19 : LP1 : 11 : 14

While I was getting ready to leave for another early morning appointment – Yali’s last scheduled physical therapy meeting – I could hear Puck and Yali in the other room. Puck had recently acquired a tape measurer – I’m not sure how – and was putting it to good use.

“YALI! Let me measure your belly! Hold still, Yali! Let me measure your belly!”

Puck had a much better day at school. Not only was he given the opportunity to show off his chunk of the Great Pyramid –

“You know that stuff was contraband,” Carrie-Bri told him later.

– but he also learned that one of his favorite families from school was considering joining us for Halloween this year.

Not an hour went by without him asking me, “Did Mrs. V write you back yet? Do you know if they can come?”

Meanwhile, we decided to use those four free tickets to the game from Fredbird that evening: myself, Francis, Thumper, and Linnea-Irish.

Stashed high up in the Left Field Porch with a deep overhang, it was sort of like watching baseball through a box, maybe the diorama version. Little resin figurines positioned on green turf inside a shoebox.

But despite not being able to really tell when a ball would be a home run, and despite not being able to see the sky – a definite “must” – the game is always good.

Francis ran off for a cheeseburger and fries. The girls made a Dip ‘n Dots run. I knocked back the last of the Reeses Pieces from Monday night’s game. This is the problem with baseball games. You end up driving downtown during the dinner hour, so you completely forget to eat real food. But what’s a skipped meal when there’s an NL Central Pennant Race on the line?

Anyway, four home runs were plenty enough to cinch the series sweep. Not to mention my favorite being back in the line-up for the first time since July 29th, a game I also happened to attend when he went down for the count running down the first base line. Things are still looking up.

And another crash into bed about 11:30. Still worth it.

CARDINALS:

St. Louis: 10-2 win against Reds for the sweep, Matt Holliday in the lineup.

4 games up on Pittsburgh: 96 and 56; 10 games remaining.

Magic Number: 7.