For some crazy reason, Mother Nature decided to bless us with not one, but two beautiful days this weekend where it actually pretended to be spring for real: sunshine, blue skies, flowers coming into full bloom. In fact, it was three days – including today – but given that I spent my day inside, I only really count Saturday and Sunday.
And just to show how deprived we are, it was the talk of our office this morning. And, I’d bet money on the fact that it was the talk of almost every other office in Portland this morning. Across town, conversations went something like this:
How was your weekend? It was wonderful! How could it not have been with that weather??
I know, I know. I spent all weekend outside doing XX…
Even better, if we were to be granted two days in a row of sunny, “warm” weather (low to mid-60s), I was delighted that it happened the weekend of Ian’s first t-ball game on Saturday morning and Easter on Sunday.
We woke up Saturday morning with something bright peeking through the coverings in our room. Whoa, what is that? Could it be…? I sprang out of bed (okay, more like tripped over the cat and couple of pillows), tore open the shutters (again, not really – no shutters were harmed during the process) to see blue skies. Yahooey – Ian’s first game would not be canceled! One hearty breakfast later the four of us headed out for Ian’s game, birds chirping (that part is true) and spring flowers in all the yards we passed on foot. That’s right – no car necessary – we walked! A couple of blocks out from the school the buzz of opening day was heard in full force as kids of varying ages – parents in tow – started appearing in cute baseball uniforms, all after Major League teams. Ian had been recruited by the Oakland A’s. Jeff immediately noted it would have been fun if he was a Texas Ranger while I pondered him in a Nationals outfit, uh..I mean…uniform, in honor of his original hometown. Still, I grew up in an A’s household and we went to the games, so all in all, not a bad choice.
The school yard was packed. There were tents. There were ropes. There were cameras everywhere. But most importantly, there was a Sesame Donuts booth set up. Warm donuts and hot coffee – this day was getting better by the second. Oh, and did I mention the sparkling sunshine?
We spotted Ian’s team and headed over to give the coach our forms and get Ian settled. We may not have made practice on Thursday, but I knew all would probably be okay when I heard the coach announce, “Alright team, first question:
When you hit the ball, what do you do?
There were about nine different answers, by my count. Yikes. There was clearly some work to be done. After the team gathered for opening day pictures, they headed out the field for warm-up. I think they got about 10 minutes, but probably could have used about two hours more than that. The A’s, who were playing the Indians, were first up to bat. Ian was second in the line-up. His first hit was a swing and a miss. Second one, he nailed it. Total home run. Or wait, maybe that was just in my head. I think it was more like a grounder half way to the pitcher’s mound. The good news is that he made it to first, thanks to an overthrow by the pitcher and missed catch by the first baseman. This, by the way, seems to be a recurring theme in t-ball. That, and no matter who is on base or who you have a chance to get out, and when three coaches are all telling you, “Throw it to third, throw it to third!”, apparently you must always, always, throw the ball to first base.
So yeah, they’ve got a little work to do – but there’s always next week. And the important thing was that it seemed most of them were having a blast, Sesame Donuts was there with warm donuts (how do they do that? those people work donut magic) and coffee, and the sun was shining (I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned that or not). We walked home with Ian talking about the game the whole way. It was fun. The rest of the day was pretty nifty too…concluding with kids in bed, grilling, good wine, playing Easter Bunny, finally catching up on the new episodes of Mad Men…need I say more?
Easter Sunday we woke up to yet more sunshine. CRAZY!! Luckily, we had taken a chance on Matt Zaffino and trusted that the weather would be nice by planning to hunt eggs outside. Jeff thought this was a very risky move but I was ready to take a chance and it paid off. This would be Ian’s first hunt outside since it’s usually not exactly outdoor hunting-friendly weather on Easter. We spent about an hour outside hunting eggs, taking pictures, hanging out on the deck and generally having the opportunity to thoroughly enjoy our yard for the first time. We are really looking forward to more of that this summer.
Our Easter morning festivities were capped with a yummy brunch at Meriwether’s restaurant. We were kind of hoping to get lucky with a table on their beautiful garden patio but no dice. It was still a bright and airy atmosphere, perfect for Easter and for the lovely day. Jeff worked in the yard outside in the afternoon while I continued doing things to get the house together. It’s a journey…
I think the rain is supposed to return tomorrow – though still with a bit warmer temperatures, which is a positive. It’s an exceptionally busy week at work this week with all hands on deck this Saturday for Packy’s big 5-0 birthday celebration, and a fundraising dinner in his honor the night before. We’re all hoping for nice weather, though good-size crowds are almost guaranteed for Packy regardless. But no matter what happens from here on out, we’ll always have last weekend.
burpo banter 