They air-condition the breeze while placing a green, leafy canopy over a cluster of picnic tables. Green boards on white concrete legs, the picnic tables' benches resemble outstretched hands. They welcome visitors to take a load off and sit a spell. Emerging from a grove of walnut and locust trees, next to an old shelter house with twin fireplaces and stone walls a yard thick. The spreading catalpa tree remains on patrol in center field.
Home plate is a chunk of sidewalk an ancient tribe of club-wielding batters beat into the ground.
Walking from the outfield through the infield, I saw my shoes grow wet with dew. It was that special brand of summer dew that evaporates before it can soak into your sneakers. The field was filled with kids going on nature walks, listening to storytellers, working on projects and, in general, goofing off. The kids lined up and doused their ankles with bug repellant. As the nature campers waited to walk into the woods, the girls ran impromptu foot races while the boys passed on age-old survival techniques.