Of Parks and Barks

BACK AT THE BALLPARK: We missed baseball so much during the no-fans pandemic season of last year, we're going early and often to games this year. 

Game number two was on a chilly Wednesday afternoon a couple of days back. It was under 40 degrees, so we bundled up to a point it felt more like we were going to a football game in December.

Before the game, we checked out the new boardwalk section on the southwest corner of the 300 level.

There are built in binoculars offering views of the city and the sound. 

There are spaces to sit and stand around, but many of them are sporting 'closed' signs at the moment, as people are supposed to socially distance and only eat and drink in their seats under COVID-driven protocols.

There are some fun, over-sized postcard murals on the wall that make great photo opps.

The game itself was kind of a weird one. We got to see the Mariners' starting pitcher, Justin Dunn, walk EIGHT batters in 4 2/3 innings. Ugh. The good news is, he only gave up one hit. The bad news is, the other team (the White Sox) wasn't hitting because there weren't strikes to swing at.

The Ms dug themselves a hole, but rallied in the sixth inning, batting around in the order and scoring 7 runs along the way. Fortunately, that was enough to earn a win that afternoon.

FURRY VISITOR: Thursday morning, our plans didn't go as scheduled thanks to a surprise guest. 

This is Cassie. She is a good girl. She was having a big adventure today when she ran away from home. Bold move for an almost-blind dog.

I first saw her out my bedroom window. I yelled at the kids that there was a stray in our yard and grabbed a leash.

We went out to find her, but she was already out of sight. However,

Annabelle Kisky

has ears much better than mine and she said she heard a jangle. We ran to the south and saw her. She barked aggressively at us - but also came toward us. We said hello and petted her and followed her around for a bit. She's aged and arthritic, but was on a mission, walking swiftly. We managed to get our little 10-pound leash on an 80-pound dog. She didn't resist, and seemed happy for friendly company.

We corralled her into our basement, gave her water and treats and worked the phone numbers on her multiple tags while she had a sit. None of those numbers worked, but one dog tag had her last name on it. I ran upstairs to grab our neighborhood watch master list and found a matching last name.

We spend several comical moments trying to wrangle big ol', dear old Cassie into our tiny Honda Fit. First attempt she posted up in the driver's seat and would not budge! Second attempt, Annabelle had to hoist Cassie's sizable hindquarters up into the car as she couldn't manage on her arthritic own.

We drove to where we hoped her home to be. As we approached, two elderly women were standing in the road in front of their house. Honestly, they looked like they were in shock. One of them spied Cassie in our car and a sense of relief set in. Then they told us that Cassie had escaped while they were loading their other elderly, infirm dog into the car to take her to the vet to cross the Rainbow Bridge. My gosh. They thought they had lost both furry friends on the same day.

We were so happy Cassie happened into our yard. She is such a sweetie.

Tearing it Up

FLOORED: We continue our never-ending kitchen remodel. Lately, our attention has been on replacing the (horrible, terrible, awful) old flooring. The ugly vinyl was glued down to the substrate like it would be there forever, so we had to take the substrate out, as well.

In the photo below you can see how part of the floor is down to the original 1962 framing.

Once the subfloor was all out, it was time to glue and screw new 3/4-inch plywood down.

Honestly, the floor looks better with just good ol' plywood than it did with the vinyl. 

Then, we did a dry fit of the new tile. Believe me, I realize the irony that most people would find this flooring unappealing. But that's OK. The next owners can tear it out and question our poor taste. ;)

We put the glue down for the new stuff at about 11:30 a.m. It took four hours to cure to a point we could start sticking the new tiles down.

The new look is big fun. :)

UP TO SNUFF: On Saturday, Annabelle took a math placement test to determine if she's up to snuff for college math classes. We're happy to report she placed well above math 101 level, so she's good to go in that respect for Running Start. (She'd already been qualified for college-level English.)

Next step for her is meeting with a counselor to plan classes to take this fall. Exciting times!

Meanwhile, CJ started his final quarter at South Seattle this morning. He's taking a Northwest history class, a nutrition class, and a world film class. We're all looking forward to learning more about those subjects. This morning, when he was putting in his application for graduation, CJ checked his transcript and saw that he was 4.0 last quarter (English, film studies and crazy math), and is on the President's list again. Way to go, CeeJ!

SIGNS OF LIFE: Things are sprouting 'round here at MPA. I love this poppy that appeared from a crack in the concrete near our front door. (When the kids and I cleaned up the garden last fall, we shook the poppies really hard, hoping seeds would sprout this spring.)

Our sunflowers are impressing already. They emerged just a couple of days after planting them.

And look at how much bigger they are just two days later!

Meanwhile, our first tomato plant has made an appearance.

A couple hours later, it was joined by a couple more. Hooray!

MORE MEMORIES: A couple of other mementos from our first visit to the ballpark in over a year.  This view was the bottom of the ninth inning.

And here's a little video taken right before the 2021 season started.

The Old Ballgame

HOME AGAIN: On Friday night, we took a long-awaited field trip to T-Mobile Park to root, root, root for the home team, the Seattle Mariners.

In a normal year, we probably go to a dozen or two baseball games. Last year was anything but normal. We went to exactly zero games, as fans were banned from the stands due to the ongoing global pandemic.

Fast forward to 2021. COVID isn't gone, but about 30 percent of Washingtonians are vaccinated, and we are learning to live with COVID safety protocols. So the ballpark is back open, with limited seating (9,000 per game instead of packed-to-the rafters with 40,000 or so), and social distancing. 

Because attendance was so low, we were able to park for free on the street, just a couple of blocks from the stadium. On our walk to the park, we passed a couple of new, huge murals. This one of Edgar towered about 20 feet tall.

 

The artist was still working on one, a portrait of arguably the Seattle Sonics' number one fan, Kris Brannon. Unfortunately, he died earlier this year, and never got to see his team return to Seattle. 

We made our way through the gates - with a little drama, given their new system. I'll spare you the blow-by-blow details about me arguing over taking in an empty water bottle, which was stated as allowed on the Mariners' website. I was told to throw it away by three escalating levels of people. The fourth guy (armed) finally cleared me. I wasn't going to let it go, because I knew I was right, and they were being ridiculous. 

Anyway, inside the part, we found many a hand sanitizer station. There are over 300 of them, apparently. 

We stood behind home plate for a few moments, admiring the green, green grass of home. 

We made our way around the main concourse. We had to stop by and say 'hi' to the longtime voice of the Mariners, Dave Niehaus. It has now been ten seasons without his voice filling the airwaves. He is missed. 

Down in the 'Bullpen' area of the stadium, there were some new attractions. The one below is apparently something that lets you turn yourself into a bobblehead, but it was closed because of COVID.

This graffiti-like mural features one of Dave Niehaus' most famous lines.

We stopped by the Moose's Den, but nobody was home. 

The kids' play park was closed, another COVID casualty.

We eventually made our way to our 300-level seats. I appreciated the BLM sign across the field from us.

Not long after we sat down, a fire erupted a few blocks away. I suspected it was a homeless camp, because they line the freeway in this part of town. Turns out my suspicion was correct. The fire snarled traffic for hours, apparently. There were no injuries, fortunately.

The field was absolutely beautiful! Oh, how we've missed this view!

The Mariners lost, of course. We had the 'pleasure' of watching a 30-year-old middle reliever's ERA go from 0.00 to 40.5 in one inning. That said, it was great to be back, and we can't wait to go back.

TODAY WE LEARNED: Thanks to a Facebook post by "Goodwill Librarian" we learned an interesting factoid today.

I did not know that. Now the question is, why did I not know that? Why have I, for five-plus decades, never wondered why they're called upper case and lower case? I think maybe it is because I wasn't taking it so literally. I thought of a 'case' as an example or type (no pun intended), and upper were the bigger ones and lower were the smaller ones.