A Day Outside: Berry Picking, Orioles Game AND Concert in the Park!

What a day!  I basically just spent the whole day outside.  What could have been a cloudy rainy day according to the forecast on Friday turned into a hot and humid day in the sun.  I brought my big sunhat, sunglasses and lots of sunscreen... still got a bit of of a sunburn but not as bad. Now on the aloe treatment.  Next time more sun screen!

Today started early with a trip to Larriland Farms were I met one of my friends and we picked raspberries.  They have both red and purple variety at this time of year and even blue berries.  We stuck to the raspberries and got over 5lbs worth that we split between the two of us to take home.  It was getting to be really hot out with the sun overhead so we didn't stay much past noon.  I have already eaten a bunch and the rest are in the fridge waiting for me to blend into a nice smoothie that may turn to sorbet if I decide to freeze it.  Seeing that the rest of this week is looking to be another lovely heatwave, having some sorbet might be perfect use for the berries... Boiling them down into jam is a great way to help preserve them, maybe even a fruit pie, but I enjoy quick and simple so blend, drink, freeze.

Right behind home plate!

 Midday, after I sorted and cleaned the berries I brought back I went to the Orioles vs Blue Jays baseball game.  I traded in the tickets (thanks Grandmom) for a seat that was in the lower level and with some shade.  Turns out I got a great seat, just a few rows below the press box and right behind home plate.  Of course there was a tall guy sitting in front of me who blocked my view a bit, but otherwise really good seats... My brothers might be a bit jealous, but I can't control that.  Because I didn't have too many distractions of other people I actually was able to pay attention to the game... O's won!

Panorama view from my seat

Even a dragonfly wanted to watch the game (it's on the wire)

The panorama view is from the game midway through. I took it from my seat above the head of the tall guy you see in the above picture to the right of the frame. My standard baseball game snack is cotton candy but I also got a fruit smoothie as a nice healthier drink choice that also is very refreshing in this hot weather.

After the game continued on to phase 3 of my day outside in the sun... interestingly enough it's a Sunday.  I moved on to Patterson Park for their summer concert series.  Today's musician was Ellen Cherry.  The concerts are held outside on the eastern lawn of the Patterson Park Pagoda.  Bring a lawn chair, picnic blanket, kids, dogs, munchies, whatever and chill out to some awesome music. Concerts are free and open to the public from roughly 6:30p-8:30p. 

Before the concert by the Pagoda

I tried to get a group of people together but only one person found me, it was pretty crowded.  There was a nice ambiance, for lack of a better word. We picked a nice shaded area below the Pagoda to sit and listened to music.  I brought munchies... including some of the berries I picked.

The picture on the left is from before the concert.  I was walking over a bit early and stopped in the shade a bit before climbing the hill.  Did I mention it was hot outside?  People do climb up inside the Pagoda to see the skyline view of Baltimore.  I prefer the ground level maybe a hill view as you can see in the picture below.  I guess you can call it the "after picture" because the hill is filled with people and you can see Ellen Cherry in the white dress on stage singing. The Pagoda is behind me.  As the sun got lower into what photographers "Golden Hour" which is when everything seems to have a nice golden glow at sunrise and sunset.  I wasn't quiet able to capture that effect in my own pictures, but I was able to observe it from my spot on the hill. 

After my long day outdoors I am happy to be relaxing indoors again wondering where my next adventure may take me.  Stay cool everyone, Meet Me Outdoors.