September 25, 2007

Devotion to the disc

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."

The feet of an Ultimate Frisbee player

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.

20 comments:

Cathy said...

One can never be too careful. One would hate to get poison ivy from handling the DISC.

With feet like that, my guess is he might be immune from the poison ivy.

Magpie said...

Unbelievable! I hope that's not your coffee table.

jo(e) said...

Cathy: No, unfortunately, he's not immune to poison ivy. He gets it very badly, just like his mother.

Magpie: That is indeed our coffee table. Or rather, the sturdy oak bench that we use as a coffee table ....

Anonymous said...

I keep telling you it's spelled "disc," not "disk." Check out your title. And I only got poison ivy really bad that one time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4rt9x_nQCs&mode=related&search=
Watch that if you want to see some real Ultimate.

jo(e) said...

Thanks for the youtube clip. And the proofreading tip.

But what were you doing on the computer at 2:42 am?

Fire Bird said...

I have never heard of 'ultimate' over here in England... but the feet are pretty ultimate

Anonymous said...

It adds to the hilarity (for me) that your niece (on last post) and children are writing to you on your blog. It kind of makes those who read your blog feel like part of the family. Which is a nice feeling.

Anonymous said...

Does the ground-in dirt ever disappear? Maybe a pedicure (sans polish) for a Christmas present?

argon(one) said...

Wow! That's some serious ultimate.

BTW: Can you get a poison ivy rash from sink residue?

Unknown said...

Lol! Love the whole thing. And it's amazing what can be learned through sports... sometimes the sport is the way in to all those other "subjects" we deem So Important.

Love your kids.

a/k/a Nadine said...

Is that just regular old dirt? Or was he running through freshly poured asphalt?

Baby Lisa said...

Hi Jo(e)! His feet look like the chicken I tried to grill last summer, only I'm sure my chicken tasted much better. Then again... never mind.

duopastorale said...

Looks like something off my BBQ!

Rana said...

And here I've been thinking that "Boy in Black" is a reference to his clothing...

;)

kathy a. said...

omfg. i hope you have disinfected the sink. nothing much to say about the feet.

kathy a. said...

pretty nice looking disc in the first photo, though, and everyone needs a hobby, right?

Lucy said...

I vaguely know someone who was probably in that video. That's an exciting claim to fame...

Silver Creek Mom said...

OH....

I've never seen feet quite that BLACK...they arent shades of Brown they are black.

I'm glad he likes the sport but Shoes might help.

LOL
Boys! Nathan loves to run around barefoot too and in socks...Shoes are optionial!

Minoa said...

Oh. my. goodness. He looks like a burn victim!

BerryBird said...

I am duly impressed. I have had some dirty feet in my day, but Boy in Black might win the prize.