We did hit some traffic on the way, but
neither of us felt any real sense of urgency that we just had to get to the
game on time. It wasn’t about the
game. It was just a chance to get away for
a few hours. The traffic thinned out
fairly quickly, and we even found a parking area within two blocks of the
stadium. There are certain perks to
having a terrible team. Not having many
loyal fans is one of them.
As we stepped on the escalator to begin our
search for our seats, we heard someone cry out for our attention. Turning around, we saw a friend from church
who recently moved. Do you know how
difficult it is to talk and ride an escalator moving away from the person you
are talking to at the same time? Especially
for someone who relies on lip reading clues as much as I do. So I did the obvious thing. I started walking down the up escalator. Quite a chore, I might add, but it did keep
us within earshot. I finally decided to
run the last few steps and get off the silly thing. Almost fell at the end when there were no
more steps and I was expecting one. That’s
a very strange feeling. Chris continued
the ride up, though. Not quite as
adventurous as me. I made arrangements
with Alexandra to meet up with her and Ryan and Joy later on after we all got
settled in our seats. Top of the sixth
inning. It was good to talk with them
and hear their plans. They have a new
baby boy due in a month or so, and they agreed to let us know when he was here
and safe.
Oh, and about the game. The roof was open, and it actually began to
get cold. We were glad to have brought
jackets. We did get to see Jason Castro hit
a home run for the Astros. He was one of
a few that we remembered from last year.
The scoreboard did an imitation of the old Astrodome cowboy shootout
celebration. Nice, but just not the same
as the original. Never is, I guess. Speaking of the scoreboard, it is very
different even from the last game we attended there. Incredibly high tech and it contains lots of
information, but I think it was too much at one time. We had a hard time locating even the clock
that said what time it was. I know it
would get easier if we went more often, but I wanted to complain about
something other than the American League.
At the end of the eighth inning I was
feeling my age. Pains in the hip and
elbows, general tired. I leaned over to
Chris and said, “I don’t have a diamond ring in my pocket or anything, but I’m
ready to go if you are.” She understood
the reference immediately, of course. See,
the night we got engaged we went to an Astros game. I carried the ring loose in my pocket all
night until I could propose. I didn’t hire
out the scoreboard like one guy did last night.
I waited until we were in the car and safely back at the home where she
was staying for the weekend.
The Astros ended up finding a way to lose
the game, of course. Oh, and Chris did
say yes when I asked her to marry me.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Psalms 84:10 says, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would
rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the
wicked.”
Father, it was great to see another Astros
game. Even greater to do it with an
actual date. And greater still that the
date was my wife. Grant blessings to
Nathan and April and my brother for giving us that chance. Amen.
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