Monday, October 19, 2020

Three Beautiful Things 10-18-20: 12th Century Mayhem, Family Dinner, Dodgers Outplay Braves BONUS A Limerick by Stu

1. Using the Bluetooth function on my cell phone, I played Pillars of the Earth on my wireless speaker while doing dishes and cleaning up a bit in the kitchen. Later, I sat and listened. William Hamleigh, the sadistic sociopath, played a central and violent role in what I listened to. Ken Follett's study of how his damaged psyche works is both illuminating and frightening. His deep insecurities and murderous, rapacious ways add a great deal of tension and horror to the story. I'm always relieved when episodes involving him end. 

2. Tonight's family dinner: Christy and Everett needed to stay home this evening. I went over to Carol and Paul's and enjoyed the meal they prepared. We opened with a Brown Sugar Mule, a cocktail make with Brown Sugar Bourbon, ginger beer, and lime -- it's a sweeter version of the Moscow Mule and I enjoyed it a lot. Carol then served a  delicious fresh autumn salad with greens, candied nuts, apples, and an apple-y vinaigrette. For the main course, Carol and Paul made stuffed pepper soup. I love stuffed peppers and never thought of the same ingredients being combined to make a soup and it was very satisfying, very flavorful. We ended our dinner with a slice of tasty Keto pumpkin pecan cake. 

The three of us talked a lot about sports tonight. Carol and Paul had been watching the movie, Moneyball, and I had the way analytics have changed the way baseball is played on my mind, having been watching the league playoffs. Paul has also been watching The Last Dance (which I haven't seen) and the three of us had fun talking about the NBA during the years Michael Jordan played. 

3. I returned home and flipped the television on just in time to see the Dodgers tie their Game 7 tilt with the Braves when Kiki Hernandez homered. The Dodgers seized the lead for good when Cody Bellinger hit a game winning round tripper in the bottom of the seventh inning and L.A. won 4-3.  

I'm not nearly as passionate in my baseball partisanship as I was as a youngster and a young adult, but I had enough emotion invested in the Braves' success that I was deflated, disappointed by the outcome. At the same time, I was deeply impressed by the pitching performance of Julio Urias. He mowed down the Braves in order in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings, pitching masterfully. I have since read that while I was at dinner, two players I admire a ton, Justin Turner and Mookie Betts, made spectacular plays on defense, costing the Braves at least two, possibly three runs. 

So, on Tuesday, the World Series gets underway in Arlington, TX matching the powerful Dodgers and the scrapping, unorthodox Tampa Bay Rays. I won't be rooting as hard for the Rays as I rooted for the Nationals last year. Having lived near D. C. for three years, I pretended like the Nationals were my home team. But, I'll be pulling for the Rays and, as I sit here this morning writing this, I expect to be disappointed. The Dodgers haven't won a World Series since 1988. I think their drought will end this season. 

Here's a limerick by Stu:

We’ve heard lots ‘bout winds as of late. 
Like the sand in a “Haboob” folks hate. 
Talked tornados and typhoons, 
Hurricanes and monsoons, 
And learned a “Derecho” wipes crops from a state.

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