The Sunday Sundown Rundown (formerly in the format of "3 Up and 3 Down") is where I share thoughts on three topics that piqued my interest, along with my favorite photo from the week.
War
The obvious is on my mind because of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. However, unlike last week, my thoughts were less about the idea of the world burning before us as we all fight within it, and more about the real-life consequences of our decisions.
Just this week, we've learned of innocent little girls dying in the attacks. The images of children playing among missiles and other war-torn damage. The many soldiers, including now a few of our own here in America, who served and won't return home. And yet, the threats continue from all sides.
I thought about human life a lot this week. I think about how we've become desensitized, so drastically, to the fragility, or even the specialness, that it is.
War! Huuuhh! Yeahh...What is it good for...
The Beauty of Baseball
The World Baseball Classic started this week, and it continues to be a favorite sporting event of mine. It's so wacky. It's so pure. It captures the beauty of baseball that isn't expressed throughout the summer in Major League Baseball.
For me, that was in the form of a seventeen-year-old, Jospeh Contreras, pitching for Brazil, against the greatest hitter in the world, Aaron Judge. And Contreras got him to ground into a double-play.
That kid, despite some helpful genes by way of his father, former MLB All-Star and 2005 World Series champion Jose Contreras, is going back to High School in a few days with THAT story.
That moment was something to watch. Something to feel.
And really, only in the World Baseball Classic do we get to see this glamorous sandlot of babyfaces, prospects, last-legs, aged hall-of-famers, current superstars, and even those with day jobs who purely love the game enough to use their annual PTO on the WBC - they all play on the same field in this tournament.
It's such a beautiful thing. Only in baseball are these kinds of stories possible.
Daylight Saving Time
We lost an hour of sleep (or productivity for night owls like myself) this weekend.
My son, when told of this change responded, "That's so stupid, bro. Makes no sense!". And then I realized I couldn't explain any of it myself to thwart his ignorance, thus exposing my own.
But this simple thing of moving one hour ahead brings longer days, and ushers in the Spring with warmer weather, and what feels like hope beyond winter. I think? It's more like a milestone on the calendar when these things happen. I have no idea what it scientifically does.
And then some places are just like - nah, we're good on this whole changing of the time thing. We're done!
All of it seems like the least of the world's issues right now, or what is weighing on us all. But it feels like just another thing we're all trying to make sense of. Add it to the weight.
Cover Photo
A boy tries to climb on an unexploded Iranian missile that landed in an open field on the outskirts of Qamishli.
Photograph: Baderkhan Ahmad/AP