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4: having a ball!

Writer's picture: Leslie Bevans Leslie Bevans

Dear Friend,

 

We hope that you are doing well, and no matter when you’re reading this, we hope that you are enjoying your day!

 

One afternoon, back in the early 1970s, my Gramma had finished shopping and was leaving a grocery store in Southern California, carrying her shopping bag of bread, milk and celery, when she walked right into the belly of a very tall man who was just coming into the store.

“Oh, excuse me, Sir,” she said as he said, “Excuse me, Ma’am,” and my Gramma joked, “Shall we dance?”

The man chuckled.

As she looked up into his face, my Gramma exclaimed, “Well! Mr. Wayne!?”

(It was the movie star).

She was so star struck that she quickly moved on. And so no, she didn’t actually get to dance with John Wayne, but she always had a ball, telling her story.

 

Back in the 1800s, ‘Having a ball’ used to be all about the actual event: fine dining and a dance in a spectacular hall provided by wealthy hosts and hostesses. The goal of a ball was to treat guests to such a fantastic time full of delicacies and unforgettable hospitality that theirs would be the event to remember. Out of all social events, a ball set the bar for delightful entertainment and so when someone (today) says, “I’m having a ball!” you can be sure that they are truly enjoying themselves.



Have you noticed how some dogs just really love to catch, fetch, carry ... play with tennis balls and other sport orbs?  To me, “Having a ball,” has never been about a fancy dinner and lavishly decorated hall in which to dance with a bunch of finely dressed others, it’s been about the joy that emanates from a happy dog with her ball or a kitten with a ping-pong ball, a horse with a jolly ball…

 

Oh, have you ever watched a horse play with a ball? Here is a video you’ve got to see! JOLLY BALL – HORSE

 

While you’re at it, watch this COW PLAY with PILATES BALL

 

An ANCIENT BALL GAME, Ulama, is a court game played by humans with a rubber ball. Similar to basketball, the ball has to be maneuvered through a hoop. Evidently, archeologists have discovered that rubber balls have been around since even before 1600 BC… Ulama has been played in Mesoamerica throughout the history of the rubber ball.

 

Basketball, as we know it, was INVENTED BY JAMES NAISMITH in 1861. 

 

Baseball is another game that people love to play and watch. A form of baseball has been around since the Dark Ages.



People love ball games! And it seems that they always have, as each modern-day ball game can be likened to similar game(s) played in ancient times, all over the world.

 

Ball games are often intertwined with other competitive particulars like politics, status / money, a metaphor for life itself, even afterlife… communities throughout history have congregated (when allowed to observe or participate), drawn in by that spherical object, their fanatic energy driven by everything from friendly competition to the raw reality of a life or death outcome.




There are too many types of balls to list them all and go into each of their origins in this letter. Ball games of all kinds teach kids how to work together, give people of all ages an excuse to get in shape; ball games build loyalties, cause divisions, create mayhem, hold communities and states and countries together… My point in this letter is to share my epiphany that balls seem to make the world go around.

 

There are many kinds of balls, just think of them all! Besides basketball and baseball, whiffle and pickle, there’s tennis, golf, bowling, bocce, ping-pong, cricket, American football, soccer…

 

And, Jolly Soccer!


Winchester loved his soccer ball!
Winchester loved his soccer ball!

Circling back to horse play, as I’ve told you before, Winchester was a very wholesome dog. The only illegal thing he ever did was to steal a bright blue Jolly Ball right out of our neighbor’s horse arena. He came home carrying that stolen Jolly Ball, his whole body wagging with glee.

I asked him why he’d do something like that… he just shrugged, “They never play with it!”   

 

What is your favorite ball game? I mean it when I say, whatever it is, I hope it brings you contentment!

 

Please Write and let us know what you think about ball games… what are your experiences? It seems that everyone has at least one story. I played my flute, piccolo and alto sax in my High School marching and pep band. As boring as it might seem to someone that hasn’t been in marching band for four High School years, I can say that there’s a novel to be written about the experience… a tragicomedy… can you relate?

 

With gratitude for you and your caring thoughts and thoughtful prayers… and our thanks to you for being here to read Tracks by the Post, we wish you a lovely week ahead!

 

Gently Be,

Leslie and Frank

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