You Must Be This... Whatever... To Ride

It's surgery pretesting day. Took about 20 minutes. I hadn't looked at the ID tag though, so I'm a bit surprized by the hand-written-ness of it. The medical office I was in had lots of technology. You'd have thought they might have faked something to make it look official... I mean, next week someone's slicing into my breast like it's a potroast, and right now my only souvenier is a hand-written Tyvek bracelet. (Could everybody pray that baseline remains status quo? Cuz I'm actually kinda happy about my bracelet.)

Warm n Cozy

:-) *sigh* My sweet trio of snugglers! We have 2 other cats, and we love them too. Morgan and Mirth give their affection on their own terms. It makes it extra special when they choose to share it! But every single time I will choose the willingly, enthusiastically given affection. My beloved dog Cleopatra- seemingly, a professional snuggler- and Bert- the first cat to claim me as her own- and my amazing husband- a master snuggler in his own right: all, the unwitting subjects of this photo. I look at this scene, not the sub-par resolution, but the love I have that surrounds me, and I feel SOOOO very lucky. Course, when it's 90 degrees outside, I'm happier about a little distance from the furry ones of the family. It's the emotional warmth that's welcome constant year-round.

Fine Foliage

We went hiking in Hinckley Reservation today. This is "the" place buzzards (turkey vultures, genus and species Cathartes aura) famously return each March 15th. It's a lovely park with a variety of trails. The Buckeye Trail makes an appearance too. Man, this park has everything! A major migration, a lake, clear streams (we saw one, it was clear despite days of rain!), paved and unpaved trails... And this foliage. What a day. What I didn't find was flushable toilets and the accompanying sinks with running water and SOAP. So our hike was shortened by certain, shall we say, bioneeds. Sigh.

Do My Irises Deceive Me?

You might think I took this last May, and a while back, I would have too. We would both have been wrong. Taken just a few moments ago, yes, Rick and I have irises blooming in our front yard on October 21. Two shades of yellow. In abundance. Lovely!

Pumpkin Day

Pumpkin day at the farm! Every year Rick's Aunt Louise and Uncle Bill hit the produce auction and get LOADS of pumpkins. The whole extended family, sometimes friends too, descend upon the farm for a day of autumn fun. Today we carved pumpkins, ate lots of food, caught up on family news, told lots of stories, some took a hayride, we gazed at the stars, dogs (there were many!) gambolled, and of course, ate MORE! Then, coming home from the farm in Holmes County, we encountered returning Ohio State fans. So odd, that late on a Saturday night especially, to have such heavy traffic! At least they were happy: the Buckeyes remain undefeated. Sadly, our Indians go to game 7, having fallen with a resounding crash to tie the series with Boston. *sigh* One game of 2 for the day isn't bad, the Tribe has one last shot at the pennant, and WE sure had fun!

To Think That I Saw It On 9th Street

To Think That I Saw It On 9th St 3
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

Such a well-dressed pachyderm! Hopefully that thick skin won't be necessary at the end of the game... But it's also satisfying to see that certain things in the world don't change. Barnum and Bailey are still pandering in order to bring in the audience!!! Of course, this elephant is a member of the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus, still touted as the Greatest Show on Earth. I would dispute that claim, but I'm spoiled: I live in Cleveland, where we have an amazing array of nature parks in and around our county. Can't beat that. Come to think of it, can't tazer that, either... (*grin*)

Gametime T-Minus three hours and one minute. If the Indians win, they go to the World Series. If they lose, thy go to Boston to see if they can finish it up there, and they'll have 2 chances in which to do it. And that would make it nice and exciting, but frankly, I just hope we win it tonight.

If the Indians DO win it, regardless of when or where, there will be whining in Sports Illustrated next week about a certain SI cover featuring BoSox closer Papelbon jinxing their chances. But my response to that is for Boston to review last week's SI cover. The so-called jinx didn't keep the Colorado Rockies from sweeping the D'Backs, providing their first appearance (I think, though I've been wrong before) in the World Series. Featured on last week's Sports Illustrated cover is Colorado "Ace" Jeff Francis. Note to Boston: it's a game, you poor little rich kids. Have some pie. We haven't forgotten it's a game, and it's FUN; that's what makes our team. But if you have, then you'll get your punishment, win or lose.

ALCS Game 4 Tribe v Boston

Every game of every playoff series becomes personal to every fan. My Mom is memorialized in Heritage Park in Jacobs Field, a place where the greats of the Indians organization are permanently ensconced in plaques, statues, and one memorial (see yesterday's post, "Boy of Summer Past, Present?"). Family dedications help us remember that this time spent at the ballpark is a family pastime shared. As sure as I am that my mom is in Heaven, watching and pulling whatever supernatural strings she can to help the Tribe, there are thousands of Boston fans believing their family members on The Other Side are doing the same. What my mom instilled in me is a love of the game and strong feelings about sportsmanlike conduct. I hope (against hope) that tonight's game will be played without "Manny sucks!" and "Boston sucks!" hollered, because clearly neither is true; also, both are abhorently vulgar and unneccesary. Last night's game was delightful because the crowd yelled favorable things boosting our players: "Ken-NY! Ken-NY!" and "Let's Go Joe!" I was absolutely tickled by the profound positiveness. There was no boo-ing (no real reason for it, either). THIS I can believe my mother would be behind! Go Mom!! Beat unsportsmanlike fans! Go Tribe!! Beat Boston!

What Time Is It?

It was worth missing Chuck and Heroes for some real life action on the diamond. I wish everyone could have been here. Just SO much fun.

Welcome Home Kenny

Kenny Lofton just returned to left field. The crowd around us is going berserk--berserk to a greater degree than usual--because he hit a 1st pitch 2-run home run last inning. Post season play ROCKS. Especially being here. This means *so much* to Cleveland. (The picture was taken before the game began. Things are too exciting to get a meaningful picture of anything near us or on the field.) (Late note: this post should actually be between "I SO Live For This!" and "Boy of Summer Past, Present?", but it somehow didn't get posted until Tuesday. Probably a battery power issue. Having forgotten to rejuice for the past 3 days, I watched with dismay the rapidly dwindling power icon as the evening progressed.)

Game Detail Replay

We're taking Sean home after the game now. So much to replay! I was thinking of a couple from Bradford, PA interviewed on WTAM as I drove to meet Rick and Sean. He (of the couple) was a Tribe fan, she was a Bosox fan. Both wore clothes to proclaim fealty. They had a sign to the effects of 'we're NOT talking!'. In the interview they admitted that yes, they were dating, and no, there's no future commitment, other than ONE of them will be talking on their long drive home. At the ticket gate, I happened upon this very charming woman, another Boston fan, with such a completely creative outfit! Wow. THAT is a fan with style. On closer inspection, as busy as the detail was, there was absolutely *nothing* chintzy or half-done about any of it. Just spectacular! In case you can't tell, the hat has an entire baseball diamond on it, complete with players, and the sides are covered with small batting helmets. Her jacket was hand-painted and embellished, celbrating the Bosox miraculous World Series win in '04. I'm hoping we get to have an explosion of creativity like that here. There's just so much to soak up about playoff season. It's a whole nother ball game!

Let's Go Joe!

...and he WENT! 3 straight outs without a hit or walk! Tribe WINS! Woo Hoo, Wahoo! That's the way to do it. Now let's do it again tomorrow. Hopefully with a lead great enough we won't need closer Joe Borowski... That's him, by the way, on the JumboTron, in the post-game interview. No rally pie today. We were never behind in the score.

I SO Live For This!

This is my beloved telling me I'm missing the game. I don't know what he's talking about. It's 4-2, Tribe, Youkilis just K'd for the first out. And since my thumb isn't fast enough: Manny's up due to Ortiz's fly to right. The count is 0 and 2 with Betancourt on the mound- make that 1 and 2. Whoo! Popped to Cabrera! WE GO TO THE 8TH!

Boy of Summer Past, Present?

Ray Chapman memorial. He was killed in 1920, midgame, when nailed by a linedrive. They found the memorial when they tore down the old Muny Stadium some years back, but only just gave it a permanent place this summer with the dedication of Heritage Park. There's a delightful rumor that he's been behind a lot of the um... well, remarkable things that have happened around here. (HEY! Trot Nixon's starting. See? Someone grew a brain: start an exSox vs the Sox. Remarkable.) So he's been getting a bit more coverage than usual, even pilgrimages to his grave in Lakeview Cemetary. And so begins an interesting homestand. Go Tribe! It's Tribe Time Now! (And Michigan still sucks, but that's another post!) By the way, I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels the spirit of Ray Chapman is welcome in Jacobs Field.

Boys of Autumn

At the Jake, watching the Tribe likely lose Game 1 of the ALCS v Boston. They're at Boston, we're here. It's a watch party, with the game broadcast on the Jumbotron. NICE. Also, the only way we'll get to see it, as we don't have cable. Seems I missed a crucial detail: IT'S FREE! Plus they keep lobbing free stuff at us between ups! Rick just got a t-shirt.