Back On the Road Again

After a whirlwind vacation, it was once again time to head for home. It is always hard to leave family especially after a brief visit. Trina and the kids are usually very emotional when we leave and today was no exception. As everyone said good-bye to each other, there were a lot of tears shed. We climbed into the car and began to drive to the freeway. It was at this point that I began crying too. Trina looked shocked as I rarely am emotional like this. She quickly asked why I was so sad and inquired whether it was leaving family that was making me so emotional. "No," I exclaimed, "I just realized that there are only 18 more home games remaining this season for the Diamondbacks and then the dreadful off-season begins. I am really not ready for baseball to be over!" This emotional outburst went on for several miles as I replayed all the games I had been to this year and calculated that 162 innings of baseball were all that were left unless we went extra innings. I would have thought that Trina and the kids would have been more understanding but they seemed to think I was mocking them. How could they possibly say that? The remainder of the first half of the trip was spent in silence as we each contemplated what it would mean when baseball season was over. Ok, maybe that wasn't what they were all thinking of but it was weighing heavily in my mind. There is nothing to make a automobile trip seem to drag on more than depressing thoughts. It wasn't until I began thinking of the possibility of making the play-offs that the trip turned out. By the time I got to the Phoenix city limits I was contemplating going to a World Series game. With thoughts like that, I could drive another 10 hours.