Rainy weather slows life down

STEVE SMITH

When I was a kid, we looked forward to rainy days about as much as we

looked forward to a trip to the dentist or a parent-teacher

conference. Back then, there were no VCRs on which to play movies and

there were no computer games, so rainy days meant we stayed indoors

reading or playing board games.

And though I do remember a football game played in the pouring

rain in the front yard of a friend’s house when I was about 13, that

was an exception.

That particular game was a one-of-a- kind event because the next

day, the previously manicured lawn looked like Patton’s army had just

performed maneuvers on it. But man, was it fun.

It was also fun at our junior high and high schools during the

rain. That always meant we went inside the gym to play dodge ball,

the cursed “sport” that has recently been revealed to be the cause of

a lack of self-esteem in 98% of the nation’s children.

My daughter likes the rain, but I think the other three Smiths

don’t, even though we all know that Southern California needs the

water.

The recent rains have meant that our Little League team has not

been able to practice as much as we’d like. Today, for example, we’ve

got a parents versus players game, followed by a scrimmage against

the Giants, but we won’t play anything if it rains.

This year, the Little League board made a dramatic scheduling

change that is going to make the season a lot more fun for all the

players. Instead of starting the playoff contest from our first game,

we are now going to play half the season -- about 10 games -- without

any consequences. That is, they won’t count against the standings for

the playoffs.

Now, managers and coaches are free to experiment with different

players at different positions and free to take chances they would

have otherwise avoided, such as giving out the snacks before the game

instead of after.

I’m pleased about the schedule change even though I’m not one for

playing in a contest that has no clear winner and loser. Oh sure, one

team will score more runs than the other and will make them appear to

be the winner.

But they’ll have their bragging rights marked with an asterisk

because the losers can always claim that they were not playing their

best players in their best positions.

In a couple of months, however, all that will change and we’ll all

be fighting to the last out to win. This season, we’ve got the best

of both worlds.

In 2004, playing Little League baseball is like reading a book or

playing Monopoly. It may take a long time and it may not have the

rush of other faster sports, but its slow pace allows kids to

preserve a lot more moments than other events in their lives.

I believe that kids playing baseball are much more likely to

remember an individual play than an individual play in another sport,

simply because the pace of baseball is so much slower.

Kids need more slow things in their lives. Or maybe I need my kids

to have more slow things in their lives just so I can keep up with

them. Either way, I think they win.

The rain is not only nature’s way of replenishing our water supply

and giving us good powder on which to ski, it’s also a natural

sedative. And I know what you’re thinking: Try telling that to the

stressed-out commuter returning on a rainy day to her home in Costa

Mesa from her job in Torrance.

But for those of us who did not make the bad choice to work far

from home, the rain forces us to drive slower and to avoid some of

the other maddening effects of live in 2004.

When it rains, the world shifts into a lower gear. We scale back

our expectations and put away our “to do” lists. Some of us finally

find the time to do the things we’ve been putting off for months or

years; simple things like baking cookies or taking a nap in the

middle of the day.

When it rains, we’re less likely to visit a bustling mall and

spend money on things we don’t need, while first stressing out about

getting a parking spot that has to be steps away from the front door.

When it rains, we’re trapped inside our homes and forced to

communicate more with each other instead of having everyone off doing

their own thing as we may on a sunny day.

When it rains, siblings play with each other more.

When it rains, kids read more.

All we have to do now is figure out how to play baseball in the

rain. With a nap between the third and fourth innings.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer.

Readers may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at

(949) 642-6086.