Week 50 - Revoir

The sun was just dropping past home plate when we arrived at the game this weekend.

This week was one of the more sad of the week, as the Brazilians started to say their goodbyes, and they flew out home on Wednesday. It seems like just yesterday that I was picking them up at the airport, dragging them around work for introductions and mounds of paperwork, and driving them through 2-hour traffic to their new home with us in April. Not every thing about them was easy or pleasant, but neither is it for anyone else. They were very hard workers, always positive and non-cliques unlike the most of their nationality that visits here. We had a lot of good times while they were here and I only wish we could have gotten more research work done. With the freeze-dryer dead for 3 weeks now, and the fermenters period 4 dying this past week, and nobody running PCR or taking the time to teach them (and me being too busy to help them with this), they probably didn't get as much out of the trip as we had hoped, but I know that they are much better at their English and their fermenter work than before. And they got to work and meet many famous people to their own university while they were here.

To celebrate their time here and say farewell, our PI took us out to the Clippers for a mLB baseball game. The Clippers haven't been traditionally good, but they have had a couple of good years recently, as if to encourage people to come out and watch them in their new stadium. I am a big fan of the new stadium, and shot many pictures with my iPhone during the evening to give you a feel for the game experience here in town. Our stadium is near the downtime high life but surrounded by good parking and traffic managers who are familiar with heavy attendance events. Neither my PI or I had the foresight to purchase tickets ahead of time and so we were lucky that the scalpers outside had a set of tickets near the outfielders which turned out to be a good show with home runs and good catches galore. Since it was dime-a-dog night, we did our part to consume copious cheap carbs and mysterious ground meat, combined with beers pricey enough to bring the balance back to the norm.

What really struck me about the game this year was that we were in the hot dog line when the national anthem was introduced. You could just barely hear it over the crowd, but as the stands stood and most (should be all!) removed their hats and covered their hearts, a silence fell on the food stands. These, these are the people who get it. They work every game in the park, all summer, and they drop it all when the song symbolic of all their dreams, and the freedom of the game is played and sung for all. Their respect for the flag, the song and all it represents was inspiring to me. The great American game is still alive with great American patriotism. You don't have to love the game to want to go, you just have to love this country and the people in it.

I told the Brazilians that there is nothing as American as a hotdog and a ball game on a summer day.

The stadium as the lights came on. With so many hits, it was a long game.

A panorama of the field from our seats as the sunset's colors faded away.

Full on dark at the game.

A view down as it rains.

In other news, I am in hardcore training mode for the Pelotonia this year. If you are interested in donating money to cancer research, please Google Pelotonia and make a tax-deductible contribution to a fund dedicated to cancer research here until there is a cure found. The research is local, but the impact is global and I am proud to be a part of what I hope to be a difference-maker for the betterment and enjoyable extension of my childrens' lives.

Crop-duster flew over my bike.

Of course, as I ride, my skill improves, and I am finally cutting into better times that are respectable among my peers. This week I have finally climbed up into the top 7 for my area, and am 2 minutes behind the leader for our 13-mile stretch of road. My goal is to catch the leader by this fall and pass him, but these last couple miles per hour are tough to tackle and I really need to lose a few more pounds to lighten the ride. Losing pounds is incredibly hard, and I have started using a new app, LoseIt, which I hope will help with the loss. If I can achieve my goals with it, you can count on me posting a special post about the use of it and the long road to weight loss, but for now I am happy to regulate intake and trade fat for muscle, even if the weight isn't going anywhere.


The state fair is still in full swing, and I took our baby girl on a tour of the animals around the grounds. Here's just a few of the pictures from our trip. Other notable stops include a diaper change at both the cattlemen's association booth and the lumberjack competition, a bottle-feeding at the poultry barn, a walk-by of the sea lions (which I never got to see up close because they were out in the bright sunlight) and a short stroll through carnie-town.

Us, with the little piglets and safe animal handling display.

Us, with my brother's fancy chicken.

Us, with my brother's crazy rabbits.

Us drinking a bottle, promoting our favorite stock industry.

Post-game relaxing w/Dad.

"You're picking that up?"

Every fair needs a little bit of post-fair partying, and my best man and his girlfriend were over to hang out this weekend and celebrate the end of the week with some good-spirited, competitive euchre. Our little girl has been quite the celebrity, and got passed around to guest-play for everyone. She does make it a bit hard to focus on the game since she's so precious, but she is learning to play a family tradition early, and I am looking forward to many good times to come.

So, the time has come to say goodbye to a good chapter in our lives, as we wind up the summer, our time at home with baby Hannah, and the stay of the Brazilians. It has been a good summer, and I am not quite ready to let it all go. This was definitely one of those nostalgic weeks where you look back and try to hold on to what is passing with your toughest grip. But, in the end, time marches on, whether we are ready for it or not. This summer was a great adventure, a fine new chapter in my life. As we say goodbye to Brazilians, I am reminded of saying goodbye to our friends in the Netherlands when I came home. Not just goodbye, but "au revoir", because I know we will see each other again.

Believe it or not, they did not pack half of America in all that luggage. Just a "few" things.