Devotion to the disc

All summer, Boy in Black devoted his energy to getting together enough people for a game of Ultimate Frisbee. That's what he did pretty much every day. Since few of the kids who come here own cleats, they all play barefoot, and Boy in Black's dedication to the sport of Ultimate is such that his feet were black with dirt and wear for most of the summer. (Even though I keep using the word frisbee, Boy in Black tells me that the round object is really supposed to be called a disc.)

Now that he's back at college and playing with the team again, Ultimate is pretty much all Boy in Black talks about. I keep hoping that maybe he's learning something from his classes or his interactions with professors and other students, but mostly it seems that he is spending his time honing his Ultimate Frisbee skills. Even when he's home, which is fairly often, he will talk his brothers or some of our extras into going out to the field across the street to practice. Starting this weekend, he'll be going to tournaments, traveling about with the team.

Last weekend, I came home in the evening to see Boy in Black over in the kitchen area, washing dishes. He'd been out in the field earlier with his brothers. I felt impressed that he was willing to jump in and help out with the chores, even though he doesn't live here during the semester. I walked over to say something nice to him, and then noticed that the round flat objects he was washing so carefully weren't china dinner plates. They were frisbees.

He looked up and explained, "The discs get covered with poison ivy. You can't be too careful."



Boy in Black's feet after playing a barefoot game of Ultimate.

ETA: For those of you who haven't ever seen Ultimate played, Boy in Black recommends this video.