More than a game, more than a ball field - (2013 ALDS game 2 - Fenway Park)

We were fortunate enough to obtain tickets to 2013 ALDS game 2.  Sheila and I enjoyed the game (especially the 7-4 win over Tampa Bay).  I could recount the highlights; but that is not my subject. 

I am not a fan of manicured lawns – actually I am not a fan of lawns of any kind.  There is proof enough of this in my back yard where a variety of trees and mosses edge right up to the house footprint.  However, at the intersection of baseball and diamonds lies a significant exception.  Surrounded by Brookline Avenue, Yawkey Way, and Lansdowne, Ipswich, and Van Ness Streets, Fenway Park is a well-established treasure known far beyond Red Sox Nation.  But what always catches your eye no matter where you are seated, is the patterns the groundskeepers create in the grass.  This kinetic art has even been celebrated in sports media.  That is grass that I can love.   

May 5, 2006 - Red Sox 6 Orioles 3

Before the rain delay June 18, 2013 - Sox 4 Padres 1

This day the field is a living billboard carrying a statement of resilience, hope, perseverance, resistance, and today, dare we say, a bit of celebration.  While it is appropriately a reminder of the tragic event at the Boston Marathon, it is simultaneously a statement of character, a challenge, and a reminder of a life skill we are commanded to follow.  B Strong.  B(oston) Strong.  B Strong.  Be strong.  Be strong!  

Fenway Park -  October 5, 2013

Thank you groundskeepers, thank you Red Sox, and thank you people of Red Sox Nation!   “Be strong and courageous . . . . . .”  Deuteronomy 31.6