A Procession

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The rally bell in 311, 2008

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Me: Woke thinking again yesterday morning, but I had the sense to take a nap in the early afternoon. Hip wasn’t good at all. Today was “Indiana Jones,” and M&Ms. Fluff, but I loved it. G: Had a great day yesterday, and a better day today. Baseball: Park and riding worked well as did walking about very gently.

I woke at four thinking again. Rather than have a day filled with thinking, I dug in and finished two quilt blocks and took a nap before G got home from work. That worked well.

When we got to the ball park, I learned something new every ten minutes.

• I do not have to eat a whole sandwich. Half will do.



• One cookie is just fine, thank you.



• I can edit my story yet still tell the truth. They don’t want to hear all the details, they just want to know you are ok. “I’m fine. My hip is bad. The doctor said retire, so I did. I’ll be back as I have season tickets up in the 300’s.” I don’t have to accept the offers of any fancy seats either. That works.



• Principally: I went to see my friend FunB the Clown as well as Cee, my old supervisor. I thought that I might stop and see how May, who has my gate, likes it and feels about it. I had great visits with all three of them, and I’m so glad I did this.



• And too: I was blessed by seeing hundreds of friends who hugged me, hugged more, exclaimed about, on, through, and gee, they were all glad to see me in mostly all positive degrees of enthusiasms. Gee, repeatedly I was told that they signed a petition, they loved me, liked me, and missed me. Double takes were the norm. I was dressed in regular clothes, and my short tour to see two friends developed into an hour long processional, a circumnavigation of the park. I heard all the news, some of the gossip, and even more news while being enthusiastically welcomed. I was amazed, but I also thought, perhaps I only need to do this once.
  
  Yes, May too was glad to see me. I was so pleased she likes the job, likes the GSR’s, knows the dog’s names, and has bones for the dogs. Hurrah.



• Another thing I learned. Make a list before you go. You are a beginner at this ball park stuff. Next time I will. List: coat, fleece, binos, radio, munchies, blanket until you get this down pat. Pack layers just like if you were at work. One layer kept me toasty warm, but next week I might freeze without the fleece blanket.



• Don’t talk so much. I had no idea what they were doing out there on the field, and the lady next to me had a small walkman turned into the radio station. She knew everything. I now own a walkman.



• It’s all magic out there in it’s own way. There’s team rivalry, there’s ying and yang, the back and forth of luck and knowledge, there’s fun, but at the very end last night magic turned out to be expertise.
  
  With the score 2 to 1, out from the far side of the field Trevor Hoffman jogged alone across the green of the grass accompanied by the thunder of “Hells Bells.” As the volume rose, cheers filled the ballpark. He hasn’t had the best of years, but you would never know this from the sounds that echoed from every corner.
  
  There were a few balls thrown, light speed it seemed to me, then the first player walked up to bat. He hit a little ground ball to second base and was thrown out at first. Two pitches. The second batter did the same thing. The third batter hit ball that died between the pitchers mound and first base. Hoffman ran out, caught the ball, and gently tossed it to first base for the out.
  
  It was like leading one lamb at a time to the lion.
  
  One, two, three…….magic indeed. The night was filled with cheering.