A Night at Fenway Park

Lucky me! I have a very nice lawyer who happens to be a Red Sox season ticket holder. He gave me two tickets to Tuesday night's game versus the Chicago White Sox. These tickets were for prime seats, in the loge behind home plate.  The seats were valued at $94.00 each!

I was so psyched to be going to the game.  I hadn't been to a Red Sox game in years.  I asked the Manager of my bank branch to be my guest.  She is a big fan  and her father has worked at Fenway Park since 1967. He even has a World Series ring from the 2007 championships!

The night could not have been more perfect. I think the temps were in the 60's and
I could have sat outside all night. I was worrying that it might be too hot, too cold or worse
case scenario, rainy. We lucked out because as you may know we had some wild weather on
Wednesday and some tornadoes touched down in the Springfield area.

Actually I waited to post this Night at Fenway story because it seemed inappropriate to post about such a fun night when so many out in the Springfield area were dealing with utter devastation.  My prayers are with them as they rebuild and pick up the pieces of their lives.

This was the vantage point from our seats.  Sweet! That's the Green Monster to the left. It is
a Fenway landmark.

I thought about having a Fenway Frank but I am very particular about my hot dogs.  They simply must be grilled and the bun must also be grilled to a golden brown.  So no hot dogs for me or Jen.  We had chicken tenders and fries.

A blast from the past.  A Carleton Fisk shirt, ooh I used to love him! He was actually in attendance at the game. Another bonus!

I was so happy I bought a telephoto lens a few weeks ago. It came in very handy at the game.

Our seats were behind the screen.  No one wants to get beaned by a foul ball. Quite a few foul balls did land in the sections on either side of us. That would have been perfect if I got to bring home a game used ball!

I liked the results from my new lens.  Actually I bought a used one but it's new to me.  I shot a lot of the photos in sports mode which is really cool. I caught a lot of the runners in mid stride.

So many vendors were at the game. Beer, coke, lemonade, hot dogs, cotton candy, peanuts, pizza. Name your nutritional poison and you could buy it right from your seat.

Here's the famed Green Monster. It's in left field and it has taken away many a home run.

However, our Captain Jason Varitek managed to hit a homer.  Here he is receiving congratulations from his teammate.

The grounds crew did a fine job on the baselines. Don't mind the water bottles, the nerve of those vendors getting in my shots!

Evening starts to set in. The temperature was still comfortable and I was enjoying all the sights on and off the field.

The people who run the jumbotron scan the crowd for interesting faces and things going on at

the park. Some fans paid homage to the Bruins who were playing game one of the Stanley Cup finals the next night. There were lots of Bruins shirts in the crowd.  We are so proud our hockey team is playing for the Championship!  Woo hoo!

The Prudential Center or as we Bostonians call it, "The Pru", is that tall building in the background. And there is the subliminal message to buy a beer right there for all to see all game long.

More vendors or as I affectionately call them, "The Finger People", were hawking souvenirs .

Getting really dark now and the lights are not kind to my photographs!  The lights are also not kind to that man's bald head in front of me.

Captain Varitek again.

More excitement off field.  Looks like a surprise proposal. Yup, he's on one knee.

You can enlarge this photo by clicking on it. That looks like quite the rock on her hand! I am glad she said yes. Wouldn't that have been embarrassing?

  She has her bearings now.  Yes, you are on display for everyone to see!

It's really dark at this point or as we say in Boston, it's really dahk now!

We took advantage of the seventh inning stretch and walked around Yawkey Way where there are shops and food vendors. I just took some photos, no eating or drinking at this point.

I guess other people had the same idea. There's lots to see around this area.

Back to the game but from a different vantage point. I wanted to see all of Fenway Park.

Time for the wave. From this angle, I could really appreciate how many people were at the game.

I wish the lighting had been better here.  This was supposed to be my money shot! I was going to lead my post with this shot but here it is way down the end of the post because of it's poor quality.

We left the game a bit early to avoid traffic only to find a line to get our car out of the parking lot.

Can you believe the price to park your car?  And then you have to stand in line to get it? Insanity!

All in all a very fun night. I hope to go again in this decade. Thanks to Larry for the tickets and Jen for driving in and accompanying me at the game.  I hope you all enjoyed your vicarious night at Fenway!

A visitation in Melrose?

I don't normally talk about religion on my blog.  But today, on Memorial Day, I am going to make an exception because of something I saw this weekend.  By the way, I should mention I am a Catholic.

On Sunday, my sister said she had someplace to take me.  She had heard about the appearance of the Virgin Mary at a park in Melrose.  Supposedly, there was an image of Mary on a stone monument. My sister wasn't sure when it first appeared but it has been at least a couple of months.  We checked the internet and saw nothing about it. We decided to visit the park and see for ourselves.

The monument honors Mary Foley of Melrose, a school crossing guard who was killed in a tragic accident in 1985.  The day of the accident she was on duty. She shielded the children who were crossing the street with her own body as a car headed towards them.  She was hit by the car and killed.  She was a true hero.

The park is across the street from St Mary's School and it is a peaceful place with benches and trees and irises on it's borders.  I started to take a few photos and then my sister decided to take her camera out of her purse. As she took the camera out we heard a clink. We looked down at the stone bench of the monument. My sister's medal of the Virgin Mary had fallen out of her wallet and onto the monument! We looked at each other and thought that it was another sign.  You can decide for yourself.

On Monday, my sister had gone to her studio. As she approached the back door she saw these tiny kittens coming up through some holes in the floor boards.  She said one by one they climbed through a hole and she thinks she counted nine!  She called me to come take a look. 

When I got there I only saw 5.  I am not sure if they all are that healthy. It's hard to tell and they retreat  under the floor boards if you get too close.  We have not seen Mommy yet.
They will need to be rescued soon.  It's a busy street and we don't want them wandering.

They sure are cute but I am definitely not taking them. Three is plenty!

As you can see, I had a full weekend filled with thoughts of pride for our veterans and troops now serving our country, the appearance in a park that honors a local hero, and bearing witness to new life.

And how was your weekend?

Paris Party

Today, I am linking to Anita's Blog, Castles, Crowns and Cottages.  She is hosting the Simply Irresistible Paris Party.

 I had my dressform Vivienne model the necklace and shawl I have selected for the Paris party. Vivienne always wears everything so well. I must say I am a little jealous!

 The necklace, a Sheila Foley original, was made for me by my sister in 2006. I was hosting a French themed afternoon tea and my sister thought this necklace might be a nice addition to my outfit.

 She used a tugua nut to resemble the ivory used in scrimshaw pieces. The beads are white, clear and blue.

Here's the back of the tugua nut.  This is what the front looked like before it was etched.

Here's the dress I've selected for the party.  It's by Chanel.  This neckline is perfect to showcase my necklace. 

I am ready to step out into the night ...

and trip the light fantastic!  (Photo credit- photomike07 at Flickeriver)

I'm thinking Rockport

Two people mentioned Rockport to me today and it got me to thinking.  It's definitely one of my favorite towns. My sister said, "Want to take a sister's trip there some night after work?" "Yes," I said.  I didn't hesitate because I can't wait to sit out on this deck and watch the sun go down.  If we arrive around 5:30, we'll have a couple hours of light and then a gorgeous sunset to view.

Or we could sit here and watch the boats and gulls from an oceanfront table.

We could got out to sea on one of these boats. Maybe a sunset cruise would be nice. There could be some great photo opportunities out at sea.

On land, there's lots to look at too.  The flora and fauna of this beautiful town.

Some cool window shopping or actual buying. Yeah those towels are calling to me.

Of course there is nothing better than just sitting and staring at the ocean at the end of the day.  Well maybe sitting and staring at the ocean from the deck of Helmut's Strudel shop with a warm apple strudel and an ice coffee in front of me would just be perfection.

Well I guess I am going to make plans to do just that next week.

A free Saturday

It's been a long time since I had what I call a free Saturday. You know a Saturday when

you don't have any obligations.  No work, no nursing home obligations, no photo shoots.

I was really excited about it.  The weather forecast looked great too.

I decided to sleep in. Molly decided to sleep in extra long. Before I went out, I opened some of the windows for the kitties to enjoy the warm air and sunshine.

I went to an estate sale in Reading and found a few things.  Afterwards, I went for breakfast at

Aroma Cafe and had my favorite Eggs in the Hearts with fruit and lacy potatoes. I caught up on my reading with a few British magazines.  Love them!

After leaving the estate sale, I spotted a house on the same road with beautiful flowers in front. I especially loved the wisteria hanging from the arbor.  Along this road there are so many lovely homes.

I love wisteria but it doesn't bloom for long, does it?

The flowers were so pretty I had to stop for some photos.

What a nice variety of flowers in this mini garden!

                                          Such delicate blooms with soft colors.

Here's the garden in full view. It does not look that impressive until

you really close in on it.

The wisteria was in full bloom and so gorgeous!

When I got home I unpacked my estate sale finds. I bought 2 teacups, a lacy tablecloth,

and 2 military trunks which are still in my car.

I really don't have many pink teacups so I picked this one up. It was too pretty

to leave on the table at the estate sale.

                    The other one is white with a pink saucer. The two cups make a nice set.

So the end of the world didn't happen and having thoroughly enjoyed my free Saturday, I am looking forward to many more.