The New Soccer

Soccer in a pandemic? Sure.

Kids are the least likely to catch covid, soccer is outside, and Scottsville is sparsely populated. There's a total of 8 kids on Shane's team and only two teams in his age bracket.

I had to send an email with Shane's temperature before practice. Kids bring their own ball and can't touch anything with their hands during practice. The coach has to wear a mask and parents are supposed to stay distanced.

That left me in the car with my book.

"You can still watch me from the car!" Shane said.

"Don't count on it," I replied. "You go out there, do your best, and have fun whether I can see or not."

Not that I read all that much. I did watch some, but it's not like I could hear much of what was going on!

The commute was amazing, though. It was right near Shane's school!

Shane started to wilt partway through. He came up the hill saying he was hot and "wanted to throw up or pass out."

"You can't say that in a pandemic, kid," I said. "If you're super dramatic they won't let you come back. It's just the heat. Sit, rest, have a drink, and then get back out there. We'll head home in 15 minutes."

"I don't know if want to do soccer anymore. I don't like the heat."

That tune changed Saturday morning.

The weather is great at 8 AM!

Shane was really excited to be on a team.

He recognized some of the kids on the other team from school.

Shane played defense for most of the first half. The coach tried to put him on offense at one point, but he made it clear where he wanted to be!

The skill level was much lower than the big league, but the convenience and small population pool made SOKS the perfect league for us.

Shane must have told the coach he really wanted to be goalie at half-time. The team was losing 4-2.

Shane got his chance! The team lost 5-4 at the last minute, but that's fine with me. The two teams will be playing each other all season, so close games are a good thing!

I now have a reason to do some drills with Shane during the week. I could have forced them before, but now that he chose to do soccer.....

I'm looking forward to a healthy and fun season. 

PTO Night

Wednesday night, Shane's school's PTO (Parent-Teacher-Organization) held a fundraiser night at the local brewery. It was kid friendly, so Shane and I drove by after I picked him up. We grabbed a slice of pizza each and I bought a six-pack to take home as a "Thanks for hosting."

Shane mostly wandered around and tried to look at the cellphone a little girl was playing on (she ran and hid next to her mom). 

Shane's teacher, Mr. Bahn, was there and his afterschool teacher, Ms. Katie, ran a trivia game. I would have enjoyed the trivia game, but it was hard to hear and the pens I tried didn't work. Shane joined a team for a few minutes, before his attention drifted.

Some bar patrons started a game of darts and Shane wanted in.

Someone had a bad through and Shane supplied a sad trombone, "Wah, wah, wah!"

They made the mistake of laughing. Shane started to supply the sound effect after every throw!

I tried to coach Shane not to be annoying, but the guys were good sports. One of them even tried to show Shane how to throw a dart afterward.

Another kid came along and he said, "I think I started something!"

It only lasted for a minute and a throw or two, but Shane's ready to play for real next time!

We came home and Shane listened to Mom reading some Harry Potter before he got electronic time.

Small World, Scottsville Style

With the change in weather, our new land has become overgrown. It's beyond what a mower can handle. Theresa's husband* has a bush hog, so we hired him.

Unfortunately, he called out the day before and Carrie had to start looking for alternatives. She asked Theresa if she knew anyone else and got a few names she tried to call. Carrie picked up some names online as well and after a series of quotes and playing phone tag, she asked RJ to clear our land. RJ was one of the names she acquired through Theresa.

RJ couldn't work the day Carrie called, but he came out the next day.

While RJ was bush hogging, Carrie was trading messages with Dwayne about picking up our bar stools. We won't have a need for them in the new house and Carrie is a member of a Facebook group called, "Buy Nothing Charlottesville." It's like an online garage sale that never stops.

Dwayne came by and happened to strike up an idle conservation. "So where are you moving to?" he asked.

Carrie said, "Scottsville," and he paused.

"Where abouts?"

Carrie told him and Dwayne asked if we knew Theresa's family. Carrie said we did and Dwayne started to laugh.

He was Theresa's step-brother. Theresa had called him to find recommendations to give to Carrie.

"Do you mind if I ask who you hired?" he asked.

"RJ," Carrie replied.

Dwayne laughed some more. "That's my nephew!"

RJ called to say he was done while they were talking and Carrie passed the phone to Dwayne, so that he could say hi too!



*Theresa is a mother whom Carrie met online. She had asked about anyone willing to let her triplets see their horse and Carrie let them visit Nibs while she was at Jenny's. Later, Theresa picked up some of our furniture Carrie posted online and then we bumped into them again at Easter!