a rugs life

Mary (formerly of Manilla) has just moved over to WordPress this week.

Drop by and say ‘hi!’ if you have a moment…

Her pics of her adorable cat, Shadow, always make me wish I wasn’t allergic. 

Rada started soccer practise last Friday. We reported to a field near Tufts at 5:45pm.

Earlier that week I had bought cleats and shin-guards. Rada was so enamored she wore the cleats out of the store and through the apartment all that evening. When she woke the next morning, she made sure they were in the same place they’d been left the night before. 

Soccer practise was a loosely organized affair with six kids and a friendly coach. The finer points of coaching involved reminding players where the ball was. Hints such as “turn around” and “go in the other direction” were also helpful. Younger siblings of the players kept running on and off the field, sometimes participating in the practise.

And then we learned that not only was there practise on Friday but there was a game on Saturday.

The day dawned cool and breezy. We showed up at the same field, which was now crowded with 40-50 kids and their families and with games going on in 3 fields.

Rada’s team was the Bears and she is player number 8. During the game she ran up and down the field, very proud, very happy to be running, mostly looking at me and smiling. I suspect that some of the finer points of the game still elude her. Nevertheless, several times during the morning she kicked the ball, and once she got to throw it from off-field. All the teams cheered for all goals. And the best part was the break with fresh cut oranges.

No one really knew the score but at some point the game was over. Every kid was congratulated for doing a great job, and the parents finished up their relaxed conversations, picked up their lawn chairs, dunkin donuts coffee, bid their hasty goodbyes until next week and headed off for the rest of their Saturdays.

R: I don’t want to go to school!

M: I don’t want to go to work, either. But I have to, so we’ll have money for food and clothes, and you have to go to school because it’s the law.

R: I want to change the law.

M: In that case, I suggest you become a lawyer.

R: Ok. How do I become a lawyer?

M: You need to read a lot and write a lot… and cultivate an argumentative personality.

R: Fine, no problem.

M: If you were a lawyer what would you do?

R: Change the laws: kids only go to school one day a week and people work one day a week.

M: Does that mean everyone would only work one day a week - even doctors, teachers, and bus drivers?

R: Yes.

M: What if you got sick on a day that the doctor wasn’t working? Who would take care of you?

R: I would let the doctor come over in his or her shorts and sneakers.

M: What would happen if we had to take the bus and it was on a different day than the bus driver worked?

R: No problem. Take the car.

M: What would you do about mean bosses and nasty teachers?

R: Throw them in jail.

M: Hm….. well, get in that school of yours and do lots of reading and writing. But try and hold off on the argumentative personality for the time being.

R: OK! Bye, mom.

Rada and I went to the Big Apple circus last weekend. I enjoyed it immensely, marvelling in its otherworldliness, and appreciating the unusual talents of the performers.

There were people who stood on their head and allowed people to stand on top of other people who then stood on top of them. These very same people then took their right arm and waved it to the crowd, eliciting gasps and ‘oohs ‘from the audience.

There was a woman who stood in the middle of the ring with a smile and a whip and herded a group of bejewelled horses in a circle.

There was an acrobatic troup that performed inside cylindrical structures dressed in phosphorescent painted leotards. At one point, the tent went dark, and nothing was visible except the green, yellow and orange swirls on their costumes.

I loved every minute of it. 

Rada, on the other hand, was squirmy, and whiney. She complained about not being able to see, even though on my lap she had a great view. She talked about the lights being too bright and there being too many people. Not far into the second half she started asking when it would be over. And not too long after that she asked to go home. A few minutes later she asked again. So we did.

And Rada was happy to get home. She curled up in her favorite quilt and watched one of her favorite videos. It was comfort time. And the circus had not been.

I had really *really* not wanted to leave the circus, but it didn’t seem right forcing her to stay.

You must hear this old HP scanner reprogrammed to play Fur Elise. Lends new meaning to the term “multi-purpose device”…