Bye, Bye Birdies

People have asked me what I will miss most about STL when we have moved away? The short list would have to include (1) seeing the Arch, which is just a remarkable sight from almost any angle; and (2) going to see the Cardinals play. Now, I'm still a Braves fan, but I've enjoyed the excitement of a game day with even the staunchest Red Birds fan.

As this is our last weekend together in STL, Mr. T and I decided to take time out from the packing and moving activities for one last trip to Busch Stadium III on Saturday. It was a beautiful afternoon...clear and sunny, albeit windy and a bit chilly for a baseball game...57 degrees for the first pitch at 3:10 p.m. I guess you have to expect changeable weather in April...and at least it wasn't snowing like it was for Opening Day on Tuesday! It's called being thankful for small mercies, I think.

We had great seats in the Upper Infield Terrace, right over Home Plate...way up there, over Home Plate...right over the big B in Budweiser, if you've ever noticed it at Busch...:) We like to sit up high so we get a good view.

I took my knitting with me, for my own personal Stitch 'n Pitch Day (as I won't be here for the "real" event), but it was just too cold for me. I wore my gloves almost the whole nine innings!

With the Cardinals ahead of the Astros 1-0 in the 5th, the crowd was feeling good enough to start The Wave...probably an attempt to stay warm, but still fun.


Then, with the bases loaded, Pujols stepped up to the plate. I had just enough time to get my camera out of my purse before he swung and connected for a Grand Slam! And, to make it even sweeter, the ball bounced off the McDonald's "Big Mac Land" section (see the photo, left, for the replay on the Jumbo-tron), earning every one of us 43,000-plus spectators a Big Mac on Sunday.

You would think he'd done a day's work, but you'd be wrong. In the 7th, Pujols knocked another homer to the left-field corner bringing in the two men on base. Wow! What a remarkable player. Even Tony LaRussa seemed in awe...struggling for the right words in the press conference.

My dear, darling Daddy, whose birthday was April 11 and who left us 19 years ago today, would have loved a game like that.

OK, so we're powering down and packing up, meaning I'll be off-line for a few days. Our closing is still scheduled for May 7th, and we are feeling pretty good that it will happen as planned. Our buyer even stopped by to meet us this evening...more on that with my next post.

Stay tuned for updates...

Go Cards!

Tonight will be our first Cardinal game of the 2008 season...live one, that is. We bought a ticket package and are excited to see where our nose-bleed seats are this year. We like what are called Infield Terrace seats, which are high-up over home plate on the third base side. We get a great view of the Arch from there! Tonight's opponents..."arch-rival" (no pun intended...:) Chicago Cubs.

Speaking of the Cubs...that made me remember a chuckle I had while at the Grand Canyon recently. I was sitting on a rock ledge on Mather Point overlook (photo, left), enjoying the wonder of it all and trying to stay warm, when a group of tourists approached me to ask if I'd take their picture. Of course, I'm always eager to help out my fellow travellers and asked if their camera was a simple "point & shoot?" When I raised the viewfinder to my eye, I realized that I was looking at 4 "Chicago Cubs" tee shirts and caps! Hmmm. I said: "I sure hope I don't mess this shot up or anything. You might want to know, I live in St. Louis." They looked like they wanted to take their camera back, immediately. I told them not to worry...just move back a little...back, back...that's it, just a little more...oh, you better watch that next step behind you there! Just kidding!!

I was looking at my AZ photos again this week, and I really loved all the colors that showed up in the Canyon pictures I took on Sunday afternoon, April 6. The pictures taken in the late afternoon are so different than the ones I took at sunrise the next day. Amazing!

Hopefully, the weather will cooperate for our baseball outting. It was raining...storming actually...earlier this morning, which prevented me from going to the STL Symphony's Coffee Concert. I truly hated to miss it...as this is one of my favorite treats "to myself, from myself"...but I didn't particularly want to walk the 3-4 blocks from the parking lot to the Symphony Hall in a down-pour. [Nothing like having done your hair and put on some nice shoes & duds (replacing the usual sneakers, jeans and turtleneck/tee), only to have everything ruined by rainwater! And, then to have to sit for a couple of hours in the wet clothing. Um, no thanks.] Oh well...I shouldn't complain too much...lots of folks today are dealing with much worse consequences of the bad weather throughout the Midwest. I just have to worry about whether I should wear a jacket to the game or not...

Goodbye to the Red Scarf and the Red Birds

Time to send the Red Scarf on its way, as the scarves are due at HQ by October 15th this year! I knitted up some Berroco's Comfort in "Wild Cherry" in a 2x2 rib pattern (photo, right) and attached a label, using these neat wash tags created and shared by The Crazy Cat Lady Mel. I hope that whoever receives this scarf will wear it in good health, knowing that someone "out there" cares. As Norma (she of Now Norma Knits) says:

The Red Scarf Project, a project of the Orphan Foundation of America, or Orphan.org, collects red (and other unisex-colored) scarves to send in Valentine's Day care packages to college students who have aged out of foster care. These brave young people are going it on their own and trying to improve their lives and the community by attending college. The care packages are welcome tokens of encouragement to young people who otherwise receive little to no mail.

In other knitting news, I think I may have solved my DesignYourOwnSweater dilemma. Recall that I'm worried that I have cast on way too many stitches at the back neck of this thing...and the success or failure of the sweater is in the neck cast on edge (since it is a Top Down project). Well, using another ball of my beautiful blue 009 Cash Vero yarn and a spare pair of US 10.5's, I re-cast on the same number of stitches, using the RECOMMENDED cast on method (long-tail cast on) instead of the one I used (backward loop cast on)...and that may have solved the problem. It looks like the long-tail method provided a tighter base for the subsequent stitches and increases, thereby coming much closer to the neck measurement necessary. Of course, I did this little experiment at 3:00 this morning, while I was waiting for my second muscle relaxer pill of the night to kick in and relieve my back of pain...so, I probably should re-measure before I declare that the problem is sol-ved, right? Lesson here, though, might be...just might be, I say...DO WHAT THE INSTRUCTOR SAYS, YOU TWIT before doing it any old way you like. Stay tuned.

And, as we say the eulogies for the end of a most disappointing season for the Cardinals (no more games...no play-offs...no chance to repeat as the champions of the World Series), here is a photo (left) that Mr. T took with his phone at the last game we attended on September 20th. It was a real heart-breaker, with Houston scoring a record number of runs against the home team Red Birds (18-1). We left at the end of 7, when the score was "only" 10-0 and were floored when we got home to hear the news that H. had scored 8 more runs in two more at-bats. Oh well. It'll be our last look until April '08...which is only a little over 6 months away, right? There are already changes afoot in the administrative offices, so there may be some welcome changes in the coaching staff by then. One can only hope...

Stitchin' 'n Pitchin'

Stitch N' Pitch is a winner, as far as I'm concerned. Monday night, I got to see a great game (the Cardinals beat the Padres 10-5, with a record-tying 10 straight hits in the 5th inning, including two hits by the pitcher!), and I got a great "goodie bag," full of neat stuff like yarn, needles, and patterns. Actually, I got two bags full, as Mom couldn't use the ticket I got for her...so I got her goodie bag and brought it home. Plus, I got to knit in a rather unusual place without too many heads turning.Actually, no one paid any attention at all to me, since most of the folks around me were either knitting or crocheting. The photo (above) shows the SNP vendor area, set up in one of the open-air pavilions at Busch Stadium (below, left). I chose to work on my (second) sock that is mostly cotton...and lightweight compared to the wool blend of the Harry Potter scarf (another portable project currently on my needles). I noticed one woman sitting behind me who was working with a lofty blue yarn, probably for a baby blanket...I got sweaty hands just looking at her working with that thick, fluffy stuff! Of course, my sweaty hands were really attributable to the 96 degree temperature at game time. It was HOT, HOT, HOT...which, incidentally was the song-of-evening selected by the crowd.

You know, I've been knitting since I was 9...I've knitted at home (watching a lot of movies and sporting events on TV), in the park, in classes at school, on planes, in cars, in Dr.'s offices and hospital waiting rooms...and now, I can add "major league ballpark" to my list. Cool!