Yesterday's Walk: ~ The more peace there is in us, the more peace there will be in our troubled world.~ Etty Hillesum

I only worked an eight-hour shift overnight Monday as opposed to the usual twelve, so I had more energy than usual after walking home yesterday.  It was a good morning, then, to pack my backpack for a longer walk.  After buying a carrot muffin and some watermelon, I got my bag together, filled my water bottle with iced tea and lemon slices, reapplied my sunscreen and lip balm (this kind, thank you, and I could EAT it, it smells and tastes so good), and set back out into the sun.  At the two-mile mark, I found myself admiring this fountain as I always do.  It is my favorite sculpture in one of my favorite spots in the city.  The University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning stands in the background, another of the city's great beauties.  In the nine years I've lived here, I've spent many hours on the benches that surround this fountain, sometimes with an ice cream cone and sometimes with a book, but always grateful for the oasis this spot provides.  May 2011.  And that a human being created this!  ♥

It was a hot and humid walk, even so early in the morning, but there was a nice enough breeze.  Nature provided hearts along the way, as it tends to do. 

When I last showed you Neptune, his pool was not yet filled with lily pads.  He has a more colorful world to guard now in the summer.

And into the woods. . . .

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.  Bliss.

The pond wasn't looking its best, and I couldn't take a step on its shores without crossing paths with dragonflies skimming the water.  I passed a man who was out walking and a few young women running through the woods, but it was a quiet park yesterday.  'Too buggy to lunch here, but peaceful.  And breezy enough to give relief, but not so windy as to keep the flowers from standing still for pictures. 

I returned to the park to find a shady spot for lunch. 

The site of what used to be Forbes Field, one of the Pittsburgh Pirates' earliest stadiums, ended up being the ideal place to put down my backpack finally and take a break.  Dappled shade and solitude!  It's another of my favorite places in the city.  It's a quiet and small spot, neatly tucked away into the campus that now surrounds it, but is one with so much history.  In 1935, Babe Ruth hit three home runs here in a single game.  Bill Mazeroski's home run that won the 1960 World Series for the Pirates was hit here too.  I never walk around what remains of the outfield wall without remembering that my grandfather and my dad got to see many of the greats play ball here.  

One set of three-tier bleachers was in full sun yesterday afternoon, but the other made a perfect dining room.  Shade!  The frosting and flowers I spread onto my muffin-now-turned-cupcake were pretty but not quite what I was feeling like after so much walking--it would be eight miles by the time I arrived back at home later--but the iced tea was soon almost gone and I could have happily eaten my weight in watermelon. 

After eating, I wandered around more before starting the walk home and noticed a table and chair set in the distance behind the outfield wall.  I don't remember it having been there before, but it will surely be one of my next lunch spots.  How dear is this! 

A rabbit sat still long enough for me to get its picture as I walked home.  Usually, they're too skittish and disappear as soon as I raise the camera. 

Two miles back to the apartment--

--and soon I was crawling into bed--finally--to sleep away the rest of the afternoon. 

♥

Dad Begins Buctober

Dad is on the mend from both Shingles and a cold, but he, like so many baseball fans across our home state, will be cheering on his team tonight during its first playoff game since 1992.  I've been home twice in the past five weeks, and both visits have been full of Pirates games on TV and talk of "Dad's" Buccos.  A lifelong fan, Dad is known for saying at the start of every season, "THIS will be their year!"--and then, after each of the Bucs' recent twenty consecutive losing seasons, "We'll get 'em next year!"  Finally, this really does seem to be their year, commemorated in Dad's birthday card above in August,  :) and I've been so happy that Dad's gotten to experience their comeback. 

He'll still be thrilled with their performance even if their season doesn't go any further than tonight's playoff game, Dad told me over the weekend.  The bandwagon fans will fall away, he said, but the true fans know what an accomplishment it is that the team has achieved all that it already has this year.  But you can bet Dad'll be yelling at the TV tonight back home, cheering each run and chewing out the umps over any bad calls. 

The mania is sweeping the city.  Local restaurants' windows sport the Pirates' ship, flag, and battle cry. (If you don't already have a favorite team to root for tonight, this video is played toward the end of Pirates games and may sway you toward Dad's buccaneers.)  :)

The Pirate Parrot--with whom I want to have my picture taken at a game someday, although Mike scoffs and says "That's for little kids!"--is seemingly everywhere--

--included in the toys my nephew carries around with him. 

And even Pirates beer has appeared, this bottle on a side shelf of my parents' fridge.   Dad likes baseball because it's a game of strategy--like a chess match--he explained a few weeks ago.  People think football or basketball are the real strategy sports, he said, but Dad thinks baseball is more than any other sport.  I like it when people can articulate what they like or appreciate about something, especially when it teaches me something, so I found that  interesting. 

This is Dad in 1984 with my younger brother.  Now my younger brother is expecting his first baby next month.  Time flies.  Dad's team, however, has remained the same.  Here's hoping they win it tonight--for him, even if he'll be happy either way.  ♥  Hoist the colors!