Pitchers and Catchers

As the snow falls again, I sit as a veritable captive in my own home. School is closed again today, the roads are a mess and it's too blasted cold outside to think of doing anything other than sitting in my recliner trying to stay warm. For as cold as it is here in the Greater Cincinnati area, my mind drifts west to a much warmer place. That place is Goodyear, Arizona. Goodyear is the site of spring training for my beloved Cincinnati Reds. Today pitchers and catchers report and they will be followed by position players sometime next week. It's hard to imagine baseball when the weather is so nasty, but in my mind I am dreaming of the green grass of the diamond, the red-brown dirt around the bases, the red and white uniforms and the blue sky of a warm spring day. I wait (not-so-patiently) this morning for the rebirth of spring and with it the new hope of another baseball season. But for now, I look longingly out the window at a sight that only causes me to shiver. A sight that has me wishing I was someplace else, anyplace else... except maybe Boston. Those poor folks have gotten pummeled this winter (but at least their team won the Super Bowl).