Looking Back

CAMP CATCH UP: We've been so darn busy, I neglected to get around to documenting Annabelle's last two days at Camp Seymour, in Gig Harbor.

Here's Annabelle's account of what happened her second day of camp. ...

During the second day of my stay at YMCA Camp Seymour, the classes we took were much more low-key than the high intensity activites on Monday. The first class we had was "Sustainable Systems", which mainly focused on how the camp filters and reuses up to 14,000 gallons of its used wastewater a week and how others can use taht as an example to do the same. There was a small activity involving building our own miniature water filters with supplies such as mesh, rocks, burlap, and moss to attempt to clean a cup of dirty water as much as possible.

The second class of the day was Ornithology, the study of birds. The first half of this course was focused on identifying taxidermied birds by their markings, beak and feet shapes, and other notable features explained in a field guide. The other part was mostly just us following our instructor around the camp and listening for nearby birds, which there happened to be a lot of in the forest.

The class after lunch, Beach Ecology, was very much freeform. We as a class were allowed to wander the (thankfully low-tide) mudflats and identify as many animals as we could. My group ended up identifying 5 species: the Eccentric Sand Dollar, Yellow Shore Crabs, and Acorn Barnacles among others.

The final true "class" that day was Orienteering, a rather simple class that taught us how to use a compass by directing us through a small maze/course of trees that each held a section of a particular quote (depending on the route you took). While I did often have a bit of trouble calculating paces, me and my partner finally managed to get at least 3 full courses under our belts.

The last day of camp, Annabelle and her campmates spent an hour or so at a little theater/chapel in the woods. But since she was there for the whole thing and I was only there for part of the last day, I'll have her tell you about it. ...

My final day at YMCA Camp Seymour was much shorter and less exciting than the first two. My school group had to get up very early in the morning and head down to the dining hall so we could help set up tables while on "Kitchen Patrol". Being on Kitchen Patrol meant we also had to stay late and sweep away the mess afterward, which segwayed into our first "activity" of the day: cleaning our cabins and preparing to go. This took the better part of the morning, but we still had time for our last activity at camp.

The final thing we did before eating lunch and leaving was hike out to the "Chapel in the Outback", a small space in the forest that was ideal for presenting and talking to a group. Our chaperones performed a small ceremony where we wrote things we wanted to let go of on special sheets of flying wish paper, which we lit on fire and watched lift into the sky. We then selected rocks that each had a value we'd like to hold on to written on them and shared with each other what we thought each one meant. We were given special memento charms with our names and the value we chose written on them as the ceremony ended, along with our time at camp.

   

MEMORABLE: On Memorial Day, we four headed to T-Mobile Park for a Mariners' game. 

We haven't been going to baseball games as often this year for a number of reasons. One: We've been super busy. Two: The Mariners are super terrible.

But Monday was a sunny day, and there was a super special on tickets (only $10 apiece), so we decided to give it a go.  And we're so glad we did! 

As I mentioned, it was a beautiful day, and the ballpark is a lovely place to be on such an evening.

The attendance was so abysmal, that parking was a breeze, and rather than sit in our $10 bleacher seats, we decided to sit at the bar in the Hit it Here Cafe. That spot affords an excellent view of the field, and some decent eats, as well (not to mention seat service).

We stayed most of the game there, but one the sun started heading down, we decided to venture down to the lower deck for the last third of the game.

We walked the concourse and wound up behind home plate.  We stood there for awhile, and in the bottom of 7, decided to actually sit down there and see how long it took before we were approached by an usher to shoo us away.

It took 30 seconds for an usher to show up. Fortunately, he did not shoo us away. He asked if we had tickets for those seats. I said, "Nope. Not at all!" and immediately stood up to vacate. He then invited us to stay for awhile, "But only two innings," he said with a wink. (That, in effect, was through the bottom of the ninth.)

And so we stayed. 

While in those seats, we got to see Mariners slugger Daniel Vogelbach hit a towering home run. 
Here he is approaching the plate right before that feat.

It was so big, it landed in the upper deck. That's only the third time that's happened in our ball park's history, and it's the first time a Mariners' player has hit one up there.

Shortly after, Ms' rookie Mallex Smith was walked. A speedster, Smith stole second in short order. And then he stole third! At that point I leaned over to Christian and said, "I think he's going to steal home!!!" I could see the Rangers' infielders struggling, and just *felt* it was at least going to be attempted.

Keep in mind, while Ty Cobb stole home 54 times, stealing home in contemporary baseball is a 'dead art.'  

Despite that ... that's exactly what happened! Mallex Smith stole for the cycle (second, third and home) on Monday. I've been to so many major league baseball games, and that's the first time I've seen anyone steal home in person!

This webpage lets you see both Vogelbach's homer and Smith's steals.
https://sports.mynorthwest.com/649107/watch-mariners-vogelbach-3rd-deck-mallex-steals-home/