Raincharm’s Weblog

Who thought it was a good idea to invite 7 people over for the evening ball game on a day when you got up well before the sun, flew halfway across the country, took rail, bus and a walk to get home, needed to shop, clean and straighten up and get a tire fixed buy 4 new tires.

I confess it was me.

Do I look tired?

I just can’t get into this book, and long for a nap.

The 3 hours in the car shop are about 2 more than expected, and sitting around has heightened the tiredness. Carl has picked up the shopping slack, so as soon as I have wheels, literally, I will roll myself home for food prep.

I fear I will be lacking as a hostess tonight, and even half a beer might put me down for the count.

Months ago I made our plane reservations. I don’t recall the specific reasoning, but I am sure non-stop and price played their part in the decision to book a flight departing at 6:25 a.m.

The bad parts are the early to rise. Not too difficult, but we decided not to watch the end of last night’s ballgame. And the early to rise included our fine hosts too.

The good parts include a fairly uncrowded highway and airport, beating the main weather impacts out of town, and a relatively uncrowded plane. The 2 of us are sharing 3 seats, and the next row back is empty.

Pre-check on the flight east meant we breezed through security. The flight west found us in the line where shoes, computers, jackets and liquids all had to travel separately through security. But again, a little patience and generally calm folks, made this quite manageable. Maybe most were still trying to move at a sleepwalking pace. The longest line was at the Starbucks. Bumpy flight to begin (that weather pattern referenced earlier), but it has calmed down. I am still holding my coffee, sans lid, to ensure it does not spill.

St. Louis was fun. A little work, a little play, hosts that know their way around their town, and also provided some kick-back time. Thanks Mark and Pooh!

In brief

Sitting visuals: Mary Poppins Returns, baseball games, and jigsaw puzzles.

Walking visuals: The Arch, Art Museum, Botanical Gardens.

Views, not of the Arch, but in and from.

The Old Courthouse, home of the Dred Scott decision. Our hotel for the few days is on the right

The mighty Mississippi

Busch Stadium III

The Art Museum included a Dutch art collection, including 3 Rembrandts.

Arches. It’s like a theme or something

Fez man, sort of

Botanical Garden on a cool clear day.

Not the art museum. Botanical as in fiber arts to folding art-origami.

Lilies. Okay, this is the jigsaw puzzle. It was a hard one.

Real and man made vegetation

Patterns

Back scratching tree close-up

Cycad

Koi, begging for a morsel. We made them kiss – hee-hee.

Sitting food: Blueberry Hill, Southwest Diner, Vietnamese, food ala Mark. A good cook with a varied repertoire, including 2 picnics.

Art ala Carl

We have had a good time here, but it’s just about time to head west again.

We left the rain behind and headed east, to St. Louis. It rained here too, but only a bit.

Today was a day to see a few sights and get some steps in. First stop was a grass tennis court built by his coach for Arthur Ashe to practice on, next to his coach’s house.

Tap so you can enlarge if you want to read the details

The tennis court is a bit of a memory, bit the shape and space survives.

The house over the grass area is where the coach lived

Then it was on to Busch Stadium for some baseball. At least a tour, and a visit to their museum.

Let’s just say they have more history than the Mariners. What I learned: 1. The World Series TROPHY was first awarded in 1927, the year after Green Bay got the first Lombardi Trophy. Before that you got a flag. 2. The team gets 2 trophies. One for the team, and one for the owner.

Dinner ala Mark rounded out the day before we were delivered to our home away from home away from home for the next 3 days.

The Arch from our room

It’s a small window, with only a partial view from a comfortable position.

The Washington Nationals completed their sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals last night, and will play in the World Series next week. That leaves the Mariners as the only team to not have reached the World Series. Just wait until next year.

We did get together to enjoy the game of baseball last night. A few hardy souls. We have been doing this for several years. This year there is no obvious team to root for, so it is for good games, although I am sure allegiances will form.

We will be in St. Louis for at least a part of the Series. Yes, it would have been fun to have the Cardinals still playing. For the excitement, the feeling of a focused town, and maybe even to see a game.

And here in Seattle the first winter storm has arrived. I think it might be the remnants of Typhoon Hagibis. Lots of rain, and some wind. A good day to stay inside. So at 10:17 this morning we will participate in the Great Shake Out drill. Drop, cover and hold on, and then evacuate… to the Board room if it’s pouring.

Mid October to be clear. I have been busy, or tired, or just plain lazy.

Walk to end Alzheimers.

Last game of the Mariner’s season with Wayne Drop

Soccer walks

Apes game nonsense

The big erratic, looks rather like a nose sticking out from a bushy hairdo

Running into friends wandering the city

Burke Museum grand reopening

Tufts Love T-rex

Rod’s legs are visible in the background

The museum’s redo includes lots of areas where you can watch folks working. The biggest crowd was at a bilogical specimen prep area. They were defleshing a komodo dragon. I think this specimen was from the zoo, and they kept it on ice until the grand opening.

Playoff watching.

Flower planting. And garlic. This was all bulbs, no instant gratification.

So brief. Throw in work, and you have the first half of October in a nutshell.

Not the cat. Hernandez.

Felix pitched his last game as a Mariner last night. The “King’s Court,” sections of fans who chant, “K, K, K, K,” when there are two strikes on a batter, was 10,000 strong. Really. Probably half of the fans were in that area.

It was an emotional night.

Warming up in the bullpen. Fans were stacked 5 deep.

When he walked in from the bullpen before the game started.

When the Mariners took the field, Felix was the only player for at least a minute, while everyone cheered.

At the end of the 5th inning, when we were not sure if he would return in the 6th inning.

When he did leave the field after facing one batter in the 6th. And got a curtain call.

After the game ended, when he came back out to greet the fans in the King’s Court.

It’s only a ballgame. The Mariners aren’t going anywhere, again. But still you may see something special. 420 games over 15 years, all with one team. And look for the highlight of Dylan Moore saving a few runs with a spectacular catch, and the King’s reaction .

Felix

Yes, there is an ad first. If you scroll to the bottom you can find the catch highlight.

Carl’s team, the Silver Foxes, finally got to play their semifinal game. Schedules have been scrambled by rain. No rain today, but they got to play on a field with questionable lighting, in the evening, gloaming and just plain dark. At least two pop flys were lost when they flew above the lights. But the teams persevered, and the game sea-sawed back and forth. The Twins were leading the Foxes by 4 or 5 when one of our comeback players went down. He had a knee replacement before the season, but had been doing really well. Until he tripped rounding first and landed on said knee. I didn’t get close, but there was some blood and the medics were called to haul him to the hospital.

By the time that had transpired, the Foxes were down by 4 runs and the umpire declared the next inning would be the last. The lights would not only be too low, they would be out. Carl pitched three up and three down, so the Foxes were down to their last ups. They scored four runs in, game tied, 2 outs, and Carl up to bat with a man on second. And, they intentionally walked Carl! I suppose that shows respect, but … The next batter got to first, but then an out. Game tied 13-13.

So now we can only guess what happens next. Since the winner was scheduled to play in the finals on Sunday morning, the guess is these 2 teams will both show up to determine the winner, and that team will play in the final.

To balance the on field injury and a tie game, there was some fun. Three friends showed up to watch the game as did Audrey and Dean, with mom June. Audrey and Dean brought posters rooting on the Foxes and Audrey brought a story she wrote.

If only Audrey’s predicted score prevailed. And, it’s supposed to rain on Sunday

After Carl’s game on Sunday, they lost to the best team 3-4 in 10 innings, we decided that a long walk on Sunday would be a good idea. Then Sunday dawned dark and rainy. So we decided to walk at the ballpark, instead of to the ballpark.

We walked up ramps and down ramps and around the concourses. The first round took a long time. Initially we couldn’t even leave the bullpen area. Carl begged a cup of coffee from a bullpen coach while we watched a young call-up throw some pitches. After the rest of the park was open we escaped the bullpen, but kept stopping to talk with all of the seat hosts and others that Carl knows.

Finally we started adding steps. Well there was a stop at the team store sale where I scored a long-sleeved Mariner pullover. The walk was mostly under cover, but on the last run of the ramps we got to check the drizzle level.

Side view-barista

T-Mobile to CenturyLink (can you hear me?)

Coast Guard et al

Self loaders with huge cruise ship

Be Sure to Eat A Lot

North along Occidental

Selfie with Felix

Cargo loaders with suspiciously empty docks

10,000 steps or so later, we watched most of the game from our seats. We received a text from an unknown number with a picture of the two of us in our seats. This is not terribly unusual, but no plays had happened in our area. This was from a White Sox broadcast, sent by a friend of Carl’s. They were discussing beards.

There was a Sounders game going on next door, and the White Sox seemed determined to extend the game so both stadiums would empty at the same time. So we left after the Mariners tied the game and heard them walk off to victory from the car. Literally. A bases loaded walk.

One of our newest neighbors.

Carl had the privilege of caring for this little guy yesterday. He had a workout, feeding, changing and carrying.

The best part is, during this period, his parents both became US citizens.

This is more impressive as they are sleep-deprived new parents.

And this morning the sidewalks were filled with children and their umbrellas, heading for the school bus.

The neighborhood regenerates.