Bumped, bruised, and I don’t care!

In the realm of backyard games that can be played by a group of people I think perhaps only wiffle ball (baseball doesn’t imitate life and life doesn’t imitate baseball: they both imitate wiffle ball!) could possibly compete with pond hockey for the amount of fun generated. Though I will grant that the last time I played a good game of wiffle, except possibly for the pitching arm, I really didn’t feel this beat up.  Max’s 4th grade class held a get together on MLK day yesterday to which all parents and older siblings were invited as well. The sense of community and spirit within that group of families and the energy and enthusiasm of our class teacher is just fantastic. It was really all just unspeakably wonderful. Though the day was cold — I think it might have warmed to the low double digits by midday — the sun was shining with nary a cloud in the sky. To go along with the excellent company there was x-country skiing, sledding, and most importantly for the Lutz boys, a clean sheet of ice the likes of which only Mother Nature could create.

Neither of our guys have ever spent more than a few hours on ice skates (alpine skiing has been their primary winter sport) though they and their rental skates both acquitted themselves quite nicely yesterday and in any case they both had a grand old time with their friends, which was of course the big idea. For my part, I hadn’t played any sort of competitive hockey since I was 12 and though I spent a good deal of time flailing on the ice like a fish out of water it was really a blast. It was only upon our return home after the adrenaline wore off that we saw that Sammy’s right elbow was swollen to the size of an orange (in the ice vs. elbow battle, the ice usually wins) and that I had managed to rub the skin right off the back of my upper ankles. Note to self: ankle socks and hockey skates don’t mix well. Regardless of the bumps and bruises though we would all go and play again this very second if we could! All right, back to work now…