Chicago, IL – Day 7 – Practicing at the Mecca

I finally practiced some yoga in a studio.  There is a bikram studio about 2 blocks from my snooty hotel in Chicago, “The Allerton”.  This place is snooty in all respects and really doesn’t market to my demographic, and not the gangsta persona, the average middle class dude persona.  When I asked the concierge which subway stop was the White Sox game, he chortled and visibly rolled his eyes before explaining to me in English with a French accent where it was.  I later heard him speaking French and it was obviously his second language.  The bikram class was welcomed as I think that the heat did my body good.

I rode the red line out to Wrigley for a day game against the Pirates.  The neighborhood around the stadium is incredibly well maintained and everything from the housing to the signage is about the Cubs.  The buildings on each street that are outfield facing have grandstands built on top of them that look into the stadium.  These are sold as seats to the game even though they are outside the stadium on the roofs of adjacent buildings.  After securing a ticket and taking the standard picture in front of the marquee that says “Wrigley Field, Home of the Chicago Cubs” it was game time!

It was a beautiful sunny day albeit a bit chilly and some stadium knowledge would have been useful on a day like today.  I was sitting in the left field lower box seats about 10 rows off the field (these are seats between 3^rd base and the outfield wall) and was soaking up the sun, even applying a bit of suntan lotion.  By the third inning, the sun was no longer available to this section of the stadium and would not be for the rest of the game.  However, the entire outfield bleacher sections all the way around and the right field lower box seats had sun the entire game.  This would have been good to know when purchasing the ticket.  Fortunately, there were enough empty seats that by the ninth inning I was sitting in the right field seats anyway.  The Pirates won the game 2-0, and on a food note I had probably the best hot dog I have ever had at a game.

I was thinking about the home teams winning on this trip, and other than the first two games where the Twins beat the Mariners, which isn’t much of a feat, the home team has lost every game!  I won’t go as far to say that I am a jinx, but maybe I am a jinx!

Kind of a short and boring post, but it was that kind of day.  Relaxing and enjoyable.  I love Chicago, a lot.

Chicago, IL – Day 6 – An Accidental Cold Shoulder

I felt completely refreshed leaving Saint Louis and heading up to one of my favorite cities in America, Chicago!  Given that it is about a 4-5 hour drive, depending on traffic and construction, I left early.  There are 2 full days to spend in this toddlin’ town, and my hotel is on Michigan Avenue smack in the middle of the miracle mile.

I wasn’t in town more than 5 minutes before being rear ended by a hurried and abrupt soccer Mom driving a minivan, one block from my hotel.  Why not?  The woman who hit me was not in the mood to take responsibility for hitting me, and told me that I should have pulled my car further forward into the right turn where the pedestrians were crossing.  I just smiled and let her vent.  I could just picture this one in court.

Attorney for the Insurance Company:  “So please tell me again why, when you rear side swiped this car, it wasn’t your fault?”

Frustrated and Hurried Soccer Mom:  “He should have pulled further forward around the turn into the oncoming pedestrians so that I had room to get around him.  Or at the very least so I didn’t have to wait 3 more seconds to get to where I was going.”

Attorney for the Insurance Company, flummoxed:  “I see.”

I had written earlier on this trip when I was cited for speeding that there is a difference between being in a hurry and driving fast.  Being in a hurry is a state of mind, almost a panic, where accidents can happen.  I stand by this analysis and both correct and prophetic.

“Money make a pimp, pimp hoes, hustlas sell dope, thugs gun smoke
What [echo]
Money make the world go round, as the world turns
Money make the world go round, as the world turns
Nigga I need money to main-tainn
Hustalin aint a gamee
Nigga go and gets the grainn
Gon' get tore out the framee
T.Vs in the Rangee
I'm in ta nice thanggs I slang weed (snort)
Coc-ainee and Herio-anee
50 Cent
Thats my namee
Nigga I bring the painn
You thought shit stay the samee
Nigga shit gon' change
Put a bullet in your brain”

-50 Cent-

This is what I was listening to when rear ended.  Of course the woman had no way of knowing that I was a gangsta going to later ride the el to Cellular One Field in the South Side, home of the Chicago White Sox, and that this was how I rolled.  She did, however, immediately give me her insurance information.  So far as I am concerned this is now between the rental car company and her insurance agency and if she don’t like it that way, I can arrange to have one of my homies pop a cap in her ass.

The home of the ChiSox is indeed in the ghetto.  I counted 14 police officers between the metro station and the stadium that weren’t there to manage traffic or to help people cross the street.  It was a 2 block walk.  The wind was blowing and while the sun was still up, it was going to get cold, and I was not dressed appropriately, nor did I even bring a jacket.  Not only did I not bring a jacket to the game, I did not bring one on the trip.  It is summer right?

I was sitting a row off the field in the right field corner, and there were maybe 10,000 people at the game.  The Oakland A’s ended up winning 5-4 late in the game and they hit 4 solo home runs in the process.  Adam Dunn made the last out of the game on a loud fly ball to the warning track.  Some fan remarked that was progress for a .169 hitter with a propensity to strike out 3 times a game.  The ballpark was not that memorable, but as with all the new ballparks, it is very nice.  Looking forward to old school baseball tomorrow at Wrigley on the North Side.  I am hoping that the weather improves and I don’t freeze my ass off like I did tonight.

Saint Louis, MO – Day 5 – Meditation is Sometimes Not So Grand

Incredibly tired today.  I suppose it is to be expected, it has been a grueling trip.  I wonder if starting the day out tired is an omen of a bad day.  Does being tired shift karma?  I know that in my case when I am tired, I have a very difficult time engaging and being in the moment.  It is not necessarily that I am in the past or the future, just nowhere.  It is like that old saying, the lights are on, but nobody is home.  The 4 hour drive from KC to Saint Louis was a blur of rain, semi-trucks and the cruise control set at 73 mph.  I did manage a short yin yoga practice working on my lower body before I left, still treating my upper body with respect until the shoulder and back feel better, but it didn’t do anything to shake off the doldrums.

I got a great room in the Hyatt Regency Saint Louis that one block from the arch and 3 blocks from the stadium and at check in had plenty of time to see the arch, get dinner and then go to the game.  Prior to doing that though, it was time to head over to the stadium to get a ticket.  I didn’t want to chance the game being sold out because the Cardinals have the best record in baseball.  The heat and humidity walking over to the stadium reminded of me DC in the summertime, which to me is totally fabulous.  It also felt like thunderstorm weather, which wasn’t so fabulous for baseball, especially considering the amount of rain that was left behind in KC.  After buying a Cardinals hat (I buy a hat at every stadium I visit), I went to get my ticket and !score!, another ticket in the first row, this time behind the visitor’s dugout.

Despite being exhausted I felt pretty good as I walked back to check out the arch.  To go up in the arch, you stand on a stairwell with 8 doors.  Each door contains a pod that holds 5 people in a little unenclosed circle.  It is like sitting in one of the old Mork and Mindy eggs, for those old enough to remember that TV show (Pod Here), except that there are 8 of them attached.  They move up the side of the arch like a roller coaster goes up the first hill.  It actually feels and sounds exactly the same and since you can look out the window and see the interior construction of the arch, it is a bit freaky.  The view from the top, once you get used to the swaying, is really cool, but cramped.  It looks west over the Saint Louis skyline and east over the Mississippi River into Illinois.

Once down from that adventure, I decided to relax on the lawn right under the arch.  Laying on my back and looking up at the clouds pass by while staring straight up at this breathtaking architecture is an experience that brought the focus and he moment back to the day.  It was energizing.  We were taught in yoga that sleep is not the only means of relaxation of the brain, and that by utilizing the proper relaxation techniques in the mind and body, the equivalent of sleep can be obtained.  One of our instructors walked us through a yoga nidra demonstration (Yoga Nidra) where we were in savasana (corpse pose, which is lying on your back, heels together, toes splayed, hands at side, face up, body melting to the earth) for 30+ minutes.  It felt as if we were there for 5 minutes.  This is the experience that I had lying under the arch, and yet another affirmation that and revelation that taking yoga teacher training has me on a wonderful path.

I decided to go to a pre funk at a bar called the Broadway Oyster Bar.  I would best describe this place as a well-constructed shack except for the fact that other well-constructed shacks would be offended.  It had plenty of character including a sign on the front door that said “Leave your attitude at home.”  This is going to be my kind of place.  The bartenders were super nice and I had the alligator for dinner.  It was delicious, and not my first experience eating alligator.  I ordered the matching boots and tipped my Cardinals baseball cap to the alligator who donated this delicious meal.

From there things went a bit downhill, and I began to wonder if my good karma had run out.  Upon arriving at the stadium, it began to rain.  In Seattle we would define this rain as rain number 274, the kind that is steady and wet enough that you just need an umbrella, but with no breeze.  Only people from Seattle wouldn’t use an umbrella anyway, because they are {insert your own adjective here} like that.  I then went to my seat in the first row only to find out that it wasn’t in the first row.  It was in the 15^th row.  While my ticket clearly stated row one, the woman that sold me the ticket at the Cardinals box office failed to mention that there were 14 rows of letters in front of row one.  My inner child frowned on this and felt lied to, but learned a little something in the process. 

Since the game was delayed at least an hour due to rain type #274, I went to the batting cages in the stadium to take some swings.  This endeavor should have NEVER been attempted.  Ever.  The last time I tried to hit a fastball was 10 years ago.  Did I mention that my eyesight isn’t what it used to be?  Did I mention that this should have never been attempted?

Busch stadium itself is nice, but if you took Safeco Field in Seattle, Minute Maid Park in Houston, the new stadium in Philly and put the insides of all of them next to each other, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.  They were all designed by the same architectural firm and there isn’t much unique about it.  That is not to say that it isn’t nice, it is fabulously nice, it just doesn’t differentiate itself from any of the other new stadiums in baseball.  Anyone from Saint Louis who reads this will want me drawn and quartered for saying this and I have yet to get to the derogatory part…..

While the employees of the stadium are very nice, the people that work in the concession stands are extremely poorly trained.  In my interactions with them, they were repeatedly screwing up orders, making customers wait an excessive amount of time.  The entire operation looked like an unsuccessful venture into cat herding.  Lots of people running around, but not really accomplishing much.  On top of that, I was unable to sit in my “front row” seat because all the people in the rows in front of me had their umbrellas open and weren’t at all interested in considering that there were people behind them that wanted to watch the game.  I moved to a higher and dryer location.

The game itself was a laugher, for the Diamondbacks.  They got to the Cards starter and then Paul Goldschmidt of the D-Backs smacked a grand slam to make it 7-1.  Naturally I am playing against Paul Goldschmidt in fantasy baseball this week.  That was a nice touch by the karma gods allowing me to see that one in person!!!  The D-Backs went on to win the game 10-3.

As I sit at 12:15 a.m. and finish up this post, I am smiling to myself because all in all, it was a good day.  It is difficult not to be grateful on vacation and in a situation like this but also easy to complain about Cadillac problems, that is human nature I suppose.

I have concluded that the day was karmically twisted, for my pleasure.  Chicago, here I come.

Kansas City, MO – Day 4 - Royalty and the Noble Pig

Other than steaks there wasn’t much going on in Omaha so I decided to leave early and head to Kansas City.  There also wasn’t a reputable steak house that served filet mignon for breakfast.

Before going on any further, let’s take a moment of silence to reflect on the noble pig who sacrificed half his ribs for my tasty dinner.  His ribs were soaked overnight, then slow barbequed with a dry rub and served dry at Arthur Bryants (here) arguably the most famous rib joint in Kansas City.  I then added some BBQ sauce to them to make them both wet and dry.  They were meat-fall-off-the-bone succulent and I just thought it proper that the pig that donated them be recognized in this space.

Kaufman Stadium, the home of the Kansas City Royals, is my new favorite baseball stadium.  Having now been to about half of the major league stadiums, I am replacing Camden Yards in Baltimore with the K, as my new favorite.  While Camden Yards has more aesthetics in the surrounding city and its placement in downtown Baltimore, the K inside blows it away.  Every detail is tailored to the fan.  The entire outfield area is surrounded with rides for kids, miniature golf, pitching, hitting and base stealing and water attractions for when it is hot.  The seating is spacious and given the amount of ribs served in this city, it is a good thing!  The employees at the stadium were properly trained in customer service and were genuinely happy to see the people that came out for the game.  There was plenty to buy at the stadium but no pressure to do so.  I didn’t feel like I was being “marketed at” or asked to open my wallet every 6 seconds.  The stadium is clean and the entire outfield is adorned with waterfalls with seats mixed in between.  Getting in and out of the stadium is a breeze as it sits right on highway 70 next to the football stadium where the Chiefs play.  This also means ample parking.

I was fortunate I got a seat in the first row just past first base.  To my right were sitting a young couple who turned out were on their honeymoon.  They were psyched to be sitting in the front row and told me they hoped to get a ball.  They were Twins fans.  I told them that if I got a ball that I would give it to them.  So in the third inning with Ryan Doumit of the Twins at the plate and the couple up getting a beer, I got a ball hit to me.  I have been to about 200 pro baseball games in my life and have never gotten a ball.  I wanted to keep the ball, badly.  But, I didn’t need the ball.  I took a picture of it, put it on Facebook, and gave it to them.  Given the karmic forces that got me to the Omaha game for free (read here), I figured that I would pay this one forward.

As for the game itself, I am one of the few people in recent history that can say that they have seen the Twins win 3 games in a row.  The Royals, on the other hand, have lost 11 in a row at home and some of the fans were less than happy.  The Royals currently start 3 of the worst offensive position players in the league in Moustakas at third, Getz at second and the neverending Jeff Francouer experiment in right field.  Although today, only Moustakas and his .165 average were in the game.  The Royals were punchless and mustered 4 hits in a 3-0 loss.

The Royals were also kind enough to put my tweet on the scoreboard for all of Kansas City to see, or at least the 20,000 people at the game.  It said @garyrbeebejr, “First time at the K, visiting from Seattle, fab stadium. Go Royals.  #royalstweets”.

Four down, four to go, see you in Saint Louis.

Sioux Falls, SD and Omaha, NE – Day 3 – Random Acts of Kindness Fulfilled

Random Act Number One:  I kindly left Sioux Falls, SD.  It is a quaint town but I was unable to see a minor league ballgame there because it conflicted with the second Twins/Mariners game, so it became a stopover between Minneapolis and Omaha.  I did stop at the Sioux Falls Falls, which is a small waterfall in the city right downtown.  It is nice and quaint, much like the town.  I found the people in this city to be very reserved.  While they were polite and quick to smile, there was a reserved quietness about them that was reflected in the city, the architecture, the slow moving traffic.

Random Act Number Two:  There was one yoga studio.  I was planning on taking a bikram class at 9:30 in the morning but my sore back and shoulder made me think otherwise.  I decided to shut down the upper half of my body until that heals.  In exchange, I performed a random act of kindness to myself and got a one hour deep tissue massage.  As I sit and write this, my entire upper body aches from either the massage or the shoulder, back, neck pain – I can’t tell which!

Random Act Number Three:  I set the cruise control to exactly 5 miles per hour over the speed limit all the way from South Dakota to Omaha, NE.  In the process two more states I have never been to were knocked off the list; Iowa and Nebraska.

Random Act Number Four:  Upon arriving at the baseball game in Omaha, my ticket was at will call from the 3^rd baseman of the Omaha Storm Chasers (Royals) via the police officer that pulled me over in Minnesota.  The player’s name is Anthony Seratelli.  The people that worked at the stadium said he is a super nice guy.  The seat was right behind home plate and I thanked him for the ticket while he was standing in the on deck circle in the 9^th inning.  The O-Royals took a beating 7-1.  He told me that the team hadn’t been playing very well of late.  The minor league experience is quite different than that of a major league game, especially in Omaha.  Fun fact:  The Omaha team does not play in the same stadium as the college world series.  That stadium is downtown.  The Omaha AAA team stadium is out in a cornfield.  Literally.  It is very nice.  Today was the first of their dog days of summer and there were a ton of dogs at the park.  They have a kids’ area that wraps the entire outfield with small amusement park rides and other kids’ activities.  The most expensive ticket at the stadium is $16.50.  I had a delicious piece of pizza for $4.  Part of the left field and the entire right field seating area is grass.  Families were out there with their dogs and blankets enjoying the beautiful day.  In between every half inning they had fan events on the field, such as balloon races, costume races, etc.  It was a fabulous and super fun atmosphere.  Unfortunately the game was not that memorable, other than the fact that the top 3 hitters on the Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals) killed the Storm Chasers on their own.  Two of them looked major league ready against one of the Royals better pitching prospects Chris Dwyer.  There were no home runs, and I think that is because the park looks huge.  I will have to check out the stats on it some other time.

Random Act Number Five:  Going to bed.  On to Kansas City to see the big club tomorrow, against the Twins no less.

Minneapolis – Day 2 – Sun Kissed and Moving (too) Fast

So much happened today and yet it is nice to not have to be anywhere at any given time.  I find it ironic that I got a speeding ticket driving from Minneapolis to Sioux Falls, SD.  More on that later. 

I started the day with the knowledge that there would be no yoga practice unless I did it myself, so I did just that in the gym of the hotel.  Home practice, as taught.  I think some of the weightlifters thought I may have been a bit off my rocker, and that wouldn’t be the first or last time.  It felt good, opened up my chi.  I didn’t realize how hard I have been pushing my body in the past few weeks until I tried to loosen it up after a day off.

It was a glorious, 70 degree day in Minneapolis and my mother would be peeved to know that I forgot my sunblock.  Not just the 30 sunblock that didn’t work for shit in the Caribbean, but any sunblock at all.  Fortunately the sun in Minnesota is not the sun in the Dominican so the redness is minimal. 

The Mariners decided not to show up at the stadium today and got flogged 10-0.  The Twins hit 4 home runs and 2 players, Aaron Hicks and Brian Dozier were one hit each away from hitting for the cycle.  That would have been cool, considering that Hicks is batting .160 and Dozier .222.

Often and when I am in my flow and in my true self, which is currently defined as my grateful inner child, cool things happen to me.  Or better put, opportunities arise out of situations that were completely unexpected.  Regardless of whether my definition of my true self is correct, I was in my true self driving to Sioux Falls, SD from Minneapolis.  It is about 300 miles of farmland on very straight and very flat highway.  My rental car has XM Satellite radio which is new to me and awesome.  There is a channel called Margaritaville that is all Jimmy Buffet, all the time.  I also enjoyed the 80s and 90s channel.  The decision was made to purchase tickets to a Jimmy Buffet concert this summer, which will require travel.  I think it will be my 50^th or so Buffet concert.  Parrotheads Unite!

About 10 miles from South Dakota, I was pulled over for going 90 in a 70.  Oops.  In speaking with the Minnesota state trooper, who was tall and fit, probably 28 years old, short brown hair, definitely local by the accent, I told him the nature of my trip.  He said that he used to play minor league baseball and that he personally knew the third baseman for the Omaha Royals, the next stop on my tour.  He then asked me to write my name on a sheet of paper because he would be happy to ask the third baseman of the Omaha Royals to leave me a complimentary ticket for the game Monday night.  That led to this exchange:

Me:  “Thank you, that is very kind and appreciated."

Officer: “It is the least I could do after pulling you over at the beginning of your vacation.”

Me:  “Don’t worry about it, this isn’t my first speeding ticket.”

Officer:  “Well I won’t lose any sleep over it.”

Me:  “That makes two of us, thanks again.”

This is my life, my inner child and gratitude in action.  Or, it is just a really nice cop who likes to do random nice things for people after he pulls them over.  In pondering this I was reminded that it is impossible to come in conflict, or agreement for that matter, with society without society being at least part to blame, or in this case to positively participate.  And this means that the converse must be true as well.  Everything also happens for a reason, and I can't wait for the reason to be revealed.  He did give me the ticket, 80 in a 70.  He gave me the break on the speed before the conversation.  I think it is also odd that ten minutes before I got pulled over that I had an intuition that said "You drive too fast".

For the remainder of the trip to SD, I was pondering the freedom of not having to be anywhere, of being completely free from the rigor of the daily routine, and the irony of getting a ticket in this situation.  I had no reason to be speeding other than just not paying attention on a flat and boring road.  There is a definitive difference between being in a hurry and having a purpose.  Being in a hurry is a state of mind often accompanied by sloppiness and execution errors.  Moving fast, or in this case, too fast by the standards of the law, doesn’t equate to a hurry if there is a purpose.    I suppose that is why I am not the least bit upset about the ticket!