Boy in Black is a serious Ultimate Frisbee player. You might
even call him a fanatic. Even in early summer when he was sleeping all day
because he was recovering from mono, and in the middle of the summer when he
was doing research and still recovering from mono, and in late summer when he
was spending big chunks of time studying for his qualifying exams, he still
kept playing Ultimate.
Boy in Black has this weird ability, or perhaps compulsion,
to pull everyone around him into whatever he’s passionate about. So that means
his siblings played Ultimate this summer. And all of our extras. And on
Wednesdays, even his parents.
Other nights of the week, he’d play Ultimate with a league
or club team, and old folks like us would be spectators, but he declared
Wednesdays to be the evening for Casual Ultimate. Everyone was welcome to play,
no matter the age or skill level. My husband and I both played. Our extras
played. Boy in Black invited pretty much everyone he knew. And most of them
showed up.
I was thankful, actually, that so many of the young men of
the household have girlfriends now. It’s a bit ridiculous for me to be playing
on the same team with my 6’3” Ultimate fanatic son. It’s makes a little more
sense if I’m asked to guard a 5’ woman who has never played Ultimate before.
Then I’ve got at least a chance.
We gathered on the empty field behind the old elementary
school, right next to the cemetery, and Boy in Black set the boundaries with
orange cones. He brought everything we needed, including extra white shirts and
bottles of water for everyone. He marked his own water bottle with a rubber
band because no one wanted to come in contact with mono-contaminated saliva.
The games were filled with joking and teasing, but also
serious instruction. Boy in Black and First Extra were very patient about
explaining rules or strategies. During the last few games of the summer, I was
usually guarding Thinking Girl, and we’d help each other out, even though we
were on opposite teams. “That was a turn-over. You’re going in that direction
now,” she’d say when she’d see me heading up the field the wrong way.
My tendency to get into conversations with the person I’m
supposed to be guarding means that I’m not a very competitive player, but still
the games were fun.
It was always dark by the time we returned to the house.
Some of the players would take navy showers, while others rummaged through the
kitchen for food and drink. Boy in Black always took the time to stretch, lying
on the floor while discussing the game with First Extra or Shaggy Hair Boy. My
husband and I would go to bed, but the young people would stay up to play cards
or computer games, carefree on a summer night.
That's Shaggy Hair Boy in the photo.
That's Shaggy Hair Boy in the photo.
4 comments:
Love the pink shorts!
I love your photos.
Remind me that I've got one of those showerheads for you, the ones I told you about at Wordplay County park. I found in in a close I was clearing out.
Nice shot of SHB.
T.
FA: Excellent! The kids will be very happy. We need to get together for another picnic.
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