A very different season.
For Carly's Round Robin Challenge: Not Of This Season, I present echos of baseball season. And I'm not talking about just any baseball season. No, I'm referring to the summer of 1993 - and the summer of 2009.
 Rainclouds completely obscure the mountains in the January rain. |
| From my Picasa album Tucson Weather |
Until late this afternoon, I was stumped on this Round Robin topic. Tucson was doing what Tucson nearly always does in January: getting a little winter rain in to hold us until the summer monsoon. (Tucson averages just under an inch of rain in January, a bit less in February and March, just a quarter inch in April through June, and then over two inches a month during the summer monsoon.) Frankly, a picture of Tucson in January looks an awful lot like a picture of Tucson in July. So how was I going to show something unseasonal in a place that barely has any seasons?
The humans get under cover from the rain - Pepper, not so much.
 |
| From my Picasa album Round Robin Photo Challenges |
Then as I got near the dog park, I thought of Hi Corbett Field, which is also in Reid Park. Yeah! January is definitely not baseball season, but tickets for Rockies spring training are already on sale. Sure enough, there were people in the box office. But that's not what got me excited.
Welcome back, Toros! How I've missed you!
This is what got me all emotional: a Tucson Toros logo, adorning the Hi Corbett wall for the first time in over a decade. My favorite team is back! Sort of.
1993 Toros team autographs on a 1993 jersey in the 2009 Toros office.
This being only January, they're not really back yet, and when they do get here in May it won't really be them. The name is right. The venue is right. The colors are right. But the old Toros, the version that won Pacific Coast League championships in 1991 and 1993, were the AAA affiliates of the Houston Astros. 1993 was the year I discovered baseball, when John and I attended one game as a rut-breaker and liked it a lot. So we went to a ton of games over the next several years, and I got to do a lot of interesting things as a Toros fan, including being (at different times) guest scorekeeper, guest color announcer and guest interviewer.
Through a complex series of events, the Toros morphed into the Tucson Sidewinders in the late 1990s, with the wrong venue, the wrong colors, wrong just about everything. We stopped going to games, and so did a lot of other fans. Now the Sidewinders have gone off to Reno, and Tucson will have the new Toros, part of the independent Golden Baseball League.
The deserted concourse fills me with memories of seasons past - lining up for
giveaways, waiting for autographs, even a brief stint as team webmaster.
giveaways, waiting for autographs, even a brief stint as team webmaster.
Nevertheless, I was inspired to go ask when Toros tickets go on sale, despite the fact that it was almost 5 PM and the ticket office was about to close. They directed me into the unlit concourse and through an unmarked door on the inner wall: the once and future Toros office.
I met a couple of nice people there, chatted briefly, looked at a seat map and took a few pictures. Season tickets and packages (basically ticket books) are already on sale, but not single game tickets. "They don't start playing until May, so check back with us in April," I was told.
Still. The Toros! Hi Corbett! Tuffy the Toro, the team mascot for which my recently deceased dog was named! Huzzah!
But the day wasn't done showing me unseasonable things to show you. Tucson gets almost no fall leaves, but a leaf on the ground in the Hi Corbett parking lot was so red I thought for a moment it was printed on paper for a promotion of some sort. Nope. It was a real fall leaf - in Tucson! In January! I thought of you, Jama, and knew you'd want to see it.
Here comes the sun.
And later we went out to my favorite Chinese restaurant (Peking Palace) to celebrate my new job, even though I got word today that I may be unemployed again by Monday. They still had Christmas ornaments hanging from their chandeliers. Maybe they plan to keep them up because they're pretty. I'm really happy with the photo because of the light pattern on the ceiling looking like a smiling summer sun.
Now let's go see everyone else's unseasonal photos:
Linking List
Carly - Posted!
Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com
Monica - Posted!
Photographers Choice
http://familyaffairphotos.blogspot.com
Karen - Posted!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com
Gattina - Posted!
Keyhole Pictures
http://gattina-keyholepictures.blogspot.com
Terri - Posted!
Ways I See The World
http://teelgeephotos.blogspot.com
gwenlyn **Welcome New Member** - Posted!
Greenchair
http://gtsgreenchair.blogspot.com
Vicki - Posted!
Maraca
http://mymaracas.blogspot.com
Suzanne R - Posted!
SuzyQ421's Photo Blog
http://suzyq421sphotoblog.blogspot.com
Jama - Posted!
Sweet Memories
http://mummyjam.blogspot.com
Linda
Mommy's Treasures
http://www.mommystreasures.blogspot.com
Marina - Posted!
Milepebbles
http://milepebbles.blogspot.com
Jill - Posted!
South Bay Soliloquy
http://southbaysoliloquy.blogspot.com
Julie - Posted!
Julie's Web Journal
http://www.barrettmanor.com/julie/journal.aspx
Kathy - Posted!
Through the Viewfinder
http://naliorf.blogspot.com
Chris**Welcome New Member** - Posted!
Camera Obscura
http://yecap1970rrc.blogspot.com
-rRose - Posted!
WAIT-NOTYET-MOUNTAIN RIVER WHISPERS
http://wait-notyet-mountainriverwhispers.blogspot.com
Annie
Pictures of Craziness
http://krspkrmmom.blogspot.com
Sherrie - Posted!
Sherrie's Stuff
http://sherrie-plummer.blogspot.com
Basir Seerat **Welcome New Member**
Basir Seerat's Photography
http://basirseerat.blogspot.com
Connie - Posted!
Far Side of Fifty Photos
http://farsideoffiftyphotos.blogspot.com
Wammy - Posted!
The Ellis Family Cincinnati
http://theellisfamilycincinnati.blogspot.com
How about you? Are you playing along this week? Check the Round Robin blog for info on how to join in. That's never out of season.
Karen
7 comments:
I don't know what it is living without season, but rain we have the whole year, winter, spring, summer automn !
wow...you were really on a roll. Love all the shots. Especially the baseball...The Rockies were our son's favorite team when he was in elementary school. And what a beautiful red leaf. Nice job!
Hi Karen :)
Wow, these are some of your best. :) I am glad you played along this time, I enjoyed the first photo very much, and I liked being able to see the stadium. I used to be a HUGE baseball fan, but have lost my way in the last few years, every time I see photos like this it renews my interest in the game. Cool that... so thanks.
Have a good weekend.
Carly
The last photo does look like a smiling sun on the ceiling - cool effect. It's definately not baseball season and it worked perfectly for this current challenge.
Monica
What a neat series of pictures and story about your love of the Toros and how it came to be. I hope the Toros of 2009 fulfill your every expectation! Perfect for the theme.
I knew you'd come up with something interesting for this challenge. Hooray for the return of the Toros!
good idea the sport out of season concept :-).
Love the vintage poster.
Post a Comment