Like I Said

The review in the Arizona Republic was like I said....we knew what we were going to see when we got there. And we were not disappointed.
http://www.azcentral.com/ent/music/articles/10191018eaglesrev.html

The Eagles In Concert Again (Not the football ones!)

I am still smiling from the excitement of "The Eagles" concert last night. Yes, it was the third one in three years --- but I listen to them every day when I exercise and am in my car. I get a thrill seeing my favorite songs performed live. So what if it is the same comments and jokes as the last two concerts? The audience demographic at the event in the Glendale Arena (AZ) skewed to middle age -- and the performers themselves are showing signs of aging and appear to be a bit road-weary. In fact, Glenn Frey said, "Are there any young people in the crowd tonight? If so, your parents had some great friends. Us!" They proceeded to play for over three hours, with their signature three encores, ending with the traditional "Desperado." I did not want the lights to go on or the evening to end. And if you offered me tickets for the show here in two weeks, I'd be there all over again.
Oddly, "The Eagles" were not even mentioned in passing in the story below "That Old Time RockNRoll Still Reels in Fans." The arena was sold out; people are pricing tickets very high on auction sites -- someone else is buying them besides me. I know that I saw alot of other oldies, as my daughter calls them, singing along with their old friends last night.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20051018/en_usatoday/thatoldtimerocknrollstillreelsinfans

Arizona Fall League 2005

Fall League began for us last week in Peoria. I measure the games by how many World Series rings I spot among the scouts. There were the usual 10 fans, about 30 scouts, netting two rings. Today, back in Peoria, we encountered over 300 fans, MLB Scouting School, a record nine rings, Jenny Finch, Mitchell Page and one really relaxing afternoon. Steven Drew was great as were a few of the other players (you heard it from me first: he has the same smooth moves as ARod).
I generally clap for everyone as I think they should know someone appreciates their play. The scouts are timing base runs and capturing speed of the pitches, and are expressionless, lest they share their opinions with a competing team's scout. I am often the solo clapper. Friday, Gary Harris of the Mariners was cheered on by his mom and dad. Today there were actual fans in the stands. I cannot wait until our next game as it is the only time my husband runs -- he has been spotted running into the stadium and towards various players.
P.S. I did not share my opinion on Drew with the two scouts wearing Florida Marlins and NY Yankees World Series rings that were seated nearby. My obsessive observation of World Series rings has led me to a conclusion -- that newer, recent rings are much more flamboyant (larger, more diamonds) than older rings which look alot like very big school rings. The most flashy one was at both games, but I did not get a good enough look to identify which team.

Symbolism of "Twelve"

My amazing organ pipe cactus had twelve flowers over the Rosh Hashana holiday -- two on Rosh Hashanah eve, four the first night, and a record-setting six the second night. I greeted them all and treasure their appearance during such a significant time. The significance of twelve flowers is interesting -- number of months, number of tribes, ....I haven't quite figured it out yet but certainly the next twelve months may unveil the answers. And I will appreciate the lesson of my precious flowers, gracing us with their presence for one glorious night. The year is off to a great start, with two flowers on the very first night.

Official Observation

It appears that Breast Cancer Awareness Month must share the billing with other celebrations, mostly those related to eating. This includes Celebrate Sun Dried Tomatoes Month (we do at our house everyday!); National Cookie Month (cookies are my favorite treat!); National Popcorn Poppin' Month (I think about popcorn much more than I eat it); National Seafood Month (does fish count as seafood?) and Vegetarian Month -- perfect for the month of harvest and Sukkot celebration. There are other food celebration months but I don't eat the items feted, so am not mentioning them, but I will say most of them relate to "oink."

My "Eck" Jersey

I wore my "Eck" jersey for the first time last weeekend to a Diamondbacks game. I love it, and, on top of everything else, it causes a stir. The first person to comment was a vendor outside the stadium who wanted to buy it from me as he loves the "A's". While we were eating our dinner in the Infinity Level Club, another guy yelled "Look, there's an Oakland fan!" He reported the score of the day (Oakland had won) and that he had just moved to Phoenix from Oakland. I told him Huston Street would be my next jersey and he grinned. Once in the seat, this guy in the row ahead of us kept climbing over empty seats to get in and out. After one time when he kicked me, he started warning me he was coming through, "Hey Dennis, I am coming through." It added to the fun of the evening, along with experiencing the opening of GuitarMania on the streets of Phoenix. The guitars were so unique and were so much fun to look at that -- you did not notice it was over 100 degrees outside.
Pssst. The "Eck" jersey is not for sale. My husband bought it for me on eBay, despite his incessant teasing about my choice of baseball legends.

Butterflies

Butterflies are frequent visitors in our yard, with so many, multi-colored varieties circling the yellow, orange and red blossoms in our yard. We have many butterfly-friendly flowers that attract these delicate creatures as they migrate back from their summers in Mexico. This year there seems to be many more types (is that what they are -- is it species?) than most years. My husband noticed them fluttering about, and so sweetly said, "It's that time of year!" Yes, it is, and I hope to observe their migration for many years to come. October 1 is the first day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month -- so each day I am bombarded by reminders that it is important to make each day special, noticing butterflies, cheering for my cactus flowers that come out for just one night, and appreciating my husband and daughter. I won't get started on the hummingbirds that are also gracing us with their presence now as well.