ABOUT A BASEBALL GAME

Last night our bishopric got each of us tickets to the Bee's game in Salt Lake. Originally I was not so excited about going to this game. (Confession: I didn't actually even know who/what the "Bees" were). About a week later, I found out that the Bees is actually the Salt Lake minor league baseball team and that the Bishop was paying for everyone to attend. I also found out that we would each get a free hot dog at this baseball game, and I was sold. I very much wanted to eat a hot dog at a baseball game in the summer. (You see, this seemed like a very American thing to do, and having spent a month outside of the country, I felt compelled to get back to my American roots).

So I committed. I was excited. I was going to be a participant in a ward activity--which just so happened to be one of my Summer Goals.

But then Monday afternoon rolled around and I had gotten to bed late the night before and I had worked a full 8 hours and I was tired. I came home and crawled into my bed hoping that I would feel rested in time for the baseball game (hint: this is never a good idea. Your blood turns to sludge when you lie in your bed, and all you want to do is watch Netflix and fall asleep. This is exactly what happened to me.) 

Luckily, my dear roommate Lauren was stalwart and pushed through her own post-work-on-a-Monday sleepiness. She convinced me that the game was a good idea and I half-heartedly slid out from under my covers and got dressed. Obviously I wore a baseball cap because what are baseball caps for except to be worn at baseball games?  

Lauren and I were very lucky and rode up with a few girls from the ward, one of whom owns a Jeep with AC that doesn't work, and another who is a very good dj. This made for a lovely combination of speeding down the highway with the windows rolled down, wind blowing through our hair, and music blasting the entire way up to Salt Lake. This made me feel very at-one-with-summer and also American (a key reason that I came on this venture, remember). 

We got to the stadium and none of us had cash so we could not park in the lot that asked you to pay $6 cash. We tried for the lot that asked you to pay $6 cash-or-card, thinking it was probably full but worth a shot. But wonder of wonders! The lot had one lucky parking spot left AND there was no one in the booth to take our money. This, my friends, is what my mother meant when she told me that you are blessed for attending FHE. Blessings abounded in the form of free parking. 

I don't have much to say about the game except that I didn't understand what was going on, and when people shouted "BALL!" and tried to catch it from the stadium I covered my head because I thought it was going to hit me. But the weather and the people were all lovely and the sky turned pink so this outing was well-worth getting out of my bed to come.

I ate my hot dog that tasted far better than it had any right to, and drank a whole cup of mediocre Root Beer (Barges, not A&W). I listened to people chat and I  tried to act like I wasn't completely stupid about sports and I watched the people on the grass lawn, remembering picnics at the baseball park with my own family when I was little. I felt American and even a little nostalgic. 

Overall it was a very successful evening and I fell in love with this summer. I'm making dandelion wishes that the rest of my summer days are so pleasant.