Back in the summer of 1972 I was staying at my aunt's house in Syracuse, NY. They were going to go away for a few days and had decided I was old enough to feed myself and not burn down the house while they were away. I assured them I was used to taking care of myself as my mother worked full time and I pretty much kept myself busy as it was. They pointed out where all the important things were and headed off while I sat on their front porch admiring my luck at being known for such a responsible young man. After marvelling at how I was pretty much on my way to growing up I decided to set up a back stop and practice my pitching arm and glove handling.

I took and old picnic table they had in the back yard and turned it on it's side facing down the slope of the driveway. I had a lacrosse ball, which if you've ever seen a Super-Ball you know is just about the bounciest thing ever made - I could bounce it off the ground with little effort and it would soar into the sky where I could practice making outfield errors to my hearts content. I went to the bottom of the driveway and tried in vain to make one play after another while the lacrosse ball zipped by me like I wasn't there. I consoled myself with the fact that a baseball could only be child's play after trying to corner a lacrosse ball on the bounce.

I kept a eye out for the occasional car and lost the ball in the grass and bushes once or twice when I noticed a young woman on a bicycle pedalling around the street. I almost ran into her one time and she made a joke about passing on the wrong side. I smiled at her and went back to my practice, lobbing the ball at the picnic table and stabbing in vain one more time as it zipped right on by me. This time she was standing there in the street, bike in hand, laughing at how silly I looked chasing a stupid ball around the street. I was tempted to remark that she didn't look much better with her old-fashioned (girls) bike but instead looked her over (she was wearing shorts and a nice halter top - fine apparel for the weather we were having that summer) and asked her to help me with finding my lacrosse ball (again).

After a few minutes of pointless searching I decided maybe I didn't want to play ball anymore and offered to get her some iced tea. She was genuinely funny as well as attractive, quoting from cartoons and trying to steal my glove and I was hoping she wouldn't mind my company. I didn't really know any other kids in Syracuse and I was hoping I had made a new friend. She remarked that she wasn't really from here and didn't really know anyone else either, but couldn't stay too long as she would be expected back. We sat in the shade of a tree (she didn't look too keen about my suggestion we sit on the front porch but I figured, a girl, she probably thinks I'm being a little pushy) talking and joking and just being a couple of teenagers in the summertime.

After a while she looked at her watch and said she would be missed if she stayed away too long and started to get her bike ready to leave. I told her again how I was pretty much house sitting and (without being too pushy, I hoped) invited her to come back anytime since I didn't really have too much else to do and I really liked her company. She said the same and said she would think about it, smiling and riding off with only one glance back, which was enough to make me feel as if I were not quite the dork I had been thinking I was, trying to field a lacrosse ball before it put me in the path of an oncoming truck or something.

I spent the rest of the day losing the lacrosse ball again and watching television ( the Olympics were on from Munich, Germany - which had gotten me in the spirit of being some kind of athlete in the first place) , thinking again at how I was growing up finally, having a house all to myself and meeting a new friend, and a pretty girl at that.

Around dusk I heard the sound of a bicycles horn, the cool old-fashioned kind with the rubber ball you squeezed. I looked outside and sure enough, it was her. I invited her inside but she didn't seem too happy about the idea, us both being teenagers and all. The neighbors might not think it was so innocent