The spring is not starting well, and with so much rain (and snow), the city and little league have struggled to release fields for practice.

There was an indoor practice last week, but we had already committed to a birthday party.

There are enough coaches this year, so this was my first little league practice as a parent. It's tougher than I thought.

First, there's a strong drive to jump in and help. The coaches from a couple teams paired up to practice together, so there are plenty of coaches doing plenty of things, and the kids are doing fine. But I still want to call out "elbows up," or "look at the pitcher," and other little helpful bits. I did some when my little was there, but that's 'cause he asked me when I helped him put his helmet on.

Then, while it's only an hour, it seems like such a long hour. There are little bugs, and the breezes were chilly. The parks where we practice tend to have limited or no seating near the ball park, and I haven't found the camp seats to toss in the back of my Jeep. Peeking at my phone, whether for work, news, or play, seems rude and uninvolved. And I was a little done with chatting to people after a long day at work. Don't get me wrong, all of the parents are nice people, but they kind of drifted into little already-know groups, so I just took the time to myself to refresh.

I'll work on that second one a bit more going forward. I hope I do. I say that all the time, and then don't always do it. I engage people for a living, and I'm never trying to sell anyone anything, so I would have thought it'd be easier by now.

Everyone's healthy.