Sure, I’m getting lots of mileage out of this picture…but I want to make sure if you see it on TV you recognize it and remember to IMMEDIATELY let me know.

(Sunday Paper, Year V, Issue 30)

One of the wildest and weirdest coincidences of my post-teaching life was the summer and fall of 2015.

It was an exciting time for me in terms of performing comedy - it was the first time I was legitimately busy in comedy, with a bunch of booked shows that had me out most nights performing.

At the same time, the Mets got hot and made it all the way to the World Series.

I watched most of the NLCS and World Series that fall from bars which I ducked into and out of during shows I was on.

It was great for me as a comedian, and terrible for me as a Mets fan.

It was necessary, but I felt awful about missing the parts of the games I missed.

And I was thinking about that this weekend.

This weekend, for the first time in years, I had baseball with no comedy to compete with it.

And it was really glorious.

I love baseball. I think you know that.

Every year when baseball season rolls around I feel like a weight comes off my shoulders.

This year, of course, everything hit right when baseball was supposed to start. So that weight never really left.

I can’t say that this weekend I felt the weight totally lifted…the weight has been heavier in 2020.

But it sure did shift for a bit. It felt normal, watching baseball Friday and Saturday, with the Mets playing both afternoons.

I stuck to my quarantine routines - watering the grass and vegetable plants in the yard - but this time I was able to pop the Mets game on in my earbuds or throw it on a screen that I could see from the grass.

I’m still not confident they’ll be able to get every game in…too many factors - especially with travel between cities - make me believe there’s no way to control an outbreak.

But I’m going to enjoy baseball while it’s here.

Especially if the Mets play well.

Because I really have nothing to distract me from watching their games.

So they might as well make it all the way to the World Series….I’ll definitely be able to watch every inning this time around.

Notes

*I should make sure you know, in case you missed my post on Wednesday, the picture above is one that I sent to the Mets to fill a seat at Citi Field. So if you’re watching the Mets keep an eye out for that picture on a cardboard cutout. And let me know if you see it, because I don’t know where it is. (I am excited that I’ll be ‘at’ every Mets home game this season.) For the rest of the story on the cardboard cutout, check out the Facebook page’s “Every Week On Wednesday” post from this past week.

*Oh, you’re not already following me on Facebook? Click here to Like the Facebook page, and you can follow me on Twitter here.

*GARDEN UPDATE! So here’s the deal: When I put the plants in the ground I estimated we’d have cucumbers by mid-August and tomatoes by the end of August. (That’s not entirely true…I estimated I’d kill the plants. BUT those dates were accurate if everything went surprisingly well.) Everything has gone surprisingly well. Maybe the plants started growing in their containers, before I put them in the ground. Because we seem like we’re going to have ripe tomatoes by mid-August. We’ve already had a couple of cucumbers. One we ate right away - it was good! Better than I expected. (They’re prickly cucumbers. I forget the actual name. But the prickles on the outside make it seem unappetizing. I guess that’s evolutionary…and maybe me being unappetized means I’m part squirrel?) Another cucumber we picked at the end of the week and Kathy was making shawarma that night so she cut the cucumber up and put it in the tzatziki sauce. This is the second time Kathy has made the shawarma/tzatziki…it was really good, even better the second time than the first. We currently have a bunch of green tomatoes on the vine - I’m expecting they’ll turn red surprisingly soon. Every day is a new surprise with that garden.

*I really and truly hope you have something that gets you through this hard time the way I now have baseball. I didn’t even realize how much I missed it until it was back. Feel free to share the thing that’s helping you get through this summer. (Before baseball for me I guess it was the yard work. Now I have the yard work AND baseball. And time with family, I suppose. They’ve been a lot of fun to be around.)