Minneapolis, MN – Day One – Raining on My Smiling Inner Child

I cannot start a travel blog that includes a flight on Delta Airlines without commenting on how Delta Airlines has little concept of customer service.  They hit the trifecta on this approach.  They refused to allow me to change my ticket after the fare I purchased was advertised 12 hours later for $150 less.  They then forced me to check my duffle bag for $25.  When I complained, the bag check agent, a Delta employee, told me that “she just worked here” and the other gate agent said that they were going to get TSA and not allow me to board my flight for complaining.  I then sat in a seat that was designed to comfortably fit a person less than 4 feet tall for 3 hours on a red eye flight.  At this point my inner child had taken a back seat to the angry, self-righteous adult, and gratitude was nowhere to be found.  I would like to applaud Delta airlines on this stellar line of customer service, and I look forward to my flight home.

I had never spent any time in Minneapolis other than in the airport on a connection.  The city immediately reminded me of home, or any of the other places in the Midwest that I had visited in my life that reminded me of home (Buffal0).  The familiar smells of the trees and grass brought me back to a happy childhood place before adult problems began to clog up the space between my ears.  The flat topography, manicured lawns with little shrubbery and foliage, a simplicity in design that depicts humility and practicality, rather than the extensive foliage depicting one upmanship and a tilt towards “image management” commonly seen in Seattle neighborhoods.  Riding the mass transit into town, I smiled on the inside.  Another cool feature of the city is that the people that live here don’t spend all their waking conversations talking about Minneapolis, like some other city in the PNW that shall not be named again.

After deciding that my body needed a rest from practicing yoga, aided by the fact that there are no studios in downtown Minneapolis (walking distance anyway), it was time for game one:  Mariners at Twins.

I always get a different vibe when approaching and walking into a ballpark for the first time.  What are the fans like?  Does the ballpark fit the style of the city?  Does the design of the park suit watching the game?  Much like a first date, that first impression can be critical in the overall experience.  When I am in grateful inner child mode, there is no judgment and the ballpark, or anything for that matter, can be approached without judgment.  The ballpark, and life, can just “be”.  It is my approach in yoga.  My yoga is neither good nor bad, it just is, and I practice it to the best of my ability on the day that I am practicing.  No two days are alike, and no day has a value judgment.  I find this mindset maximizes the quality of the experience and I have been on a mission to translate this practice to other areas in my life.  It is particularly difficult in areas where there is a preset subject matter expertise or a wealth of knowledge.  Baseball is one of those areas for me as is going to stadiums so there is a challenge in removing the built in bias when entering a new stadium.

All that being said, Target Field is fantastic.  The site lines are all clean and the fans are on top of the game.  It has what I would call average foul territory on the first and third base sides.  The park is pitcher friendly per statistical analysis.  I am not sure if this has more to do with the park dimensions or the fact that the ball does not carry as well in April, May and September when it can be colder in Minnesota that other ballparks.  My only detracting thoughts on the stadium are that the outfield bleachers appear to be quite steep and the food is unoriginal.  I asked some people what food I should get at the ballpark as their specialty and they recommended the steak and cheese sub.  I looked at the steak and cheese sub, and having eaten this particular delicacy in Philadelphia and not even remotely being to compare the two on looks, decided on chicken strips.  There is always tomorrow to give this another try.

The game was pretty awful until the 9^th inning.  The Mariners hit back to back home runs in the first inning but both teams are pretty much the same, which is to say they both suck, and both suck in the same way.  So it is basically like watching the Mariners play the Mariners.  Anyone who has seen the Mariners play over the past 5-7 years knows that is not a good scene.

*Statistical information that only a geek like me may find interesting.  The Mariners have finished last or next to last in On Base Percentage (OBP) in 9 of the last 10 years, finishing last in the AL West all those years.  OBP is the primary statistic that drives the number of runs scored.  We can stop blaming Safeco field (something I have been guilty of in this blog) any time now.

The rain started in the 7^th inning after a beautiful blue sky the first six innings.  With Mariners leading 4-2 in the 9^th, I left the game and walked back to my hotel figuring the Mariners would put their closer in and finish out the game.  I got back to my hotel only to see the Mariners lose the game, 5-4.  The batters for Minnesota in the 9^th went walk, walk, walk (to load the bases), sacrifice fly to score the runner from 3^rd (4-3), and then a base clearing double to win the game.  Those are the Seattle Mariners and we all know and love!

Baseball, Yoga and a Rental Car – Finding My Grateful Inner Child

I was asked the other day to define my true north, or true self.  What makes me happy and in the zone?  What moves me away from that zone and into internal conflict with my true self?  In 44 years it is something that I have never approached in this manner or given any thought to beyond ancillary consideration.

After writing a page or two of what I thought my strengths were and what I thought made me happy, I was asked to circle 4-5 keywords.  My keywords were quality, fulfillment, inner child, happiness and grateful.  I was then asked to write a sentence that began with “My true north is a….” and I added “Grateful Inner Child”.  It seems to fit, but requires a significant amount of pondering.

Over the next 9 days, I will be attending 8 baseball games in 7 different cities, both major and minor league.  This will start and end in Minneapolis, with about 1,200 miles of driving in between.  I will take the opportunity to also practice yoga in each city, eat the local cuisine and see the local sights.  What a great opportunity to ponder the grateful inner child and to further define the true self; combining two of my passions: baseball and yoga.  If you are interested in following this trip, sign yourself up.  I am going to have fun both doing it and writing about the experience.

You may be asking, what were you doing that led to this mental exercise?

I was asked this question in yoga teacher training.  You see, yoga is more than just asanas (poses) in a hot room (or cool room!).  It is everything; it hones me, it sharpens my senses, it pulls me away from the past, it keeps me from pondering the future, and in the ever precious moment, it is the touchpoint along life’s optimal experiences.  It is tequila.  So I figure that on this trip, I will examine this notion of my grateful inner child.  Examine if that is my true inner self, or just first blush at the definition.  I will have miles of cornfields, a plethora of America’s game, and some new yoga studios to explore along the way!  First stop, Minneapolis.  The Mariners are in town, as am I.