Saturday Afternoon

For the most part it has been an eventless afternoon with the exception of a very nice thing that occurred while I was writing this. :-)

All the work has been done and all that is left to do is relax and wait for evening to drift in. It was hot out, just the way I like it. The hedges won't need trimming for another two weeks or so. The girls played baseball for a little while, remind me to duck more often ok.

Speaking of ducking, I remembered something that happened when I used to play volleyball. I tried out for a volleyball team a very long time ago. I was one of the youngest on the team and the most fragile looking one too. I bugged them to let me on the county team. They agreed with one stipulation, that I had to pass the physical training. Nothing was going to stop me from getting on that team, nothing. After hours of grueling training the other gal who wanted to join gave up, so they thought I would so the same and we trained some more. They failed and at the end of the training the coaches and several regular players came up to me to congratulated me because I made the team. That was a huge accomplishment.

After a break we started doing our volleyball drills and it was obvious my lack of experience but I didn't give up. It was getting dark and we were doing one more set of volleys when out of what appeared to be no where a volleyball comes flying and hit me on the back of my head. I had been spiked from the other side of the net where the top players were practicing. I was in so much pain. I didn't tell them but they said I looked ill so they took me home. My pain lasted for a week. At the end of the week my mother informed me she took me off the team. At first I was not happy. Mom was more concerned about my safety. The gals were more than tough they were vicious and they were not going to have little ole me messing up their stats which they worked so hard to achieve. I realized they had sent me a message loud and clear I just wish they had told me to duck first!

I took it for what it was and moved on. Poeple didn't understand why I let it go. I knew I did my best and no one could ever take that away and i had my safety to think about. I was a loner in junior high and besides my brothers no one else had my back until I was in high school. I eventually tried out for the high school volleyball team which was a click I didn't care for but my gig was volleyball. I made the team!

One of the things we managed to do was come to an understanding that although we really didn't like eachother much, we respected eachother for what each brought to the game which for a group of young impulsive latin blooded ladies was a major feat itself. The other thing we did so well and loudly too was yell out duck when a loose ball was headed ones way during practice. No more head injuries tyvm!I even started playing at the volleyball hang out at the beach that summer. Learned plenty that year. An added bonus, I discovered that knee pads, although uncomfortable, really do work!

edited by norbela