Walking into Trinidad Mutiny coffeehouse and center of the universe here in Trinidad, Colorado, I noticed a man wearing a Cubs hat, just finishing his work and getting up to leave. I talked for him a bit: he’s out of Iowa but moved here for the change of pace and the nice weather. Then we began talking the Trinidad Triggers minor league baseball team here, you know, who play on a glowing-green field and the backdrop of Fisher’s Peak in the distance.
After he left, I thought, yeah, it’s about time for a blog update on my current occupation of baseball bum, at least, for this summer into fall.
It’s been sort of erratic, actually. It started in April at Brewer’s Stadium, watching the Brew Crew beat the Cincinnati Reds, but ever since then, not much. The weather has been too cool in Chicago for either Cubs or Sox, though, as usual, I watch baseball slovenly on television, lolling around with the sound off and the music on, enjoying a brisk spring that saw the Cubs push into first place, thanks to an improbable center fielder who leaps and runs like a gazelle and has a nice, quick bat.
On the South Side, we learned that the new pope is a White Sox fan. He signs baseballs, he wears the hat, he cheers along with the Vatican crowd while he’s riding around in his popemobile as they chant “White Sox, White Sox.” Too bad organist Nancy Faust isn’t around to accompany them.
But most of my attention has been focused on the Trinidad Triggers here. Their season has had a few rough patches, to say the least. They currently stand at 7-16, 14 games back in the Mountain North division of the Pecos League and have endured such notable failures as a 32-11 [!] loss on the road. Other day, they fired their manager and a notice went out on Facebook that the team was “teetering on extinction” if attendance didn’t pick up, which caused the kind of depression I suffer when the Cubs go into a skid, as they are undergoing now.
Some of this dire situation might have to do with the demise of their mascot from last year, Triggy Trigger: mascots carry great cosmic significance in the game of baseball, for example, I blame the expanded role of that damned Cubs mascot for the team’s recent slump, what else could it be?
Since most of the Triggers games are at night, I suspect some of that low attendance has to do with the iffy, cool night weather we’ve been having here of late: I’m hoping the traditional Fourth of July game and festivities improve matters.
My own experiences at the two games I attended were odd. The first game was in the middle of its fourth weather delay while under a lightning watch that threatened to fry players on the field. The second game was on a very pleasant evening though attendance was light: I enjoyed some really tasty tacos while watching the Triggers offense explode as they were facing the North Platte 80s. But around the third inning, a fastball caught the home plate umpire in what looked like the shin under the knee, leaving the poor guy writhing on the turf. Another delay of a half-hour ensued, though I stuck out this one until the ninth inning, with the Triggers’ offense again perking up to win the game.
Though I haven’t attended as many games as I would have liked, I greatly enjoy the games at Central Park field. Hell, they were playing next to the train tracks in the 1880s and I would hate to see that tradition put to an end. Where else could I go for those tasty tacos, after all?
I’ve been attending a couple of writers and creatives workshops in the area while I’m here to try to find my mojo that has been lost to me since I published Zelda Rising. A workshop on Creativity and Selling Your Works was fun here in Trinidad, and tomorrow I am going to nearby Raton, New Mexico, for a writers conference sponsored by the University of New Mexico, who happen to be the keepers of the DH Lawrence shrine in Taos [Lawrence stayed in that area for a couple of years, where he attempted to start an artists colony: his ashes may be encased in a statue of the Phoenix up there in the mountains, though that is in a mild dispute, according to the biography DH Lawrence by Brenda Maddox I am currently reading].
I’m also trying to write a long short story about a Texas country and music band and Roxy Music, but it’s only meh.
My music listening on this trip focuses mainly on the dance house progressive techno outlet Beatport lately and its DJ service. Pay 12 bucks a month and glom onto most of their catalog, like Ladytron, Matt Masters, Freerange Records, Torn [Drum and Bass] and Ewan Rill, just to name a few. I’m listening through some Beats wireless headphones that have a kind of a mediocre reputation in the audiophile community but are better than what I would have thought: a sweet bass response, for example.
What I do is turn off the sound while watching Whoopie Goldberg on The View in the morning and listen to tracks like Annihilate, Dystopia, Ether Mind, and Into the Abyss. Starbucks and a muffin and gibberish from rich woke Hollywood stars complaining about the Trump Doll on a shelf in the bedroom here. Now that’s entertainment!
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