Foggy Night at Rosenblatt.

I recall going to a ballgame in Omaha at Rosenblatt Stadium
- where the College World Series begins tomorrow-
with my Dad and his Dad. Must have been in about 1967,
we were about 6, 26 and 76 years old,
sitting in the red seats in the upper section on the 3rd base side.

Grandpa said, "Boy , it sure is foggy tonight."
Dad said,"Yeah, it sure is foggy, Daddy."
(He always said "Daddy", instead of "Dad".
I did ,too, until a neighbor kid mocked me
about it. Said it sounded 'babyish.' ).

It was a warm, hazy summer night, and the nighthawks and barn swallows were swooping around, picking off moths in the translucent shafts of light that surrounded the field.

Hmmm, Grandpa said it was foggy,
Dad said it was foggy, they must know ...

I let my imagination run a bit, and saw the fog roll in from the nearby Missouri River. The Summer haze seemed to my little eyes a roiling, thickening mist as the shafts of light started to solidify. Excitement started to build as questions filled my head. Would it get too thick to play baseball ? How will the fielders be able to catch pop-ups traveling through the mist?
What weather wisdom Grandpa had!

That's how I remember it.

About 10 years ago Dad and I were there at a ball game with my son, sitting above the 3rd base line in similar Summer weather as that time with Grandpa, and I reminded Dad about that, about Grandpa and the foggy night we had at Rosenblatt.

Dad said, "Yeah, he really had a problem with those cataracts!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dad didn't tease Grandpa back then,
didn't correct his error of perception,
his faltering eyesight, the ravages of time.

He just said, "Yeah, Daddy, it sure is," with love and respect.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy.


Follow this
Link to Father's Day trackback at Angel's Blog
for some great quotes and thoughts on Father's day.