Inspiration
My husband (TV Stevie) and I go to Cooperstown every summer . . . for the opera at Glimmerglass.
The first year, I didn't know about the picnic grounds. The following year, I dreamed a picnic the night before we went, threw it together before we left the house. TV Stevie resisted. Now it's a tradition.
In 2010 we happened to be in Cooperstown on Baseball Hall of Fame Induction weekend. TV Stevie likes to go into the shops in town and check things out. After 20-something years of marriage, I know this, and I prepare. I packed a book.
We found a parking spot on the main street, but up the hill a bit from the heart of the village. He went to check out the shops, I found a bench and curled up with a nice romantic suspense novel. I heard music. A parade was starting right in front of me. Unfortunately, the only camera I had with me was my cell phone, but I snapped a few pix to show TV Stevie.
It took me a couple of minutes to realize what I was seeing: Baseball Hall of Famers, riding in the back of pick-up trucks . . . stopped in front of me. I left my bench and moved to the street.
There were maybe 10 other people around. Because we were at the beginning of the parade, the trucks would stop in front of us. And the players would speak to us. I just kept taking photos with my phone, not believing that I was this close to Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson. Jim Palmer -- the man who used to model Jockey underwear -- made some comment about my dress. I finally found a moment to call TV Stevie and tell him to get back to the car right now.
He couldn't believe it. He exchanged quips with Dennis Eckersley and joked with Carlton Fisk.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And I captured it
with a cell phone.
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