A Perfect Game

On cardio days at the pool—like today— I use a pool noodle in the 10-foot-deep pool. The noodle goes around behind my back to support me, and I rest my hands on the ends. I do five sets of 500 fast bicycle pumps. After each 100 pumps, I rest one finger from my right hand on the end of the pool noodle to keep track. When I get to 500, I switch and rest one finger from my left hand on the end of the noodle and begin counting again with my right. Today, when I had four fingers on my left hand and four fingers on my right hand I thought, “full count,” even though I’m not a baseball fan. I know a lot about baseball, however, because my dad loved it.

I started thinking about him and lost the count completely.

I choked up in the sweet spot, but the curveball didn’t bean me.