Cubs, Omens, Strange Signs and Portents in the Sky

The night was filled with strange signs and omens in the sky, no doubt foretelling great and momentous events.  Significantly it was a full, blood, harvest eclipse of the moon:

"There is a total eclipse of the moon on the night of September 27-28, 2015. It happens to be the closest supermoon of 2015. It’s the Northern Hemisphere’s Harvest Moon, or full moon nearest the September equinox. It’s the Southern Hemisphere’s first full moon of spring. This September full moon is also called a Blood Moon, because it presents the fourth and final eclipse of a lunar tetrad: four straight total eclipses of the moon, spaced at six lunar months (full moons) apart. Phew!"

A Blue Moon. A Cub Moon

More significantly, the Chicago  Cub, led by likely Manager of the Year Joe Madden,  have clinched a spot in the post season playoffs. This young talented team is too naive and inexperienced to understand the utter hopelessness and despair of being a Chicago Cub player or fan. It's our best chance in decades.

This night the Cubs are playing their likely Wild Card opponent Pittsburgh Pirates. The likely Cy Young Award Winner Jake Arietta is on the mound, likely MVP Anthony Rizzo, and likely Rookie of the Year Kris Bryant in the lineup.

And I am there - in the Holy of Holies at the Temple - in the left field bleachers at Wrigley Field with my brother and nephew.

In left field bleachers

I was here, in the left field bleachers for the World Class Choke of 1969 - but this is no time to wallow in the failures of the past...

The 1969 opening day lineup: Kessinger, Beckert, Williams, Banks, Santo, Hundley, Hickman, Young, Jenkinson. 

... or worry about recent disappointments. This is a time to believe. This is the year. And this was quite a game.

Hot Doug's Polish

Wrigley Field Panorama with Hot Doug's prime rib sausage, blue cheese and horse radish.

Jake Arrieta hit the only run he needed with a solo home run. And I called it.

I really did. I called Arrieta's homer. Just ask these guys behind me. 

Harlan, Jonah and a Hot Doug's Dick Tidrow Hot Pork Jamaican Jerk sausage with Plantains. Jonah only gave me one bite.

Another filthy Arrieta win with six innings of no-hit ball and a shutout:

"Arrieta (21-6) retired his first 18 batters before Gregory Polanco grounded a leadoff single into left field in the seventh. He struck out nine and walked none while improving to 15-1 with a dazzling 0.89 ERA in his last 19 starts."

Departures

Sunrise Cascais

 The crew take separate paths as the journey comes to a close.

Jim and Deb work on some boat repairs while transitioning Morpheus back to their home away from home.  Which is actually their real home.

My last couple of days on Morpheus include relaxing, updating the blog, shopping and continuing to indulge in Caiscas cuisine.

We stumble on an eclectic little place with a rooftop lounge and decided it was my favorite find  in Cascais. The House of Wonders.

Art on display at House of Wonders

"I'll make a tapas plate for you."

Sunset from the rooftop of the House of Wonders

A great finish to an extraordinary adventure. It's an early start tomorrow - back to Lisbon and flying home.

Moonrise Cascais

Super Moon Set

I got caught up in all the "Supermoon" coverage over the last couple of days. We had a rare clear night in San Francisco, and thought I would try to get a picture from the terrace. Our corner of the building is facing the wrong direction for the moonrise, and the building obstructed the view for most of the night.
Missed the moon rise, but up early for a round of golf and caught the moon set by dawns early light. I don't have the right photo equipment or skills to do it justice, but FWIW - snapped a few shot.

Others had similar ideas.

Moonrise on the bay

Not quite full, but pretty impressive. Everything gets a lot more picturesque when we have clear day like today. Pretty sunrise, dramatic sunset, and now a moonrise.