AND... JEAN... SAID, "YES!!!!!"
May 28, 2010 was a "b" day, a banner day for Jean Zaske and Bob Whitlatch. They had traveled to San Diego to visit friends Steve and his daughter Tasha Cook.

Beginning their day with birding the chaparal that surrounds the Cook's mountain top home, they added the California thrasher to their life list of birds.

After noon they joined Steve and his friend Ginger Johnson for beach combing the Encinitas strand, collecting perwinkle shells, moonstones and assorted beach booty. A bi-plane towing a banner paralleled their traipse along the the low tide shore. On their way back Jean discovered some beautiful balls of weaving yarn at a store called the Blacksheep.

Their next stop at Petco Stadium for dinner and Padre Baseball was Bob's main objective. It was his intention to ask Jean Marie to be his bride. A month prior to the junket he had purchased space on the Padre message board that read, "Jean Marie of the Valley, I love you. Will you marry me? Love, Bob of the Bench." But they had to get into the ballpark first. Much to his embarassment, Bob discovered he had left their tickets tacked to his office billboard in Boise. The Petco ticket staff graciously accomodated his plight by replacing the neglected chits.

The grand scheme of the betrothal was for the romantic request to be flashed on the score board during the 3rd inning under a full moon in front of God and 23,645 Padre fans. But plans under a full moon have a funny way of changing, even in the presence of the best of intentions.

Innings 4,5,6,7,8 rolled by without the special missive. Three out of the four of us were in on the stunt and were subsequently on pins and needles, shoulders hunched and eyes rolling.

Finally, Steve noticed the statistics board on the center field wall. It was alternating player stats and personal messages. And probably had been doing so since the 3rd inning. But from their vantage point it wasn't all that obvious. They were set up direcly accross from the main score board.

Jean Marie still didn't have a clue. So when it came up again, Steve took a digital picture and passed his camera to Bob. This caught Jean's attention who by now was curious. Bob took the camera and put it on Jean's lap, view-screen up and read the special message to the startled her. Then he got down on bended knee, produced a most agreeable bauble for her left hand and asked a very surprised Jean for her hand in marriage............. And Jean said yes!

Their wedding date is still in the planning stages. Be sure to stay tuned for the exciting news.