Rainy Day

It was a good day to come down with a cold, if ever there's a good time to get sick. It had rained the night before and the rain Gods weren't ready to depart our fair city just yet - besides, it was time for another baseball game.

I ran up to the barn and spent quality time with Miss Petunia and then headed home. As the sky darkened, and the ground became damp, my nose followed suit (not the darkening part). I popped Severe Cold meds, grabbed a box of Kleenex and pulled the blanket up around my neck as I stretched out on the couch. It was as if someone had put superglue there. I simply couldn't get up. And so there I stayed, as glued to the couch as my eyes were to the T.V.

The text messages started arriving from Tx - it wasn't a great day for the giants, but I knew there was more to come. Besides, we were up by two.

Then came Halloween. As the sky cleared, so did my cold, so John and I went for a hike up in Redwood Park. Normally in the fall, we see brown, but as we had had some early rains, we were delighted to see the bright green mosses adorn the trees. We headed up Stream Trail and found that the lady bugs were already gathering. This is an annual occurrence where the lady bugs gather in the same spot every year.


Millions of them huddle together, normally in the dead of winter and hibernate until the spring when they fly away. Strangely, it was in the high 60's, and the lady bugs were about two to three months early. We watched them huddle for a while and then continued on our way.


That night, I once again found myself on the couch - eyes glued to the game. Never, in my entire life, have I been so engrossed in baseball. But this year was different - the team was different, everything was different. I appreciated the strategy, the offense and the defense of the game. It finally made sense to me. That's not to say that I don't think that there are about 120 games too many in the season, but this was pure fun - especially since the Giants took their third game and were now just one away from winning the World Series - after more than 50 years in SF - could they really bring it home. Oh, and the text messages from Tx - well, my colleagues cell phone battery must have died, 'cause it got really, really quiet.

After the game, I headed down to my neighbor's house where he hosts an annual neighborhood party. He gets a ton of kids so he invites his adult friends over to join him. I brought my four bags over as I didn't have a single visitor. That's what happens when you live just slightly up a hill - a blessing in some ways. The neighbors and I talked about the joy of the game and our thoughts on the upcoming election - who would be our new Mayor? Who were "you" voting for and why? What would happen in Washington. It was all good though when the evening came to an end.