I Love My Balls

I was house cleaning and as I emptied the closet I began to see a pattern develop; I have balls, lots and lots, of balls, big balls, small balls, tiny balls. Balls that are thrown, balls that are slapped and balls that are clubbed.  Balls that bounce and balls that I bounce on, balls that float and balls that ping.  What I realized about my balls is that the playful spheres represent past and present pleasure.

·         Baseball:  In baseball when I was a child, I had the luck of the draw on my side; the first few years I played I was on trophy teams with great coaching and players but I rarely saw more than 5 minutes of playing time.  The last year I played organized baseball I was put on a cellar team that had poor coaching and no star players. That year my mitt was like a spider web; it caught anything that came its way, my arm was a canon, and my bat was unstoppable; I played 1^st base and Pitcher and it was my best year in baseball.  

                           

·         Football:  I always thought I was born to play football, I loved playing that game, and I loved my ball; during the season I took it with me everywhere including bed.   Football represents comradely, teamwork and personal power; I learned a great deal about myself and my willingness to reach new levels of exertion while playing football.

·         Ping Pong:  I was never good at playing ping pong; oddly it is a game that seems to follow me from indoors to out of doors and I have seen some interesting things done with them.

·         Golf: In High school I decided to go out for the golf team and my father gave me a set of short hickory shaft golf clubs that were almost impossible for me to play with. The best part of my golfing experience was driving my convertible Austin Healy to practice.  The course was a converted cow pasture with sand greens and bordered a corn field.  I spent most of my time in the corn rows hunting balls, no matter 40 yrs later I still enjoy the smell and feel of a golf course or driving range and it is a game that I have enrolled my sons in.

popee in the garden age 7

·         Bocca Ball:  This game takes me back to when I was in my early 20’s in California, my friend would set the trash cans at each end of his office and we would toss balls from one end of the room to the other until a winner was declared and the loser bought lunch.

·         Fitness Ball:  My chair, leg rest, back rest and so much more, I love my big balls and I have already written a blog expressing my thoughts on this fitness tool.

·         Tennis Balls:  Crazy points 15-love?  Too much lateral movement for my knees and ankles but my dog loves to chase them.

·         Volley ball’s:  This is probably the most versatile ball we have; it can be used in the pool, in the yard, and on the beach. It can be a kicked, thrown and volleyed.  If I could only own one ball it would be a volley ball.

Balls don’t care if I am great at catching, throwing, hitting or kicking; balls just want to be used. Balls are great tools that can be enjoyed alone or with others, balls lead me to the out of doors and make the indoors more interesting.   

The beautiful aspect of balls is they are made to be played with; their purpose is to induce fun and games, laughter and exercise.  When we play we have fun, the endorphins flow and that makes us stronger, healthier and better. 

Go have some fun,

Geo