Cardinal Fever

Today I was passing through Lambert International Airport in St. Louis when I came upon this balloon archway supporting the St. Louis Cardinals efforts in the World Series. It is such a fun tribute to the Cardinals, and I found myself wondering if that is the concourse the team will be coming through when they come back from Texas.

I flew down to Charleston today for a visit to Folly Beach, and I went to a bar/grill for supper and to catch part of the game. Some guys in the bar, of course getting louder the more they drank, began to first make fun of this series because, after all, who cares about the Cardinals or the Rangers. I could ignore that, and their terrible attempts to sing along with the music in the bar, until they started the name calling. When Albert came up to bat, one of them shouted that Albert was just a fat, stupid fag. At that point I decided to leave and finish watching the game in my townhouse. It is hard to believe how ignorant people can be.

Once Around the Block

We had a block party yesterday, and 181 men, women and children were there! Wow! I'd like to take credit for the idea as a neighbor and I had tossed around the notion of shutting down Maple Avenue for a party. But two women over on Portland Terrace beat us to the punch and organized the whole thing. They included multiple blocks and went so far as to set up a directory of everyone who responded so that we know who lives where. They ordered up a large inflatable jump pumpkin for the bigger kids and someone provide a small inflatable castle for the little ones. Porters chicken and tea, lemonade and water was provided (we all chipped in $5 per adult and $3 per child to cover that and other miscellaneous expenses). Even numbered houses brought appetizers or side dishes, and odd numbered houses provided the desserts.

I walked over at 2:30 to help set up the tables and chairs and then headed back home to get Jim, the dessert and two chairs. Jim had just returned from an overnight motorcycle trip, so I had to wait for him to shower and change. Then we headed over to the party, which was in full swing by then. It was great to meet so many new people (new to me if not to the neighborhood), especially the lady across the street who has been using my book to research the history of their home. I know her husband quite well, but she is extremely shy so I have only waved to her in passing. I also met another man who recently wrote a book about why we climb mountains; a bit of psychology thrown in as I understand it. We are going to get together and chat.

The party broke up just after 7 so we were able to get home in time to watch the Cardinals. Unfortunately it was already 4-0 so we missed whatever the Cards did big in the first inning. It was an exciting game to watch nonetheless. Go Cards!

From Rally Towel to Crying Towel

 Jim and I attended the playoff game last night at Busch Stadium. I didn't think I would even get to go to one of these games because of the structure of our tickets. There are four seats which are owned by three different groups in order to split up the numerous games throughout the season. In addition the one-third that is owned by SWT is split half with an architecture firm. It is all good and fine until the Cardinals get into post-season play. Then everyone wants the tickets. As it ended up, SWT had two of the tickets for last night and Jim's partner was out of town. So I got to go!

We went downtown early so that we could get a parking spot. Our normal lot usually charges $10 to park but for the playoffs the price was $25. Yikes! We walked to a bar near the stadium and had a hamburger before going into the stadium. We were too late to see the Cardinals warming up, but got to see the Brewers doing their thing. When the guy next to me sat down, he easily took up 1/4 of my seat as well. Not even kidding here. Plus he had some medical condition that made him sound like a cat trying to hock up a hairball, followed by persistent coughing. All through the game. I never thought I would be happy to have the gals behind us get progressively louder the more they drank, but that at least helped defer the sound of the throat warbling going on next to me.

Besides that, it was fun to see the Clydesdales once again parading around the infield, and their wagon filled with baseballs instead of beer kegs. And the military acapella group performing the National Anthem (with all the correct words!) was truly beautiful. The Cardinals were even beautiful for the first couple of innings. Then it was like a different team had taken the field. What a disappointing outcome. We did not want to be the ones who brought home a loser! On the other hand, it was a fantastic night to be outside with my hubby, so the night wasn't a total loss.