The baseball season kicks off today with the Red Sox-Yankees game tonight, and Rudi and I are celebrating Opening Day with a trip to RFK (in an hour) to see the Nats and the Mets face off in a final scrimmage before they play their first official games tomorrow.

I can’t believe how exciting it is to have baseball start up again. There’s something so optimistic about the beginning of a season, when your team (no matter how poor last season’s record) has just as good a shot as another to win the pennant and the World Series.

Baseball brings back hope after a dark winter, just when nature is starting to send out tendrils and shoots. It’s a way of reminding us to be glad we’re alive.

In honor of that seasonal optimism, I give you the first poem I ever memorized. (more…)

I’m feeling uninspired today. The rain seems to weigh me down and I’m hoping the deluge will end soon. Tomorrow will be better with an early farm market (and hopefully the season’s return of blueberry scones) as well as the 12:05 p.m. return of major league baseball to D.C. (complete with an appearance by my Mets).

I think this poem, “April,” by Sara Teasdale embodies the duality of early spring. (more…)