Topping off the day was a big spring storm.

The day started with a normal work day--filled with meetings on Zoom, e-mails, and Slack messages.

The middle was a little different as today was Google I/O 2022. This was a bit of product discussion, with new features in various Google apps and Android OS, and the new Pixel 6a and other product announcements. My viewing of the I/O keynote overlapped with work, so I didn't get to see it all. I hope to catch up on some of the recordings. Still, it's nice that we have the flexibility and opportunity to keep on these kinds of events.

I ended my workday just a little early to get my second COVID booster. I had an appointment to do it a few weeks ago, but then tested positive. I had to drive "into town" to get this one, as our clinic isn't distributing the Moderna vaccine, and the wife thought we should spread out some. We got the Pfizer vaccine for our first rounds and boosters. Now we have a bit of both. I sat in the waiting room to see if there were any adverse effects, and continued to respond to Slack messages for work, so I guess I didn't really end the day early.

I fetched the kids from school, and we returned home where we met with the school interns. We invited all of this year's group, and most accepted, to go with us to a baseball game. Our season ticket agent helped shuffle some of our tickets from other games to have 10 seats together for this one. The family had just been there, so the kids were keen to show off all the things. The interns, coming from other countries, had been to other events, but none to the MLB park. Everyone was a little excited.

Then all the Star Wars stuff hit them. Yeah, we went on Star Wars theme night. Free shirts, blending baseball and Star Wars. Lots of people dressed in Star Wars stuff, including me. Well, I wore a shirt with Star Wars art on it, not a costume. The littles were excited to point out all of the storm troopers and other characters, and even got to take some photos with some as they wandered around in groups for the occasion.

We went into the game with a little trepidation. Not at the guests or the stadium or game, or even the kids loosing their minds at Star Wars. The weather forecast has been threatening severe storms all day. Early forecasts had thunderstorms all afternoon, with a little gap at the start of the game, and then an hour or more of severe storms after maybe an hour of baseball. We got lucky during the day, and all of the weather skirted the city. Some of it looked severe, but at least dozens of miles away.

The game started on time, although we weren't in our seats yet. I like to try to be in our seats by the start of the National Anthem, and at least watch the first few innings before doing any wandering or food interruptions. We wandered around, showing off our favorite stadium and sport (and movie franchise). We did see a little bit of baseball from different vantage points as we wandered, so that was OK. We made it to the club and started meandering to our seats, again showing off some of the displays and talking about some of our sports heroes as we wandered past their photos. The big little was excited to show off the whole-wall mural of her buddy, Tony Oliva. We've run into him many times in the club, and he always has a little time for his fans, so we have photos with him from our pre-pandemic encounters.

As we walked through the club, we stopped by the concierge desk. Our ticket agent said he'd leave something for us. Very generously, he had set aside 10 swag bags, with promo hats and jackets and stickers and such. Everyone was tickled that they now completely looked like the rest of the fans, decked in branded gear. That was completely unexpected, and a tremendously generous kit that helped make our guests enjoy possibly their only MLB experience to the fullest.

We got to our seat area, stopping to get 10 dogs and drinks, and started watching some baseball in the long second inning. Long for the Astros, who were getting lots of hits, but quick for the Twins. The Twins had a little busier first inning, but we were taking photos with black storm troopers during their score. We got to settle in and finish the second and third innings before the weather set in. A few drips and drops fell, and the sky kept getting darker, and not just in that sunset way. I kept my eye on the weather, and it seemed like a strong north wind was keeping the weather from moving in from the south. What was forming in the southwest split as it moved northeast. That is, until it didn't.

At the end of the third inning, the skies started flickering with approaching lightning. A brief rain spill cleared many of the open seats, and our section compressed up the rows to where there's a little bit of an overhang. My crew decided they wanted to see more of the stadium, so I offered to stay behind and watch the game and our stuff. The ran drifted off and sprinkled a little while they worked through the third inning. Like it was planned, a heavy rain hit just at the end of the inning. Big winds hampered the efforts of the grounds crew as they rolled the tarp over the infield. Everyone was cleared from the stands and forced inside, just as the lightning and heavy rains hit. The rain fell with such gusto that the stadium lights made it appear solid, like a blizzard, obscuring the view to the field, never mind past it. The stadium lights illuminated the rain so much that the lightning didn't appear to be happening when looking field-side, but it was active and violent when looking outside the stadium.

I grabbed all the swag bags that had been left behind and found a table near the windows on the outside of the stadium, where I could watch the downpour and lightning show at the same time. The weather radar was all solid red over our area. The north winds had lost their battle for sure. The outlook was grim.

Everyone found their way back and found me in the club. We watched as more Star Wars characters wandered through the club. The interns shared their appreciation and talked about the stadium and weather and baseball. We debated when to go, and if the game would continue. The radar made it seem like the weather would be heavy for a while, and we had kids and teachers that needed to be at school in the morning. We decided to wait until what looked to be a lull. A short while later, the rain abated, and visibility again spanned the field. Clearly it was still raining heavily, and the lightning continued.

We divided in the parking ramp, and each of us set out with interns to deliver to their homes. The roads were slick and wet, and the rain often falling at car wash strength. I drove my charges to their homes, and everyone made it safe and pretty dry. Home before 10PM, and learned that the game had been suspended; they'll finish playing tomorrow.

A good time was had by all, even with the tremendous weather.

Everyone's healthy.