Summer Days

Just saying or thinking about the word "summer" can put a million emotions in your mind. The scorching heat, the bleached crazy look in your hair, and the golden bronze shine of your skin.  Long afternoons at the pool and lake and amazing late nights with your friends.  Sleeping in all morning just to do it again.  For me, though, there's more to it than just that.  My summer days are also filled with many hours of the game I love.  Usually I wake up a little earlier so I have time to get up and take a few swings, or a lot of swings, before the heat of the day.  At night before and after practice I bat and pitch and throw and catch until it's so dark you can't possibly see.  Out of all of these days, though, my favorite is game day.  Waking up knowing that later that day you'll be on your way to compete is a great feeling.  I always bat a little before leaving for the game just so I can get my head on straight and go out ready to win! :)

It's Different

It's when the cold comes and the days get short when I really miss summertime the most.  I'm busy year-round, so it may be the same, but it's different.  In the winter, I spend countless hours in the gym.  In the summer, those hours not spent in the gym are easily spent on the softball diamond.  The cold now is a bitter cold, not like the cold that comes after a long hot day when the thunderclouds come rolling in and the dirt picks up and blows in your eyes.  It isn't ever the same.  When the weather gets warm again, I know it's that time.  The softball blood comes flowing through my veins and pushes the winter cold out.  There isn't any other time like that time.  Life begins when the season starts. 
-Tori