The Good Ole Batting Cage

Today it was my time for my monthly visit to Maple Ridge. As i've said before, music is essential on this trip, it is one long monotonous drive. Roman got some Time/Life discs i've been plowing through for a few months now, and there were a couple I hadn't heard yet.

I wrapped up business fairly early as I always do there, small dealer. On the way home I always stop at the Maple Ridge Batting Cages. Nothing clears your head like smacking some balls around. Of course this time of year there are not many people who do it, so the guy next door at the driving range normally rolls his eyes as I walk in. He knows then and there he is going to have to get up off his duff, put down his bowl of Chef-Boy-R-Dee du jour, and waddle across the parking lot and open the cage for me.

Its a beautiful layout there. The cage faces right out onto Golden Ears Park with nothing blocking the views, it's like you could park a ball right over the mountain range. Maybe I could do it with Clemons trainer.

Anyhow, the cage backs right onto the parking lot, so whenever i'm there I pull my truck right up to the back and play some tunes. It's never a problem, in the middle of winter i'm the only one there.

So I never really looked at the cd, I just popped it in. First tune that came up? As above, "Love Will Keep Us Together" by the Captain and Tennille. This is a "very" little known fact, but as a child, when all my friends wanted to be policemen, firemen, and astronauts, I wanted to be the Captain. The guy just oozed cool to me. Yes, I even had the outfit, and I can't tell you how many women would fawn over the little boy in his Captain outfit.

You have to really dig this video. Man, they were worried about Ashley Simpson lip synching, these guys are ballsy enough to not even use microphones, ahh the 70's.

It was followed by "The Most Beautiful Girl" by Charlie Rich (you should check out the vid for that one on you tube as well, i'm far too much of a moron to post both), "Daisy Jane" by America, "Rhinestone Cowboy" by Glen Campbell and on and on.

Cheesy as hell? Oh yeah! But as I sat on the hood of my truck while downing a sub-standard hotdog and looking off into the mountains, I reflected to myself, "not a bad day, not a bad day at all."