Rebuilding Rob

Having both of my children with me gives me peace. My oldest son lives out of state, so I don’t see him nearly as much as I should, let alone would like to. My youngest son’s mother lives about an hour from me; it I have the standard “every other weekend” visitation with him. That’s why it’s extra special when I can get everything to align so that we all are each other together. It doesn’t really matter what we are doing. I’m fact, I kind of enjoy those regular, typical dad day moment I can have with them.

Growing up, my family was never “boat people”. Maybe it was because we had a swimming pool that we never did the “going out to the lake” thing. In fact, I had never really been camping until I was a Boy Scout. Based on where we lived, seeing the ocean just wasn’t in the cards.

When I moved down South as an adult, it was the first time I lived relatively close to the ocean. There, I fell in love with the rhythmic sound of the waves, the fell of salt water, the cool ocean breeze – all of it. This was the first time I truly understood the allure of the boating, beach-side lifestyle. It was also the first time I ever understood the appeal of Jimmy Buffett music.

The ocean is truly timeless. I can go back to that beach tomorrow, or in five years, and that ocean will be i. The same spot that I left it. and that ride will be rolling in and out, just like it was when you left before. Experiencing all of that – and seeing seashells that have been knocking around the ocean for God knows how long – put whatever problems I’m having into perspective. It is one of two place I go to disconnect from the world for a while.

Likewise, there’s something about being inside the four walls of a baseball stadium that takes me back to simpler times. Growing up, my family was definitely a baseball family. Having the local game on the radio or TV was part of my official soundtrack of summer. It didn’t really mattered if our home team was good. I wouldn’t even necessarily watch/listen to a game from beginning to end. It was enough to know the game was there.

Attending a baseball game in person is an entirely different experience altogether. There, the game is all around you. It has gone from being a diversion to the center of attention. In that way, it’s very relaxing for me. It’s as if the ballpark is a protective dome sheltering me from the rest of the world. Just as it is with the ocean, I forget about the rest of the world for a while when I’m at a game. When I can’t get to the ocean, a ballpark is a great place to escape life for a few hours.

But given the way my home team is played the last few seasons, it’s the ocean that truly gives me peace.

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier, related posts:

• The Extra Day: A Ten-Year Memory
• Of Training Wheels and Christmas Lights
• Charity Starts at Home (And I’m Back in My Childhood One)
• The Muscle of Empathy
• Where Do We Go From Here? Five Years Since January 6.

The article “My kids, the ocean and a ballpark” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.