Soccer and an Ant House
Last weekend was absolutely gorgeous with sunny skies, a very gentle breeze—unlike the past few days, moderate temperatures—AND a soccer tournament featuring one of my grand-sons. The location was about an hour or so away–an easy drive with the first game mid-morning.
The teams seemed to be mostly still asleep during that game but after a couple of hours ‘resting’ under the canopies set up by the soccer dads, sandwiches made by a soccer mom and soccer dad, the next game was far more exciting.
Glen came prepared with a wide brimmed hat, my hat was still on the hat rack in the front hallway
Of course I tried to take photos of the action—but I need a lot more practice before I can catch the best moments. I did get a few.
And then there was the Ant House.
The soccer fields are set up to accommodate several ages of players with different sized goals. The adult goal was off to one side providing the equivalent of a play-pen for five year old siblings of the players. My youngest grandson sat there along with two other boys–busily constructing an Ant House complete with a soft grass bed and decorated with a dandelion—and they managed to capture an ant to put in the house.
Some parents brought grills and I could smell hot dogs cooking. Sitting under that canopy with the other parents was fun–sharing dried plantains, listening to music and playing corn-hole.
When the next game started there was a brief moment of panic—both teams were wearing white jerseys and one of them had to switch–to the black ones–but one player forgot his at home—another parent stepped in with a spare.
And of course there was a bit of drama—two nose bleeds–youngest grand-son and a player–both bonked on the face with a soccer ball—-both survived, player’s mom rinsed out the shirt in the girl’s bathroom full of girls changing their team jerseys. Both boys were quite nonchalant about the event once the bleeding stopped.
It was a wonderful day.
Sylvia Weir Art 