Washed Out and Yet They Played

 

CT Route 34 near Lake Zoar (Photo: Dawn Schmedlin)

I woke up to rain.

A lot of rain.

It poured. Bad.

The yard next to us flooded to the point that there was a lake created in their backyard.

But, duty called, and we had to go.

First up was "Meet the Beatles" though walking to WGCH wasn't an option. I made the short drive and did the show.

I didn't rush home, thinking that we might not head to Dutchess County for the Renegades game.

Oh, I was quite wrong about that. We left a little after 11 a.m.

The plan was to work our way down to I-95 and then eventually to the Taconic State Parkway.

As we approached Railroad Ave, I noticed flashing lights and a police officer in the middle of the intersection. He waved me through but then I noticed the traffic.

It headed towards Hamilton Ave -- a two-lane road and it was bumper to bumper.

A moment later, I reached the entrance to I-95 South, where I found a Greenwich police cruiser blocking the entrance.

Road closed.

I adjusted and took us back past WGCH and literally back to our front door. We continued on, left Greenwich via Glenville, and jumped on I-684.

It poured as we drove. It didn't seem possible -- or even probable -- that there would be baseball at Heritage Financial Park today.

Passing Purdy's on 684, I noticed a lot of cars exiting at Exit 7. My immediate reaction was, "Oh no."

I saw the same as we approached Croton Falls and Exit 8.

That told me that the last stretch up to I-84 would be bumper to bumper and it was.

Somehow, we survived the traffic started west on 84. Coming down Stormville Mountain, as we got close to the intersection with the Taconic State Parkway, I saw flashing lights.

We were up against the clock in our effort to get to the stadium in time for our call time and it would be thwarted by a car off in the trees on the left side of the westbound lanes.

Quickly, thoughts moved from being on time to being safe. How anyone survived that accident is beyond my pay grade.

We reached the stadium literally on time for the meeting, and I snuck into the booth to catch up.

We also grabbed some lunch before the game.

Somehow there was a window for the Renegades and Crawdads to play, and they did so without a drop of rain. In fact, there were even stretches of sunshine.

I'm fascinated by such decision-making, and I'd love to sit in on the process to understand how it all works. I know everyone tries to be smart and safe about these things. 

But, in the end, there was nothing to talk about. Our drive was interesting and I had no idea what I was going back to but it had no concern whatsoever on the baseball game.

The game happened, we had fun in the booth and wrapped things up. The Renegades lost a close game and they'll back to it in the stretch run of the playoff race on Tuesday night.

As we got ready to leave, we watched as baseball and softball players from Bhutan -- yes, seriously -- started taking batting practice long after the crowd had filed out.

Once again, the great game of baseball bonds us all.

The drive home lacked much drama, and we came home to peace and quiet. Thankfully, things are dry here for us but there are many dealing with headaches all over Connecticut.

I've seen pictures and videos from Wilton, Ridgefield, Redding, Newtown, and Southbury. Part of Connecticut Route 34 -- a main thoroughfare from Newtown to New Haven -- had washed out in a few places. For reference, I used 34 on my daily drive from Mahopac to Newotown back in the HAN Network days.

There will be massive headaches as the work week begins tomorrow.

Accidents on 95 caused the road to be closed earlier today.

The biggest concern is health and I hope everyone is safe.