I generally have a plan.
But as my wife, Sherry, will happily relate, my plans don’t always pan out.
Last Wednesday is an example. We took a one-day Plus60/Burlington Trailways bus trip to Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs play the Cardinals. (See the photos above.) I’m not much for watching baseball games on TV, but I love watching them in person at the stadium. So it was a trip I was looking forward to.
But I made a slight miscalculation.
The sun was supposed to shine, and the predicted high was to be somewhere around 80 degrees. So I decided a pair of shorts, a Hawaiian shirt and a baseball cap would be suitable attire.
My wife, who has adopted the Boy Scouts’ motto of “be prepared” as her own, wore slacks, a polo shirt, a jacket and a baseball cap. “She’ll roast and end up carrying the jacket,” I thought.
Our tickets were for the third base side of Wrigley in section 213, row 12.
Unfortunately for me and my plan, our section was shaded from the sun by a deck of seating above us. In addition, the wind was blowing from the east, and we were facing east. We received a steady, cool breeze from Lake Michigan for the entire game.
Sherry is more cold-blooded than I am. Even with her jacket, she was cold from the get-go. And so was Mr. I Have a Plan.
So when I went downstairs prior to the start of the game to get some concessions, I also bought an attractive, but overpriced, Cubs long-sleeve T-shirt. I quickly put it on right over the top of my Hawaiian shirt because at this point my goal was to warm up, not win a fashion contest.
The T-shirt helped, but I was still cold.
Sherry made it about seven innings before she had to leave to find a place to stand in the sunshine. I made it the entire game but will always remember my latest Wrigley experience partially for how cold I was for so long.
Yes, I generally have a plan but, like I said, it doesn’t always work out.
My new plan is to take a jacket, or perhaps a hooded sweatshirt, the next time I go to a ballgame. I’ll happily carry it if my assigned seat is in the sun.
Copyright 2013 by Phil Roberts, Creative Enterprises.
