Monday, June 11, 2012

Permission to trespass

My seven-year-old niece, Avery, was selected to play on the All-Stars softball team for her age group this summer.  It's really quite a big deal and they have played a TON of games all around Southeast Texas - I don't know how they do it in this heat!  This weekend she had yet another tournament, this time in a nearby town called Kingwood, Texas.  At one point, I was standing behind her dugout and I saw a sign that caught my attention:


Ignore, if you will, the fact that "trespass" is misspelled.  Ignore, also, the twitching in my eye.  Instead, I want to focus your attention on an important question . . . isn't "trespassing without permission" redundant?  Isn't the lack of permission kind of a key component of trespassing?  That's what I thought.  But maybe tressssssssspassing is different . . .?  EDITORS, PEOPLE!

So we trespassed WITH permission this weekend at the Kingwood fields and took first place.  My sister and brother-in-law were in Las Vegas so I was there to be the stand-in for them, cheering Avery on to victory.  It's really fun to watch her out on the field with her visor and sunglasses on, looking like a pro.  She's so great at first and second base - I am amazed at the balls she catches and how nonchalantly she does it.  I find myself cheering and screaming from the stands, already planning to attend all of her college World Series games in 2025.  And it's not until she falls asleep in the backseat on the way home that I remember that she's only 7 and that 2025 can wait.

But I've got her autograph just in case . . .