Over the Borderline

Empty Bases Gone is the crack of the bat The roar of the crowd The rounding of third Collisions at home The pause of the ump The dust in the air A fastball in the back Pine tar Stolen signs Pick-off plays Oh, how we long for… The good old days Gone is everything: From missed tags to rosin bags From outfield speed To sunflower seeds Everything from ticket fees To the suicide squeeze From screaming comebackers To ball flight trackers Missing is the bunt single Dropped in the perfect place The creaky-kneed catcher Taking one off the face Pitchers with blisters Home run hitters And 23 hoppers That find their way through An infield that shifted Or that little blooper Perfectly lifted Absent is the groundcrew Always raking, spraying And cleaning up chew Absent are the workers And all the fans that we knew Lemonade like Gramma made Hot dog man in mid-bark Cotton candy and churros Everything h...

Muhammad Ali once said “It isn’t the mountain ahead to climb that wears you out. Its the pebble in your shoe.” We are all inherently strong enough to overcome our obstacles, its the smallest thing that’ll stop you short of reaching your goals. After losing my mother to Alzheimer's disease and suffering a heart attack to begin 2016 it felt like I had more than a pebble in my shoe; there was a pebble, a thorn and a couple razor blades as well, and that mountain was more like staring up at a sheer cliff. There wasn’t much I could do but immediately set a goal (after never having been very goal oriented), and that goal was simply to never have another heart attack. The first step was dietary; I cut out dairy, alcohol, starchy foods, fat, anything that wasn’t whole grain, and lots of other things. Fruits and vegetables by the truck load have become my staple, along with brown rice and many varieties of beans. Eventually I was able to begin cardiac rehab, a closely monitored exe...