Tree Interference

Catapult magazine is an online magazine that posts biweekly on themes and issues related to following Christ in and through all aspects of culture. My article titled “Tree Interference” was published on catapult last Friday… 

Tree Interference

It’s where I played with the neighbor’s dog. It’s where I learned to throw a baseball. It was a soccer goal post. It was a backrest. It was the shaded spot in the pool. It was a thunderstorm tell-tale. It was a cool respite in the heat of a Michigan summer. It was even where I discovered to play with words. It was the big tree in the backyard.

“Tree interference!” I called. I was probably ten. My dad and I were playing catch, and one of the lower hanging branches crossed paths with the softball, causing Dad’s estimation of where his glove should hover to be an error in the books. Despite the miscalculation, Dad (an English teacher and wordsmith) laughed at my attempt at the sports pun. I knew I had succeeded, even if the ball landed on the ground several feet away from either of our gloves.

Read the rest of the article at catapult magazine