The Best Laid Plans

We made it to the train just in time. We were going to New Haven, CT to watch Mark run in the Ivy League Championships. Our luck was running, as the highway we would've driven on was closed. Oscar the taxi driver took us to the Stadium after getting lost (we even tried Spanish--he's Cuban), but even then we couldn't make him understand us. He gave us his card and told us to call for the return trip, he was desperate for business.

A sunny day soon turned threatening. We'd already seen and chatted with Mark and his teammates, when lightning struck. The track and stands had to be cleared and everyone was told to go into the baseball stadium which they'd deemed more secure. There we sat for hours, waiting for the third and final cell to pass by. This three hour delay wasn't good for the runners and made us nervous about our evening plans, which included a 7 pm pick-up to go to a Russian nightclub in Brooklyn where we were meeting a group of friends.

Heat 1 of the 1500 meter race went off, and lightning struck again. Mark was in heat 2. Argh! We trudged to the baseball stadium. Suddenly someone said: the race started! We' already missed lap one. We ran to the finish line area and cheered Mark on through the last 3 laps. He lead the whole way, but eased up at the end and took 2nd, qualifying for today's final.

We knew at that point we weren't going to be drinking vodka with our friends, so we called and canceled. We also called Oscar to pick us up, but he was off duty. Oscar's not going to make it in New Haven. We called Metro Cab at the advice of a police officer. They called back and said our car was waiting for us, but we didn't see one. Then this little girl and her Dad walked by. We'd spoken with this adorable child, whose name is Mary, so she smiled and said hello. Her dad then offered to take us to the station. Turns out that his nephew was in Mark's heat"Speedy Stevie" and had come in 1st.

We had almost an hour until our train so we went for a nosh at Sbarro's. We had chicken wings and some beer. We also realized the Kentucky Derby would be on TV so we asked they change the channel. We got to see the entire race. This was fun, although without the mint juleps we'd planned to have, it wasn't quite as atmospheric.

Home by 9, we picked up Chinese menus along the way. Marty walked Turbo, and came back to make the Juleps which we drank listening to jazz. We had delicious dumplings delivered and watched the news. I crashed at 11:30. Marty slept in his chair for a while. He still has dishes to do.

Back to New Haven in a couple of hours. We're meeting Harry and Mariel there and spending Mother's Day together. New Haven is reporting a 30% chance of showers ...