I continue to amuse, if not embarrass, my sons with my ideas as to how baseball could be made into an interesting game! However, before I make my rules changes public I would do well to look again at the English game of cricket which can take 5 days to play and end in a draw and on each of those days the game, no matter how exciting, pauses in late afternoon for a “tea break” Here are a list of some cricket terms which might cause you to ask – What is this all about? A maiden over, broken wicket, clean bowled, cow corner, crease, dubbly-dobbly, googly, get one’s eye in, LBW, night watchman, slip, silly mid off, and sticky wicket. The list is endless! I hope you are totally bewildered! Perhaps I need to start with some rule changes in the game of cricket before I venture to suggest changes to baseball! All this is an introduction to the poem The Catch by Simon Armitage. The following link should take you to Morph- a plasticine character which was popular in the UK some 35 years ago! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8pxwYhj-GA
The Catch
Forget
the long, smouldering
afternoon. It is
this moment
when the ball scoots
off the edge
of the bat; upwards,
backwards, falling
seemingly
beyond him
yet he reaches
and picks it
out
of its loop
like
an apple
from a branch,
the first of the season.
Prayer:
Lord God, as
the burst of morning light
ushers in a new day help me
to welcome this gift.
Help me to notice life all around
from the weed making life possible between
the cracks in the pavement,
to the morning chorus of the birds, and even
the barking of the dog that greets me on my
morning walk.
Lord God,
as daylight fades, and the night quietly creeps in
a little earlier each day, hear my evening prayers.
For the day that has past, for all that made it good
and for the smiles and nods and words from others
along the day, I am grateful. Amen.
Prayers, Poems, and Christian Ponderings 
Oh! We are not bewildered by the list of terms, but enthralled. The only familiar one to us is sticky wicket. Across the street from our large local dog park is a field used every Sunday afternoon by a group of men playing Cricket. We have often watched briefly and have often said we need to watch the entire game and then ask for explanations! In spite of having no spectators, they seem to be having a good time. You have provided the motivation to step up and learn something from these fellows! As for Morph, and any claymation characters, I’ll just say they don’t hold my interest very long. All in good fun of course.
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