Sunday misc

1) Accompanying (on piano) Cole (on violin) on pieces from Barbara Barber's Violin Solos today, I thought, hey, that sounded pretty good—we're making some music here.

2) Sunburn after teaching various 8 year olds how to stay down on the baseball and bend their knees in the batting cage. My face feels a bit hot, even now. Was tempted to say to one recalcitrant 3rd grader—"Look—the pitcher—he wants to STRIKE YOU OUT. You're going to get a BASE HIT instead, alright? That's WHAT THIS IS ABOUT! Bend your knees and you're going to look like you're a threat to hit the ball!" But I didn't cast it in such stark terms, after all, not even close to that, and in the subsequent game, he got two hits, nevertheless. He looked over at me, at I clenched my fists as if to say, "Yes—right. You did it." I considered it a coaching success.

3) Am probably going to work two hours/week helping 6th graders do "Einstein" bonus problems on their math homework. The middle school is less than three blocks away, so maybe I'll bike. Or walk.

4) Am probably going to coach a third/fourth grade basketball team this winter. I love the game of basketball, even so far as to consider it a central metaphor in my life (basketball teaches that a person needs to be stronger, faster, quicker, etc, in a particularly brutal, "One Great Scorer" sort of way). There's always room for improvement (or the reverse).

Ann Richards

Ann Richards
Originally uploaded by grwster.