Further afield

Sunday we had tickets for the OL Reign match at Lumen Field at noon. We caught the bus shortly after eleven. Before that I watered the tree and dug some purple potatoes from the vine that died. There were just a few little ones and one a more respectable size.

Just before the bus turns east on Jackson Street, it stops a few blocks from the stadium. It was a walk of five to ten minutes to the gate, but we were turned away due to the size of Nicole's purse and had to track down a locker vendor across the street before we could go in. We should have brought the clear plastic bag Rachel got from the Storm game she attended with friends. Next time we'll know, if there is one.

Despite that delay, we sat down before kickoff in the second row at one end of the field. Our six seats stretched approximately from the penalty mark to the top of the goal box. We had a great view of the Reign offense in the second half, but it was much harder to follow the action at the other end of the field.

OL Reign used to be the Seattle Reign, but they were majority acquired by the group that owns the Olympique Lyonnais teams in 2020 and renamed. The OL women's team was in attendance to show off their UEFA trophy at halftime. Eugénie Le Sommer spoke to the crowd. Apparently, she played for the Reign last year on loan.

The Reign members of the US national team have missed several matches this summer, but they were playing today. Rose Lavelle scored the first goal of the match about fifteen minutes in. Megan Rapinoe added a penalty in the first half and another goal in the second. Then, after Gotham FC scored their only goal, a cross from Rapinoe was headed in by a Gotham defender, finishing the scoring.

After the match we were walking back to the bus, but Rachel found a place to get bubble tea in the adjacent international district, so we stopped there. She got me a red bean smoothie, which exploded when I inserted the straw. Fortunately, it cleaned up OK. Next door was a Korean dessert cafe that specializes in Bingsoo—elaborately topped shaved ice for 2-3 people. We didn't get any, this time.

Colin wanted to go to the outdoor swimming pool after we got home, but no one else was interested, so they'll do that tomorrow without me. I spent the rest of the day at home. Nicole had a massage appointment before dinner. We tried to talk Rachel into watching Uncharted, and then contemplated going to the theater for Nope, but put off both.

I started reading The Echo Maker, by Richard Powers. I started it yesterday, too, or maybe the day before, but managed less than a page at the time. Now I'm fully into it. So far it is less heavy on science content than others, but that may change. It starts with a description of sandhill cranes, though, which is very much in character.