This past Saturday, May 21, was supposed to be the rapture, according to some people who have too much to spend on billboards. I didn’t give the prediction too much credence, but to play it safe, I figured that if the end of the world was coming, I might as well be at a ballpark. So, I made plans to be at the Twins game on Saturday, even if that meant flying to another state to do so.
Okay, actually, I made these plans as part of my Christmas present from my uncle Mark, my mom’s older brother who lives in Phoenix. A ballgame seemed a good way to bond with relatives I didn’t know well… plus, Saturday was Diamondbacks Garden Gnome giveaway so how could I not?
While the rapture didn’t come, I think the end of days is nigh for the Twins playoff chances. After taking a 6-3 lead on homeruns by Danny Valencia and Jason Kubel, Matt Capps blew his save chance and the game by giving up 6 runs in the 8th, including a grand slam. (I just finished watching a similar meltdown in tonight’s game against Seattle, and it felt like deja vu. Really, this team is not as bad as their record except, well… parts of them are.)
But on the plus side, I got to spend a weekend mostly lounging by or in my uncle’s pool in 80-90 degree weather. (And it was dry heat — what makes midwest and east coast summers so brutal is the humidity, and Arizona doesn’t have it.) The home cooked meals were delicious, the Scrabble games were plentiful, and I only got a little bit sunburned. Even if the game wasn’t so great, the weekend was worth it.
Plus, now I have a little garden gnome.