Finally Friday - new home, new season, new friends

Chris and Krystal just signed on to their first new home - very exciting for them.  The place is lovely and they have years to enjoy, decorate, and create memories. 

Opening Day tailgate - Ray style.  We actually bought sandwiches from Jersey Mike's and enjoyed our lunch in this parking  lot.  Arrived at the ballpark at 2 pm, didn't leave until victory in the 10th inning at 10 pm.  Whew!  Long  day

NO we did not eat this Triple Play Boomstick - that's a lot of calories right there and it's expensive too.

Extra fun being the World Series Champions 2023

And these mermaids are out of the water and eating at Ole Enchiladas.  Yes, this is my water aerobics crew - Debbie, Elayne, and Claudia.  I'm on the front right.  Fun times and we could talk without treading water. 

Happy Weekend everyone!
 

Whatever Wednesday - Almost Baseball

Yep

I don't think we can afford tickets anymore

 Remember the 2023 World Series Champions - Texas Rangers

Now back  to square one.   What have you done for me lately?   Ha!

Buy me some peanuts and crackerjack....(also can't afford)

Spring fever Wednesday

Monday Moments - boys of summer are back

Opening  Day for Texas Rangers baseball was Monday 4-11-2022 and we were there bright  and early for batting practice. 

A happy Ray had worked hard since  February to get his knee rehabbed enough to make it to Opening Day.  We did take advantage of closer parking  and the ADA shuttle. That service helped a lot!

I received a 20 game package from Omega for my retirement gift.  Sweet seats.  This big screen isn't even the BIG BIG screen.

First day is always fun and full of energy.  The new ballpark is very functional. It lacks the character  of the old one. I read a description, "It feels a bit like walking in a shopping mall."   Alas, that's true. 

 But it does have a roof that closes.  Opening Day temps were wonderful and it was nice  to see blue skies.  But by July, when it's a steamy 100....oh that closed roof and air-conditioning will be wonderful.

Play Ball!

P.S. New glossy ballpark does not necessarily guarantee a winning  team. It  took them four hours  to lose.  (We were long gone home - I believe in the 7th inning  stretch and leave.  Ray's knee was done too)

Wednesday Whatever - Baseball is Back?

Take me out to the ballgame....

Sorry, the brand new stadium is closed to the public

Take me out to the crowds

Nope - ew.....germs

Buy me some peanuts and crackerjack   (or hotdogs and nachos and beer, please)

Yogi Berra, always good with a bon mot on baseball:
You can observe a lot by watchin'
Ninety percent of the game is half mental
Slump? I ain't in no slump, I just ain't hitting

Casey Stengel - They didn't give him a cake. They were afraid he'd drop it. 

2020 - weirdest summer on record.  The boys of summer are back playing to fake crowd noise, cardboard cutouts of fans, etc.  But it's a sport. It's on TV and Ray's watching his Rangers. Somehow there's always hope of World Series glory.

Meanwhile, the pictures show past glory days of season openers and playoff attendance. Notice the smiles - hey, it's baseball. 

Frivolous Friday - Field of Dreams

 Brand new ballpark in Arlington - Globe Life Field - stands empty awaiting fans, baseball, boys of summer.
Here's one boy - Ray - who joined me on a tour of the new ballpark. The facility just opened to tours and we took one on Monday. Masks, social distance, small groups, didn't touch a thing - it worked out great and was a fun safe outing.

 The place seems huge without the throng of fans. Here is a lovely brick corridor and food stands ready to sell hotdogs, beer, and other decadent junk food treats.

 The glory of it all and the reason for the "new" stadium - a roof!!!  A retractable roof. Oh, this and air-conditioning will help immensely on those 100 degree days. Summer Ranger baseball can bring you to your knees - and they are sweaty.

 I wore my Elvis Andres #3 Ranger shirt. Blending in with a nifty graphic

An upper level view of a pretty field - ready for "Play Ball" to echo forth.

Meanwhile, everyone stay safe and cool this weekend.

Wordless Wednesday (Almost)

 Ray on the final day of baseball at Globe Life Park

 Nice farewell ceremonies

 Sunday game time 2:05 pm and temp of 94 degrees or so.   Damn freakin' hot for us in the upper upper deck (2 rows from shade). Whew!  It's not supposed to be that hot at the end of September

 So while some folks lament the loss of a lovely 25 year old ball park, I'm excited. See that metal work in the distance. Amen and Hallelujah - new Globe Life Field will have a retractable roof and air conditioning.

Oh and we got free T-shirts.  This is me with Esperanza. Her husband had our free tickets.
Very nice!

Free still equals over $50 -   parking, food, one beer, one soda, water, and yes, more water.

Fun day farewell. (and the Texas Rangers beat the dreaded Yankees. But we kinda stink and are not in the playoffs)

My Boy of Summer

glorious Sunday afternoon at the ballpark
blue skies, slight breeze
free t-shirt giveaway
does it get better?

why, yes it does
quick game under three hours
coca-colas never tasted so good
dot race on the Jumbotron

root for the home team
crack of the bat
leaps in the air
a win

(double win - it was not 100 degrees - Hoorah!)

R: Ray, Rangers, Respect, Reality, and Radium

#atozchallenge: R: September 1, 1989 I said, "I do" to Ray Faries. What a wild ride since then - all for the good. He's respectable, raucous, a raconteur, has a rapier wit, is responsible, totally steeped in reality, and as far as I know there are no rumors circulating about him. He totally puts up with me - so there you have it. This R post is dedicated to Ray.

We love to vacation - that's what clinched it for me. Before we even knew each other very well, we traveled to Hawaii and had the best time ever. Bingo - we like super casual, we pack minimalist, and he laughs at my crap. Nowadays, he edits with abandon and supports my writing. That's a rainbow, as far as I'm concerned.

He loves our Texas Rangers, and it's more fun now that they have been winning. No, not the World Series, yet, but we've been SO close. Ray's a sportsman - scuba, hunting, baseball, football, hockey - you name it, he loves it. On paper, we are polar opposites. Nonetheless it works - he's my reality show. Rah!!!

Ray picked our poison - radium. He contemplated rattlesnake, but decided that wasn't exciting enough. (However, I think rattlesnakes are scary. I went to his deer lease one time last August. Hotter than hell but I put on my winter boots (no, not snake boots, I'm talking my winter SNOW boots) to avoid a rattlesnake bite. Great fashion statement with shorts. But hey, did not get bit. ) Back to radium - face it, it killed Madame Marie Curie who discovered the darn element. Nausea, etc - radium is deadly, lethal, and will kill you.

F: F*&K, First Base, and Foxglove

F: F*#k. I'm not necessarily a huge fan of unnecessary profanity. However, I think this book is brilliant. I read it in the book store, then asked for my own copy for Christmas. I love it. Just funny as hell. Lovely illustrations. So, for regular fiction, my personal opinion is that the f-word should be used judiciously, not sprayed about on every page. But it serves a purpose, and when used at the right time, I understand the scene, the character's emotions, etc. It should be its own exclamation mark and when read, the reader says, "Okay, this is some serious sh*t right here.


On the other hand, I loved The Sopranos on HBO - I loved every f-ing word spoken, however casual or extreme. It was a barrage of potty mouth and it worked for me.

First base - oh wait, were you expecting a romance move of some sort? Nope - Good Friday this year is the Texas Rangers home opener. I'm talking baseball, peanuts, fried something, and beer. Maybe this is the year for the World Series WIN. It's our field of dreams.........


Aaah - deadly dose today a la the Medicis of Italy - Foxglove was a favorite. All parts of this plant, cultivated in gardens, is poisonous. Flowers are purple and bloom midsummer. The leaves, etc. do not lose their toxicity in cooking. Reaction time is twenty to thirty minutes and the heart just goes berserk.

Louder

Game 5 2011 World Series. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington Texas. Rangers versus Cardinals. Series tied 2-2. This is a huge game, the final one in Arlington. The stadium is a sea of red. The crowd is loud. Palpable energy. To be good, you've gotta have a lot of little boy in you. Roy Campanella.

Good pitching will always stop good hitting and vice-versa. Casey Stengel. St. Louis was up 2-0 and the crowd noise diminished. Then Ranger bats heated up, silly mistakes were corrected, pitching held it together. Talk about ratcheting tension. The plot thickened and Rangers leaped ahead 4 - 2.

Most ball games are lost, not won - Casey Stengel. Have to say, the Rangers held it together, and the Cards made some dubious moves.

Everyone on their feet. Towels waving, hands clapping, cheers and groans. World Series baseball is a whole 'nother beast.

It's the Year of the Napoli. Mike Napoli, Ranger catcher, has done everything right. Big loud home runs, zooming pick-off throws. The stadium's collective chant Napoli, Napoli, Napoli sums it up. The man behind me wore a t-shirt, ...and they lived Napoli ever after ... Let's hope that's true for the Texas Rangers as they head to St.Louis for Game 6 on Wednesday. Up 3 -2 in a best of 7 series. Drama, tension, and characters. Baseball literature is alive.

ALCS: Rangers vs. Tigers

My writing career could be further ahead if I spent time writing instead of watching Texas Ranger baseball. But I'm hooked after last year, and they keep winning. It's stressful, heart attack producing baseball.

They conquered Tampa Bay in the ALDS. Now they face the Detroit Tigers in the ALCS. We attended game one on my birthday. Aaahh - fair weather fans. We enjoyed tailgating in sunshine and blue skies. In the 5th inning we lived through one rain delay, and then left during the second. Came home to watch victory (well, Ray did. I sorta snoozed) at midnight.

It started out glorious. A sea of fans in red. Huge flag on the field. Soaring rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. Then the boys of summer playing in the fall. It's a cast of unique characters, tension filled moments, uneven pacing (hey, it's the Rangers), and the plot can change direction.

Re-live awesome moments and look forward to new heart palpitations.

Rangers as of Monday evening, October 10th, head to Detroit, up two games in a best of seven series. The saga continues in the Motor City - a backdrop of decay, and the largest beers I've ever seen. It could turn noir and gritty.

I'll be watching. Go Rangers!!

Spring Surprises & Filler Until the Next Post

All gardening is landscape painting - Alexander Pope Life, like art, should be the celebration of a vision - Michael Larsen This has been a weekend of projects. With eighty degree weather, it's time to fertilize, trim, rake, and shape the bounty that is our yard. We have plenty of work to do. Thus I'm featuring pictures from the Dallas Arboretum - their hard work is constant year round and it shows. I'll rest on their laurels for this post.

Last weekend, we attended Ranger spring training in Surprise, AZ. I liked this sign outside the stadium.

In between workouts, players are mobbed by fans. Here, pitcher Colby Lewis was nice enough to stop and scrawl his autograph. It has to be a strange life. Everything the players do is scrutinized.

Fame is a bee

It has a song -

It has a sting -

Ah, too, it has a wing

Emily Dickinson

Spring in Surprise

Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball - Jacques Barzon. Surprise, AZ - home of the Texas Rangers baseball team spring training camp. They are part of the Cactus League and the 2010 American League champions. Thus, they are drawing huge crowds to pre-season. (10,000 people were in the stands on Saturday 3/19/11).The boys of summer are working on their craft and, from what I observed, doing a lot of fart around. Sports writing heaven - sunshine, blue sky, and sunflower seeds to spit.

You can observe a lot by watchin' - Yogi Berra. Sunday 3/20/11 - seats in the kill zone (i.e. bats can fly), but man you can hear, see, and experience the sheer joy of timeless baseball from these seats. Batter chatter.

Most ball games are lost, not won - Casey Stengel.
Yeah, but until the first pitch of 2011, the Texas Rangers are the American League champions. We reveled in the glory in Surprise, AZ.

Batting practice. Up close and personal with Ian Kinsler. Of course there's a reason why they keep the fans behind fencing. It's a weird career - baseball. Folks think they know how to play. We've all swung a bat at one time or another in our grade school lives. Thus, we are entitled to opinions. We get to go to work with these fellows, watch them practice, analyze their every move, and then deliver a verdict. Winners or losers.

Spring in Surprise proved pleasant - an escape from reality. Baseball is timeless. First Ranger pitch - April 1st 2011. Goal - October and the World Series.

Play ball.