A visit to the ballpark

As I type this on Tuesday morning, the dogs are howling. There must be a siren somewhere in the neighborhood, though I can't hear it. It's a beautiful morning, and it's going to be a beautiful day--near 80 degrees. Snow flurries by the weekend, they're saying. April and May have switched around, just like October and November did last fall.

Last night two of my sisters and I went to a baseball game. It was our first time at Target Field, the open-air stadium for the Minnesota Twins that opened this spring. No more Metrodome! No more roof! No more constant 72 degrees. It was about 50 and spitting rain when we got there, but it never got unpleasant. I had stashed a polarfleece vest, gloves, and a hat in my bag and didn't need 'em. I did, however, need my umbrella for most of the second inning.

It was a great time. The concourses are way, way too narrow--I got stuck in a dense pack of humanity on my way into the stadium, and it was so tight and so deep and so unmoving that a woman next to me started having a panic attack. I could hear her husband saying, "Breathe.... just take a deep breath..." and the little girl next to me couldn't get the spoon out of her plastic ballcap full of ice cream because she couldn't move her arm. It was awful.

But once I extricated myself from the scrum and made it up the escalator and to my seat behind home plate, it was spectacular.



We saw all kinds of things. We saw a Michael Cuddyer home run, and watched the outfield display light up and Minne and Paul (I think those are the names of the ballplayers on the sign) shake hands.




We saw a guy dressed up like a rabbit. (Look directly up from the "d" in Budweiser, and credit my sister Heidi for spotting him.)

We saw the sky darken, and the lights go up in downtown Minneapolis.

And we saw lots of smiles, because the Twins beat the Tigers 10-4.

Today's nature note: Lilacs at their peak. My baptisia is about two feet tall and forming buds. New grass around Riley's tree is bravely poking through the dirt, willing to give it another go this year.