When we were in Albuquerque, NM for 4th of July, we were fortunate to hang out with a few of the other "fellows" at the hospital where Mike is working. One of the guys got tickets for us to watch an Albuquerque Isotopes ballgame. We were especially excited, because after the ballgame there was supposed to be a fireworks exhibition! We had hoped to see the fireworks show should Carter and his sleep schedule cooperate. We were geared up to leave if this little guy, who loves to sleep in his own bed, and only in his own bed, would allow.
What we didn't anticipate was the weather, but I'll get to that in a minute.
Carter was a champ! We had fed him before we left for the park. He was happy, dry watching everything! When the crowd clapped, Carter joined in. It was great. The group had bought tickets out in the outfield. This is a really cool ballpark...I've never seen one like it before. Out in the outfield, there is a grassy knoll, tiered for seating and socializing. At the top of the knoll is a midway, filled with carnival games and rides. It's awesome. Carter was instinctively drawn to the midway mezzanine (after his daddy took him for a walk up there). He couldn't get enough of it...if we tried to sit down and watch a little of the game, Carter tried to get to the top of the hill any way he could.
The ballpark is beautiful and that day, the weather was great. It's monsoon season in the southwest and the clouds billowing upward and around the stadium made for a beautiful sunset.
Carter was ready to take yet another walk up to the midway and I volunteered to take him for a walk. Any chance I get to spend one-on-one time with Carter, you'll see me jump at the chance...it's Grandma and Carter time! I love it!
As we're making our way up the little hill, it begins to rain. Lightly at first, with big, fat drops falling downward. The teenagers in the crowd were trying to catch the raindrops on their tongues. It was weird, something I'd never seen anyone do before, let alone teenager who usually try and look cool.
As we continued up the hill I noticed a young family with smaller children, scrambling to gather their blankets and coolers. The young children asked why they had to leave and their mommy said, "it's about to storm, hurry and gather your stuff!". I made a u-turn back to our group and mentioned what I heard. I told them they may want to start folding up the blankets and get ready to leave. I would finish taking Carter up the hill to the midway and when I got back we'd see if indeed, the storm was coming.
I walked Carter to the top of the hill and before we entered the midway gates, it was raining harder. I decided to take the shortcut down the hill back to the group and by this time it was coming down a little harder. People began gathering up their belonging and started toward the exit.
Quickly, and I do do mean quickly, the skies opened up and we found ourselves in the middle of a torrential downpour and heading toward the exit, along with 6,000 other people. The wind kicked up, the lightning began and the thunder rolled....and our car was about a half mile away. Chip and I had Carter. Carter was in his stroller and thank goodness, we did have an umbrella with us. I think we brought it just in case the sun got too hot, but whatever the reason, we had one. Chip and I kept Carter under the umbrella the best we could, while we dodged in and out of the crowd, trying to keep our eyes on Mike and Alyson.
Mike and Alyson were helping one of the young mom's in our group, who was there with her two little girls. Alyson and Mike knew we had Carter and he was safe. We tried to take shelter underneath one of the eaves, but the wind was blowing directly at us and it really didn't help us out at all. The thunder and lightning was getting louder and brighter by the minutes.
Finally, we just decided to go to the car. It didn't look like the storm was going to blow over anytime soon and we didn't want Mike and Alyson to worry about us, so we took off toward the car. Carter, who was under the umbrella and shielded from the wet, was humming the whole time. "Singing in the Rain" came to my mind as we walked through ankle deep puddles and streams. He wasn't freaked out in the least.
We met Mike and Alyson in the parking lot and we couldn't help but laugh out loud. We were all drowned rats. Soaked to the skin, with not a dry bit of clothing on. I literally had make-up running down my face. I'm thankful everyone wanted to keep their cameras dry, because we didn't need or want to see pictures of us, soaked to the bone. We all loaded our drenched bodies into Alyson's car and drove home, watching the most spectacular lightning show I've seen in a long time.
Needless to say there was not a traditional fireworks show that night, But God made sure we saw a spectacular show nonetheless. And in addition, helped create a wonderful family memory!
God,
You are the Creator of everything. You send us the rain, you know where every lightning bolt will strike and how loud the thunder will roar. Thank you for helping to orchestrate a ballgame postponed on account of rain, and turned it into a memorable family experience.
May I always see the cloud with the silver lining in all You do and give You the praise.
Amen
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