But I digress. We got a cab with a very friendly cab driver who was originally from India and held forth on the unspoken rules of cab lines and the responsibilities of both drivers and passengers in those lines. Then he told us about his horoscope and his son's. Where he comes from, parents hire a specialist to issue a horoscope shortly after one's birth. His said that he would leave the country. But there was a back-up: if he did not leave India, it said he would be a police or military officer. His son's horoscope predicts that he'll be a millionaire. After that, he quizzed us, "What do you think karma means?" and then explained to us how our idea was correct. Eventually we found our way to my cousin, a, and her husband, b's, house. We found our room on the tippy top floor with their surf boards leaning in a corner, turned out the homemade lamp glowing softly through colorful glass, and fell asleep.
The next day (8.2.08) the four of us set out to walk a trail that wound around Talapus and Olallie lakes. b took a dip in the lake, but the rest of us stayed dry. Actually, it was perfect t-shirt weather when we were moving. We stopped for lunch atop a ridge from which we would have had a view of Mt. Rainier had it not been deliciously misty. As we snacked on Hint of Lime(R) chips and passed around the sandwich fixings the Gray Jays began to flutter in as if this were a scene from The Birds. a squinted her eyes at one and said menacingly, "I see you," before turning around and commenting on their aggressive habit of stealing food right out of one's hands if one is not vigilant. Several moments later, she felt feathers on her cheek and Nate was flinging chips into the rocks and cursing at one.
We arrived back in Seattle with time to change our shoes before a dropped us off at the Safeco field for the Mariners-Orioles game. All during our hike, ncd held forth on Seattle sports answering questions and addressing topics ranging from the fan capacity of baseball vs. football 
stadia to the selling of the Sonics. a + b keep up on sports as much as I would if ncd were not around to keep me well-informed on all things athletic (which is to say, not at all). ncd was assuring b that we didn't need dinner as we'd eat at the game and was shocked when b imagined aloud the pricey hotdogs we'd eat at the game. ncd assured him that one of the points of visiting stadia far and wide was to sample the unique local fare. Indeed, we had some famed coastal...um, garlic fries...AND this delicious chowder bread bowl!
stadia to the selling of the Sonics. a + b keep up on sports as much as I would if ncd were not around to keep me well-informed on all things athletic (which is to say, not at all). ncd was assuring b that we didn't need dinner as we'd eat at the game and was shocked when b imagined aloud the pricey hotdogs we'd eat at the game. ncd assured him that one of the points of visiting stadia far and wide was to sample the unique local fare. Indeed, we had some famed coastal...um, garlic fries...AND this delicious chowder bread bowl!
ncd was excited to see this guy pitch. I see from his uniform in the picture that his name is Hernandez. I was excited to see him warm up by throwing 80-90 mph pitches about 12 feet away from me.
ncd: excited that I agreed to get tickets 13 rows behind home plate.
me: excited to be close enough to see forms that can be plausibly interpreted as humans rather than GI Joes dressed up in baseball uniforms. Also, baseball is much more interesting when ncd is telling stories about the origins of the guy pitching, tales of the hitter's injuries, and sordid accounts of various trades, weaseling, and squabbles of the shortstop, left-fielder, and 1st base coach. I am, of course, making all of the "specifics" up because I am not some sort of genius repository of riveting sports facts like ncd. I did successfully recite the numbers that correspond to the players' positions...and got, like, 8 out of 9 right. So maybe I am a genius...
ncd: excited that they show what has happened thus far in an inning on a screen in case you were gone getting beer and your SO doesn't know what the hell is going on and can't fill you in
me: excited about the wave.
ncd: hates the wave (there's a very principled argument behind it) but grudgingly admitted after 5 times around the stadium that its strength and continual sychronization was "pretty amazing. If we were in Minnesota, the upper deck and the lower deck wouldn't be able to keep it together past the gap in the outfield." Seattle, consider thyself praised with faint damning.
me: excited about the rally jig
ncd: amazingly...excited about the rally jig. Says something about people winning him over with committed rally jigging.
While we wait for this mean machine we try to visit Pyramid Brewing (right across the street from the stadium), but I had left my wallet and I.D. in my other bag. Don't worry--this will all come wackily full-circle in the end.
While we wait for this mean machine we try to visit Pyramid Brewing (right across the street from the stadium), but I had left my wallet and I.D. in my other bag. Don't worry--this will all come wackily full-circle in the end.But back to the back end of the Corolla: b assembled this custom trunk with diamond plate and mad welding skills. For some reason this makes me find the sticker depicting the impish jedi, labeled "toYoda", displayed on the dashboard quite appropriate. I'm still working out the metaphor between Yoda and this uniquely equipped car, but I'm sure it's all going to come together for me once I sit quietly for awhile and channel the Force.
To be continued...
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