I had no interest in baseball during my misspent youth. My late wife had some interest in it, her interest was contagious, and we had become casual fans of the NY Mets by the time they won their 2nd World Series in 1986. With stamina unthinkable today, we saw the sights in Washington DC by day and watched much of the 1986 World Series by night, on the big TV in our motel room. There were no games on the nights of travel days, but we managed.
While fans of the NY Yankees got to see many more wins over the years, Mets fans got to see more strategy because there is no designated hitter in the National League. A great baseball team has an unusual combination of strategic leadership, individual initiative, and teamwork. It is like a great army, but nobody gets killed. Moreover, a not-great team can try again next year.
Tho definitely not a great team in most years, the Mets did and do have great colors: a strong orange and a strong blue, much like the colors in my photo. Many fond memories of 1986 were refreshed by seeing orange and blue on a great postseason team in 2015, in addition to seeing them on foliage walks.
October is blessed with a riot of reds and yellows (and some persistent bright greens), as well as the glorious oranges of many of the sugar maples (Acer saccharum), some of the red maples (Acer rubrum), and NY Mets uniforms (but only in a few special years). One color I seldom see in October is pink. In 2015 I saw that also.
Willful Cactus
My “Christmas” cactus
blooms whenever it pleases.
Pink for Halloween!
Mellow Curmudgeon 
As a child I had the NY Mets banner up on my bedroom wall. I remember the colors well. I also have the NY Post newspaper articles from 1969 win seal packed to cardboard. My father used to sell toys and he used the machine at work to seal pack these articles. They mean more to me (based on my father’s efforts) than any monetary value they may possess.
The Mets, somehow, bring a different excitement to NY. I have always believed they were a team that developed talent rather than simply a team that bought their talent. This world series will bring back wonderful memories as well as opportunity to provide new ones for the future.
I enjoyed the simplicity of your haiku. It created a joyful yet playful cactus that liked to surprise its owner with a surprising bloom each season. Maybe looking for joy and surprise in each “blooming” season is a message we can all benefit from.
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Love the story about your father preserving clippings from 1969 for U. That magic yr predates my own interest in baseball, so I know it only as history recalled by sportscasters in 1986 rather than a personal memory.
Yes, developed talent has been crucial to the Mets’ good years. Hope they can keep up the pace they have set in the NLDS and NLCS this year.
Blooming in late Nov seems to be common among Xmas cacti not subjected to plant shop wizardry; this yr’s Oct bloom by the Pink Rebel was completely unexpected.
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The unexpected bloom is somehow more beautiful for its surprise. 🙂
{A haiku!}
Baseball is about the only pro sport I pay attention to, which is probably due to a combination of factors, not least of which being that my grandmother played pro ball during WWII. I’ve also somehow managed to occasionally be in the right places at the right times, and there is something special in the reminiscing, in being able to say, “I was there when…” 🙂
Beautiful photo. I miss the autumnal color changes of a place that experiences true seasons.
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Your story reminds me of the movie, “A league of Their Own” with Gina Davis and Tom Hanks.
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My grandma was so.no.a.fan of that movie. Understandably, as ultimately the movie followed an unreal version of events, especially the idea that it was the sexualization of the game (Dottie doing the splits over homebase, for example) that “made” it for the women who played.
I liked the movie, even with my grandmother’s frustrated editorials. Gina Davis and Lori Petty are always fun to watch. And Tom Hamks: There’s no CRYING in baseball!!! 🙂
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Errr… That should read NOT.a.fan.
And Tom HaNks, I mean.
Doh! Touch-screen typing is not my friend. 😛
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Love your haiku.
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You’ve got to love a cactus that just does its own thing.
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