Feeling Old

A bit of a scare this afternoon that I can only chuckle at now... I had the opportunity to play in our church's softball league. I had over 25 years worth of rust: while I could catch well enough, all of my throws were initially falling short. The other church didn't field a team, and we had enough people to play two teams of eight. We arranged our batting lineup from youngest to oldest. I hadn't played in over 25 years, yet I was batting cleanup. :) After taking a couple of pitches and fouling one, I reached for one outside and hit it to the left side of the infield. I took off. About 2/3rd of the way down the baseline, my right hamstring cramped. I immediately went down and slid forward, hitting my knees and then my nose and chin, like that buffalo from Dances with Wolves. My leg still cramped, so I got up and bear walked, tagging first. "Hey Dan, do you need a pinch runner?" I tried to get my hamstring to stretch out, but it was still tight. I had to come out. The inning finished, and I hobbled out to left field. My leg was still tight, and I had another concern. I was seeing in hues of yellow and light streaks, like looking up through a tree of yellow leaves into the sun. I took myself out. I sat on the ground and closed my eyes while trying to stretch out my leg. My eyes would clear up in a few minutes; my leg settled down enough for me to drive home. I'm chuckling about it now. I didn't make a throw in the game. I should have been stretching as soon as I got there.…

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