On the court

The gang of teenagers and children at my house move from one activity to another, depending on the season. During December when we had all kinds of snow, they were obsessive about building a snow ramp and snow jump out on the front lawn. They spent every evening working on the snowpark and perfecting daredevil tricks performed with snowboards and inner tubes. Boy in Black lashed floodlights to a couple of the trees and ran orange extension cords out to them so that they could work and play late at night.

But the snow has melted now, and basketball is the newest obsession. April is the right month for playing ball here. The temperatures are above freezing, and the bugs won’t hatch until about the beginning of May.

Our long sloping driveway is gravel, of course, since we live in the country. When we were building our house, my suburban-raised husband was nervous at the idea of living in a place without streetlights or paved driveways. "Where are the kids going to play basketball?" he kept asking. From what I can gather, his life during junior high consisted mostly of playing basketball, although he assures me things would have been different if Unrequited Crush Girl had even so much as glanced his way.

In one of many compromises, we had a square of pavement installed on a flat area in the side yard so that my husband and kids could have a basketball court. That's where you can find them during April, all racing around and bouncing balls and arguing about stuff. To be honest, I am not sure whether or not they are playing the actual game of basketball or some kind of made-up game with Boy in Black rules that is merely similar to basketball. Knowing this household, it is mostly likely the latter.

FirstExtra is one of the most enthusiastic of the basketball players, since he comes from a household where people even watch the game on television. He knows the jargon, the rules of the game, the names of teams, the names of players. Here is a blurry shot of him in action on our basketball court. (Photo taken by Blonde Niece with her cell phone.)