his presents which included a new bat and batting gloves. grandpa and grandma came up and brought him a new catcher's glove. we spent the afternoon shagging flies and taking bp out on our front lawn. and he didn't want to stop. and i didn't want to stop.
back when i was in my early twenties i read an article in a magazine about the nokona athletic goods company in the little town of nocona, tx. i loved the idea of this little town's economy dependent on making quality baseball gloves and when i came across one in a used sporting good store one day i grabbed it. i've had my nokona for nearly twenty years now and it has only gotten better with age.
i also love the idea of carrying an old catcher's glove and a ball around. once i took the bus up to seattle with a friend of mine and when we stopped for a bathroom break a couple of guys broke out their gloves for a catch. whipping it back and forth across the asphalt parking lot. it was beautiful to watch. and there is this beautiful cycle of going from throwing the ball with my dad, when i was the gawky kid who dropped routine flies to now being the dad throwing those same pop flies to my own son. and when one sails over his head because he misjudged it and he goes chasing it down, i sometimes look down at the back of my nokona and smile as the sun warms me.
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