Saturday, July 12, 2008

Grandma's heavenly handiwork

My grandmother was a Cub fan. Specifically she loved Ryne Sandberg, but she was loyal to any and all who wore Cubbie blue. She died in 1997, before my young nephew was even born.

Today I took him to his first-ever Cub game. We had spectacular fourth-row seats along first base and both he and I were breathlessly excited about the adventure before us. However, it really rained last night, and torrential showers were predicted for the whole of the day today. So my nephew and I filled my purse and his backpack with umbrellas and raincoats and headed off to the friendly confines of Wrigley Field.

Guess what! The Weather Channel, NBC, CBS and WGN were all wrong. The clouds parted, the sun came out, and my nephew and I both have slightly burnt noses! Not only did the Cubs get a standard 9 innings in, we even went into two extra innings as the game that began as a route suddenly became a nailbiter.

How to explain this? Easy. Grandma's heavenly hands pushed the clouds away so that her great grandson could enjoy a long, exciting, sunny day at the ballpark with her team.

An unconventional dinner

I didn't just have the Hot Tamales. I also downed a few fists full of Cheez-Its and some water. I considered a beer, but beer with cinnamon and cheesey crackers just sounded gross. (Hey! I guess that means that I do have some culinary standards after all!)