Rain, Soccer Confusion and A Walk At 93
Thursday and Friday in New Jersey had been marked by overcast skies with frequent drizzle, occasional rain, and constant overcast. The rain had pretty much abated by mid-afternoon Friday. My son, who'd been scheduled to miss practice for his school's back-to-school picnic still missed practice because my wife scheduled dinner with friends to replace the picnic. The kids who made practice were rewarded with excellent running in a park virtually devoid of people.
Rain related confusion continued on Saturday. On Friday night, we'd gotten an e-mail that said fields would be inspected by 7:30 AM and we'd hear if practice was cancelled. Shortly after 8:00, we checked e-mail and the soccer website. There was no e-mail and the website listed certain fields as closed, but others were listed as open. The field my son was to play at wasn't listed. We interpreted this to mean that soccer practice was on. Off we went. My son's coaches weren't there, but there was a large group of third graders including 3 from his team. He joined the practice. While down there, we heard that there was an e-mail. On returning home after practice, we checked e-mail, and found one sent at about 9:15 that said practice was cancelled.
On Sunday, my club had a walking race followed by a picnic. This event is sponsored by an older man, who had been a very age group fine walker almost 20 years ago. The race was a 5.2 mile race, four laps of a 1.3 mile circuit. The race was a handicapped race. If you've never participated in a handicapped race, they can be a lot of fun. Good handicapping means all finishers will arrive at the line essentially simultaneously. Coming off my cold, I didn't race well, and one person hadn't raced in a while, so couldn't be handicapped well. She wound up winning (this is one difficulty to handicapping such a race - the other is sandbaggers, who will misrepresent their abilities). Anyway, the sponsor of this race is now 93 years-old. He moved to a retirement center this past year. His mind is still sharp and his body is in good shape, for a man his age, who was diagnosed with diabetes 50! years ago. He now walks an hour a day, most days. His doctor has said he's good for 10 more years. Harry walked one lap of the circuit. Knock wood that when I get close to his age, I can come close to doing that.
Rain related confusion continued on Saturday. On Friday night, we'd gotten an e-mail that said fields would be inspected by 7:30 AM and we'd hear if practice was cancelled. Shortly after 8:00, we checked e-mail and the soccer website. There was no e-mail and the website listed certain fields as closed, but others were listed as open. The field my son was to play at wasn't listed. We interpreted this to mean that soccer practice was on. Off we went. My son's coaches weren't there, but there was a large group of third graders including 3 from his team. He joined the practice. While down there, we heard that there was an e-mail. On returning home after practice, we checked e-mail, and found one sent at about 9:15 that said practice was cancelled.
On Sunday, my club had a walking race followed by a picnic. This event is sponsored by an older man, who had been a very age group fine walker almost 20 years ago. The race was a 5.2 mile race, four laps of a 1.3 mile circuit. The race was a handicapped race. If you've never participated in a handicapped race, they can be a lot of fun. Good handicapping means all finishers will arrive at the line essentially simultaneously. Coming off my cold, I didn't race well, and one person hadn't raced in a while, so couldn't be handicapped well. She wound up winning (this is one difficulty to handicapping such a race - the other is sandbaggers, who will misrepresent their abilities). Anyway, the sponsor of this race is now 93 years-old. He moved to a retirement center this past year. His mind is still sharp and his body is in good shape, for a man his age, who was diagnosed with diabetes 50! years ago. He now walks an hour a day, most days. His doctor has said he's good for 10 more years. Harry walked one lap of the circuit. Knock wood that when I get close to his age, I can come close to doing that.
posted by Scooter at 7:59 AM
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