bananas with sharks, please!

'Shark Week' supposedly ended last week, but
the Savannah Bananas have pressed onward...
go, Bananas!
(smile)
For this game against the Wilmington Sharks,
the infield was so dusty it had to be wet down.
Seriously!
Quite a change, given all our summer rain!

It wasn't even 6:30 yet, but those of us
in the know were in our seats -
you betcha!
All of the home games have been sold out,
some of them since the season began.
What a record!
That's what happens when you market to families.
Hope other teams are taking notice.

The politicians certainly are noticing.
First pitch was thrown by Buddy Carter,
US Representative of
Georgia's 1st District
and former mayor of Pooler.
I wouldn't be surprised
if more politicians aren't soon
vying for a mound position.

The T-ball event was quite fun!
The little five-year-old hit
the ball, but then stood there...
until ringleader Jesse took him
by the hand and led him around the bases.
Hahahaha hahaha!

And here was something else new!
Usually, there are little boys who
accompany our players into the field.
Tonight, we had girl athletes instead!
Woohoo!!!
Girl power!
You know I liked that!
(smile)

Hooray for John Cassala!
He's #30, and is a bit
pint-sized - at 5'10" -
compared to some of the other
Bananas in the bunch.
But he just popped off a home run
for our first score!

However, it was clearly an
"anything can happen Monday".
How did that Shark swim to second?
Well... our man on first totally
missed the ball.
By the fifth, the Sharks had
three runs to our single from Cassala.

Then the pitcher's duel ended,
i.e., the Sharks put in a new guy.
Before you know it, the bases
were filled with Bananas!
Soon, Christian Hollie drove in
a run, then came in, too,
thanks to Matthew Pita's mighty swing.
All tied up in the sixth!

Come the seventh inning,
the Bananas batting order
had cycled back to Hollie
and he drove in the tie-breaker!
Woohoo!!!
Now, the question was:
could the Sharks stay scoreless
for two more innings?

Not only could they...
but they did.
That broke their
winning streak, too.
Go, go, Bananas!
Keep up that drive
toward the play-offs
to defend their Chamionship!

Then, time to get
Mister Willie home to Gloria!
Here, the young guy, Tony,
has his arm, while Rosalind
escorts them to my waiting car.
And away we go...

i thank You, God.

experiment with cherries

When I picked up Boo at the airport this morning, she had a treat for me: tree-ripened Mount Rainier cherries.
You see, she was returning from a weeklong trip to Washington - the state - to visit her honorary granddaughter, Emily.
Barbara knows how much I love that type of cherry, so it was certainly a good gift!
As it so happens, I had recently bought some of that same type of fruit at Publix.
How would they fare in a taste test?
Well, I would do a little experiment, as I once did with pasta!

First, I took the store-bought cherries out of the refrigerator and rinsed them off. Then, I allowed them to acclimate to room temperature. Those samples are on the left.
The cherries from Boo were also rinsed off and allowed to settle in at room temperature. Those from her are on the right on my smiley-face table.
After two hours, I tried one from each source.
I was sure to drink water in between samples, to keep the tastes separate.
After the third cherry had been compared, my conclusion is: Publix has some very fresh-tasting fruit!
I was expecting some variation in texture or mouth-feel or sweetness...
but, no.
The store-bought fruit was equivalent in every way to the tree-ripened cherries which had flown in this morning from Washington, via United Airlines.
I must admit to being surprised, but that's why I had done the experiment. I had a hypothesis, I designed the experiment, and I observed the results.
You may have observed how nice the sunroom looks.
Well, that's because I spent three hours on Friday cleaning every hard floor in my house, scrubbing under the 'fridge, getting rid of little spider webs and hard white spots on my merbau. I finished by clearing off this beautiful table, this friendly, cheerful oasis at the heart of my sunroom.
Why?
Well, as you know, the physicist has been staying with me.
He's been here almost two months, believe it or not.
On Thursday night, he had mowed the back yard for me, as a nice treat.
I had said I always sat in the sunroom after that task, as it is the coolest room.
He had replied that it was his favorite room, but because I didn't want drinks on the same surface as electronics, he couldn't sit in there.
That remark stayed with me.
He had said that once before.
So, now the room is clean and is available 24/7 for his use.
Even the orchids from Nami seem to be blooming in happiness!

I should have done a bit better about cleaning.
Perhaps I will, now that I have someone here...
I will try.
After all, the bfe is really quite neat and tidy.
He washes and dries any dishes he uses; he doesn't leave trash lying around; he even removes his shoes when he comes in the house.
He's even neat in the bathroom!
Yes, he can definitely stay...
and I hope he will.
I like having him here, to share the minutia of our days.
Very nice!

i thank You, God!

painted lady and jim croce, too

Hey, Dood!

Guess what I did this weekend?

I sent an entire hour feeding butterflies! Savannah Mall had their annual Butterfly Exhibit during this month of July and I finally made it there on Saturday. I think my $4 admission was only supposed to be for 15 minutes, but they weren't that busy in the early afternoon, so no one shoo'ed me out. I was there from 1:45 to 2:45! Such an amazing way to spend an hour!

Yesterday, I went with the "Born in the 50's and 60's" group to the Savannah Prohibition Museum. You say you never heard of it? Well, that's because it only opened two weeks ago! Let me tell you, it is absolutely FILLED with memorabilia from the early 1920's to the 1930's. I could have easily spent the whole afternoon there! I've included a photo of me with the lyrics Jim Croce wrote about a guy who drove a stockcar on race days... and ran moonshine the rest of the time. Just amazing!

Tonight, I have a Savannah Bananas baseball game with Mister Willie. Have I mentioned that he will be 79 the day after your birthday? Yep! He's a year younger than Mama would have been.
Still hard to believe Mama has been gone 16 years.

The grass has been growing like a crazy thing these days. Since we get rain almost every day, that means the grass is thriving... and that means the yard needs to be mowed almost once a week. Well, at least the front yard. The back yard sometimes has to wait for three weeks. :-)

Yesterday and today have been fairly cool for this time of year. That's thanks to a lovely breeze to keep us lawn-mowers from burning slap up, I think. Even so, I wait until 7 o'clock or later to do that outside task. As they say, only mad dogs and English men go out in the noonday sun!

I've attached a few photos. One is me with a Painted Lady, another with a Black Swallowtail, and one with a Monarch.
Hope all is well with you!
with much love,
your one-and-only, ever-lovin'' sister

And guess what I learned on Saturday?
Butterflies mate the same way mammals do - by coupling together!!!
The first photo was taken at 2:08 pm.
The one above, with the two separate again, was taken at 2:38 pm.
Very nice!
Maybe I can be that lucky someday soon!
After all, as I told Sue in Canada, it's been six years since I had a boyfriend for a little afternoon delight...
(smile)
(Naw, this last paragraph, and the photos of the mating Monarchs, were not included in my missive to Tony.
No need in getting anyone excited, ya know.)
I do count myself fortunate to have witnessed nature at work.
Very nice!

i thank You, God!

damp bananas with bill and joe and willie!

The visitors to Mister Willie's
place in the stands
began an hour before the game
even started.
This young man was a boy
when he first started
checking in with Willie.

Not ten minutes later,
the fellow Willie calls 'Doc' came up.
He's to the left.
That's his son there on the right!
Doc has been calling on Willie
every time he's there.
Tonight, his whole family sat right behind
Willie - and me - for the game.

This young woman was right on their heels
to take her turn with
the ballpark royalty!
Let me make this clear:
Willie is much too humble
to refer to himself that way.
That's strictly my doing!

The blonde lady sitting beside
Savannah's Mr. Smith?
That was an older woman
who was at a game last week.
She had assured him that she and her family
would return for this game... and they did!
How very nice that they were able
to sit with him again
on this sold-out evening!

Of course, I was a little busy
socializing myself to keep up
with all of his callers.
My dear friend Bill the artist
was right there by my side!
How glad I was that he was there!
Of course, I had taken him a ticket
earlier today to make sure he would be.
(smile)

Gotta love those Zaxby Bananas
family deals!
Joe, the peace Guy,
was down from the ATL
and got another of the
tickets from that deal.
Hooray!

Does Joe know baseball?
Not hardly!
This was the first game anywhere
that he's attended this year...
or maybe ever!
His sweetie knows baseball, though -
and Joe was asking questions to
amaze those at home.
Hahahahaha hahaha!

Of course, it wasn't just baseball
at the stadium tonight.
As always with the Savannah Bananas,
there's a bit of the circus in the air, too!
Here, we have the first-ever
Father and Sun game of catch
between a dad and daughter.
Fabulous!!!

And this episode of the
Keystone Banana Kapers featured...
a girl!
That's right!
A ten-year-old T-baller bested them!
She may have tripped right before
tagging home plate,
but she still won and
was lifted to their shoulders!

Here we have the arrival of Split,
scariest Big Banana of them all!
Not really, though.
He's always willing to pose
for fan selfies
and has been known to dance
a pretty mean jig!

The Dancing Nanas are so-called because
- well -
because they're somebody's grandmas
and they know how to cut a rug!
They don't move as quickly
as they used to,
but they can still stay in step
with the music!

And these guys are their counterparts
on the dance scene!
I call them "Daddy Got Back" -
in deference to Sir Mix-A-Lot's tune,
naturally!
How hilarious to watch them
shake those baseballs
out of their fanny packs!

Who do we have here?
Why, it's the Band In The Rain!
(Hey, I know Sir Paul would be
quite pleased to have his song
mentioned in this context!)
And what's that about rain?
At this game, too?

Sad, but true.
Bill went home to await the renewal of play;
Joe and I stayed to catch up on each other's love life.
(Rather, for me to get up to date on his... lol!)
The delay was for almost exactly an hour,
but when play resumed, the game between
the Bananas and Grizzlies simply flew!

Here's the highlight
of the pre-rain game:
a home run over
the left-field wall
by Bryce Fischer,
in the third inning.
That ball was
gone, baby, gone!

This shot is from the bottom of the sixth.
The Bananas had loaded the bases and
Christian Hollie was next to bat.
Grand slam?
Almost!
His double drove in those three men
standing on home plate -
and he's the yellow blur on his way
to being safe at second!

And what have we here? Was this the turning of the wheel, so to speak?
Yes, yes it was. In fact, this photo documents the fourth time in that seventh inning that the Grizzlies' pitcher walked in a Bananas' run.
You see, said pitcher kept hitting the batters and loading up the bases.
The bases were filled with Bananas for multiple turns of the wheel -
it was hilarious!
I think the team gained eight runs from that one inning!
Seriously, if not for our late-game pitcher having pity on them, the score would have been quite lopsided.
As it was, the Bananas took the win, 14 to 8.
Even with the rain delay, we were still on our way by 10:30 pm.
What an incredible evening, made even more so by me sitting between two of my favorite men: Bill and Joe!
And what a blessing to have Willie right there, too!
i thank You, God!

turning japanese with the bfe

Haha! I bet you were thinking of the song by the Vapors, weren't you?
Not that you would be completely wrong, of course... that came earlier!
(smile)
You know how I prefer to defuse potentially sticky situations... all puns intended!
(smile!)

This is my second evening this week
in the presence of the physicist, you know!
That had been my treat; tonight was on him.
No, not physically, you silly nene!
(smile)
He wanted us to share some sushi
with a screening of a Japanese film,
much as we had done five years ago.

That's when PFS had its
"Movies Savannah Missed" in 2012
and showed "Jiro Dreams Of Sushi"
and we had dined at Heiwa downtown.
Good times!
This time, we were at Yo Ha Ne,
midtown, with their special
sweet carrots to start.

He dined on two sushi rolls,
one with spicy tuna
and the other his beloved tempura.
I had the vegetable stirfry,
opting for meatless in the summer heat.
Of course, we shared each other's
dishes... at least a few bites...
but not the last bites!
(smile)

Then, back into 'Emma', his Mini Cooper,
and off to the Sentient Bean!
Yes - he drove!
That would allow me to have a glass of wine
with the movie - such a treat!
And, again, on him!
(No, not physically -
though I could have been, as we had
grabbed the couch for our seats!)

Tonight's PFS screening was of the second
in Kaizo Hayashi's three-film series
featuring the character Maiku Hama.
Titled "The Stairway To The Distant Past",
this 1995 film noir-style beauty used
fabulous blue lighting to help set the tone.
As I told the physicist,
I really found myself missing Okinawa...
nice to see Japan and hear the language again.

rainy barking bananas

The evening started out very well!
As the bfe and I entered the outer concourse,
a corgi in a banana skin greeted us.
What fun!
Of course, I sent this photo
to Kevin - he and his pastry chef
are into the corgi thing, ya know!
I doubt they have seen this before!

Next up was the Parade of Dogs around the bases - such fun!
But, wait!
Can you spot the pony?
Seriously... coming down from third base...
it was a Shetland pony!
How do I know?
Because I know a pony tail
when I see one!
(Get it? Like I wear my hair
these hot summer days?)
(smile)

Then we had the Frisbee Dogs!
What talented canines!
There were two tonight,
jumping and running and chasing
down the flying white discs!
Go, dog, go!

The Lexington Blowfish were the opponents of the Savannah Bananas once more.
I like their two-faced uniform shirts.
They're that pretty red on the back,
but a dark blue on the front.
Why?
I don't know.
Perhaps they don't know what
a blowfish looks like?

My friend Bill, the artist,
got their a bit late with
his lovely dog, Tucker -
no stroll of the bases for them!
That's Bill in the tropical shirt,
looking more like a blowfish should.
(smile)
Bill brought cat-lady Carolyn
with him - but no kittehs!

And this one is on the bfe
and his company this evening!
That's him in the black shirt,
then Erica Cooper, Nathaniel Shank,
and the Zingales - Sarah & Anthony.
They all play Hearts and Spades on Thursdays,
as a rule of thumb -
Edmond Hoyle's rule, that is, not Sir Fred's.

As for the game...
well, we certainly began with pretty blue skies!
But a dark mass quickly moved in.
That was too bad, as this had promised to be
a game full of hits.
No pitcher's duel this time!
The visitors scored five times in the top of the first -
the Bananas came back with three runs in the bottom.

By the bottom of the second inning,
the blue was almost gone and the lights were on.
The Blowfish had brought their score to 6.
We had two men on base, with my man
Hollie pausing here to look at the sky
and to feel the misting rain.
He brought those two men in, though,
getting his double as well!
Then we had our third out and the sky fell apart!

Even the head Banana himself,
ring master Jesse Coles,
was out there with the rest of them,
in his flashy yellow finery,
to pull that tarp and
lay the field to rest
as the rain poured down all around.
Did the game resume?
No, the umpires ruled no and
the lightning agreed.
The game will resume on
August 2nd, followed by
the other make-up game.