Life indeed does go on…

Leading up to the elections I became more depressed each day.  But fortunately, in a parallel arc were my beloved San Francisco Giants.  The closer they came to their Holy Grail of a World Series victory, the less attention I paid to politics and the downers the world will always have to offer me.  And you know what?  I felt the best I have felt in a long time.  The Giants winning it all on election eve was perfect timing.  I had not watched even one MSNBC show, or any other “news” show since the playoffs began with us facing down a tough Braves team in an always-dangerous “best of five” series.  It got even more intense with the best of seven series with the heavily favored Phillies, which we won in six!  At that point I had not even a glimmer of interest in the whole political landscape.  And when we made it to the Big Show, my focus was Giants, Giants, Giants, 24/7.  I was listening to all the local sports talk radio shows, whereas a month earlier I was listening to Stephanie Miller’s podcast every day, with Keith, Rachel, and Jon Stewart sprinkled in. 

It was a great ride culminating in a parade yesterday that only San Francisco could conjure up.  Crowd estimates range from 500,000 to a million.  People were coming down from the far reaches of NoCal, with lots of old Giants hands like me coming with their children and grandchildren.  My Dad took me and my younger brothers to see the Giants in 1958 when they played that first year in tiny Seals Stadium (and many more games after that after they began to play at Candlestick park.)  [Now we play at AT&T Park, downtown, right on the Bay]   If my son Jesse, (also a devoted, knowledgeable, Giants fan) had not had to work and if my daughter and grand kids were not up in Seattle, I would have probably taken them all to see it live.  As it was, I watched the parade on TV.  Seeing that many people just blissing out was undeniably infectious.   Believe it or not, there was not even one arrest. 

I’m reaching the final arc of my life now, and the above events have made me realize that the so-called big things in life are not that big, and the so-called small things are often unnoticed  miracles. I’ll still follow politics, and even comment on things from time to time, but I’m definitely going to ignore the downers and look for those miracles.

^^^The coolest and beautiful yard in the world^^^

~ Tom

p.s.  Spring training is only about 4 months away…