Fargo, North Dakota.

Lynn and I went to our first Fargo-Moorhead Readhawks game last week. After a hot streak of 100 degrees and near-100s, the temperature that afternoon hit only about 80, and at game time, it was in the mid-70s. In 2020, we attended one game only, not really enjoying the game with the necessarily limited, socially-distanced spectators. We opted to put our game attendance on hold for the season.

Coming home from Arizona and now fully vaccinated, we are ready to return to many of our normal activities. Judging from the size of the crowd at the game, it looks like everyone else there felt the same as we do. We both know that the vaccines aren’t 100 percent reliable, but in an outdoor setting, we feel comfortable following the CDC’s latest guidelines for large outdoor gatherings (for the most part, anyway.) North Dakota’s Covid numbers have been declining with the 7-day average in our county of 5 cases/day. Looking at the graph from the New York Times for Cass County, North Dakota, on the day of the game, June 11, the graph is at the lowest point since tracking started in April 12, 2020. At that time, the 7-day average was 12.

In a recent newscast, the mayor of Fargo noted that tracking of Covid in the city’s sanitary system has reached such a low level, city officials are estimating that Fargo is nearing herd immunity. As of this writing, our county has almost 60 percent coverage for at least one shot.

We have been watching with great interest the resumption of ocean cruising around the world. I am hoping all goes well enough to restore that business to full operation by next year.

About the photo: Captured with my Samsung S20U, I imported it into Adobe Lightroom for minor cropping and a few other basic tweaks. Click on the image to view it in my Flickr gallery or view photo information and metadata.

John Steiner

It’s mid-May as this is being written, scheduled for publication on 7 June 2020.  By now, we would be looking forward to opening the season at a Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks game as they begin their 25th season. Our 13-game flex pack of tickets sits on the shelf above my desk proclaiming the opening game will be May 26 against the Lincoln Saltdogs. At this point, however, it’s not entirely sure that there will even be games this year. The league (American Association) in late April announced that the regular season has been postponed until the beginning of July, but that will depend upon the pandemic and whether or not it will be safe to have games where a large gathering of people will be allowed.

About the photo: This image was captured on July 6, 2019, in the early evening with the sun low on the western sky behind the stands at the left. The Saturday game started at 6 PM as usual, and this image was captured at the bottom of the 3rd inning, the Redhawks behind 2-1 to the Milwaukee Milkmen. Ultimately, the Redhawks came from behind with three runs in the bottom of the eighth to win 7-6. (The Internet is a wonderful thing, taking me only a few moments to find out the game results.) But I digress, the image was captured on a Samsung S7 cellphone at f/1.7, 1/2000 sec, ISO-50. Processed with Lightroom and Luminar 4, the image is augmented reality. In truth, the day was quite dreary with a thick layer of clouds. The only reason I knew where the sun was in the sky is the image timestamp. That dreary sky was replaced with one of my collection of skies. I might as well remember the day as a partly cloudy day.

John Steiner

The boys of summer started their home game season in Fargo on Memorial Day weekend. There had been a few exhibition games and their first two series were away games at Cleburne and Grand Prairie, Texas. Friday marked the first day of a six-day homestand with the Lincoln SaltDogs followed by the Sioux Falls Canaries. Lynn and I are big fans of the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks.  We buy their 13-game flex packs since my schedule is so variable. Those passes allow us to pick and choose our games. We could use all 13 passes at one game, or use them one at a time. If we burn through the 13 games early enough in the season, we spring for another pass. At $100 for 13 games, that’s $7.69 a game for a reserved seat. That’s only a bit more expensive than a 24-ounce beer at the game. When we see the RedHawks at Newman Outdoor Field, we know that it’s summer in North Dakota.

About the photo: Early in the game against the Salt Dogs (in red), Keury De La Cruz sprints toward second base.  This was one of three stolen bases and two runs scored in the 5th inning. The lefty outfielder from the Dominican Republic is beginning his second season with the RedHawks on a high note with four hits in the 5-3 home opener win. The image was captured with my Samsung S7 at 1/300 sec, f/1.7, ISO-50. The rule for Cellpic Sunday is simple. The image must be captured on a mobile device.

John Steiner

Fargo, North Dakota.

Jen H. provided us with the theme for this week’s photo challenge yesterday. She asks us to “share an image that represents the potential of things to come. You can read Jen’s entire challenge post here. One of the pastimes that Lynn and I look forward to every summer is the start of the baseball season. The photo above and the small gallery of images foretell our future trips to Newman Outdoor Field for Brats, Beer and Baseball (not necessarily in that order.) The local minor league team, the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks home opener is exactly one month from today, May 9, when our local boys of summer play the New Jersey Black Sox. The photo above captures a failed bunt attempt. The ball careened wildly to the batter’s right into foul territory. We cannot wait to hear the umpire call, “Play Ball!!!”

We spend lots of time at ball games, not only to watch a game, but to meet with old friends, share some time with family and to generally spend a summer’s day enjoying life.  You can read more about the RedHawks and this specific game from an earlier blog post here. The gallery of images below was captured in June 2014 and features the RedHawks at play. Click on an image to enlarge it and to scroll through the gallery.

John