7th Quarter Stretch

One of the benefits of living in Florida is Spring Training for major league baseball. One of the benefits of belonging to the Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce is "Take me out to the ballgame" night. (The other is free after-work meet and greets - free cheese and soda!) Members were invited to the Minnesota Twins vs Cincinnati Reds game Friday night in Fort Myers and I gladly took two tickets.
Ma-Le has only seen baseball in the fall of 2004 when my St.Louis Cardinals lost to most of your Boston Red Sox in the World Series and again in the fall of 2006 when my St.Louis Cardinals beat the Detroit Tigers in the World Series while I was in Ecuador. She assumes that the Cardinals are always in the World Series. (Last year was the first time they won since 1982 - Wohoo!) but suffice it to say she has seen very little baseball and this would be her first game. In Ecuador they have soccer and any other sport is pointless, but on the way to the game I decided to test her knowledge of baseball.

Pete - "How many innings are in a baseball game?"
Ma-Le - "What's an inning?"

Pete - "How may outs does each team get in an inning?"
Ma-Le - "An out is when someone hits a home run right?"

She actually picked it up very quickly and was attentive during the whole game, which may have had something to do with the guy who was beaned by a line drive in the 2nd inning. She also very wisely decided to root for the team that not only was scoring more runs, but eventually won (The Reds).

After the game the stadium provided the "best fireworks show in all of spring training!" with no hyperbole added whatsoever! No it was lame. At one point I thought the palm trees were on fire. A few orders of business - Ruth now leads Sean 3-2 in the grammar/spelling correction department. I'll need to think of a prize for the most errors pointed out. Or I'll need to learn possessive vs plural soon.

Also - if you leave a comment, leave your name or at least some cryptic hint as to who you are so I know I'm not letting the creepy dude in Tunisia from posting any more strange comments.

Lastly - no sooner did I post the last entry and there was a report of several deaths caused by the tornadoes in Alabama. I make light of certain things and in this case, something that terrifies me more than clowns, but I was lucky that the tornado that hit near Fort Lauderdale didn't do more damage. It really was a nerve wracking 25 minutes and I feel terribly for the people in Alabama and Missouri that were affected by the storms.

Auntie Em! It's a Twister!

I don't think I'm in Vermont anymore.

As I sat in the parking lot of the Bahia Mar Resort in Fort Lauderale Beach, a softball-sized chunk of ice slammed against the driver side window of my truck. I looked out at this mishapen glob of ice, now resting on the ground and thought maybe some spring breaker had heaved it from their balcony for fun. But just as I began to step out of the truck to get a better look, a shower of golf ball-sized stones began pelting everything around. (Article from the Sun-Sentinel)

I had thought a few seconds earlier that the sky looked menacing, but it's Florida and thunderstorms are routine. As quickly as the hail began, the rain began pouring down and within a minute the street was flooded. I pulled under the above-ground pedestrian walk-way that led to the beach to avoid the ice-pummeling and soon there were a dozen cars tucked under the bridge seeking refuge from a storm that was now blowing winds over 60 mph. My truck rocked back in forth from the gusts and the hail stones grew in number as they dwindled in size. Panicked drivers of cars that were caught out honked to be let into what little room there was under the bridge.

As the storm was in full force, I called my sister Tiff outside of Boston to ask what the heck was going on. She reported back that a tornado had been spotted in Tamarac 5 miles northwest and another was later reported in Port Everglades less than a mile southwest. A few windshields were cracked, from the hail, but my truck was fine, just a bit shaken. So was I. I'd have more pictures but the sky was as dark as dawn and the rain and wind made it impossible to open a window. When it did stop, I got a picture of the hail stones before they melted.

Check out the palms and flags in the background. Here's a close up where you can see the hail stones raining down. Lookout! Here's the map of Tornadoes for 2/28/2007 - Kansas had a few more. How cliche...