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thisnewdayAfter I dropped my grandson off at his mom's following the soccer game, I returned to the house and took his totally-soaked shoes down to the basement. I stuffed each one with about a half roll of paper towels and then set them on a 16 x 16 paver block that I'd placed in the utility sink.
Clamped to the edge of the sink, above the paver, is a 250-watt heat lamp which heats the block below the shoes at the same time that it's heating the shoes from above. It takes a couple of days to dry them out that way, but since I hadn't fired-up the furnace yet, it's the only way I had to do it.
(One internet genius suggested putting them in the microwave, but that ain't happening. Not in my microwave and not in this lifetime. I can only imagine the smell of dying micro-organisms wafting through my house, not to mention the flavor of my next meal, lol.)
It wasn't until this morning that I realized I'd forgotten to drop off his spare soccer shoes for practice this afternoon. So I texted him, said the others were drying, and that I'd bring the spares when I picked him up for practice after school.
That was around noon, which is when he usually texts me if there's something he wants me to know. A short while later, I heard back. Coach had cancelled practice for today because so many of the kids were out with injuries. Damn!
I asked him if he was one of them, because he'd been in the thick of it the whole game, and was relieved when he said that he wasn't.
The thing is, I can't help but feel that this is at least partly a result of not having enough players to substitute when there's an injury or when a few minutes on the bench is needed because a player has been "putting the pedal to the metal" for almost 90 minutes.
Which is how soccer, as opposed to just about any other sport, is played. Without helmets or pads or any other protective gear except two or three ounces of plastic shin guards and the socks to hold them in place.
But, that's the game. We have, I think, three more to finish the outdoor season in scholastic competition. Then it's back indoors where he's rejoining his old club team, the Eastwood Fire.
I'm incredibly proud of him and his teammates, the way they've left it all on the field, game after undermanned game. I only hope that they all come back next year and that there are enough underclassmen in the pipeline to not only replace the departing seniors but to maybe put a few butts on that long, mostly-empty bench.
Because they'd all undoubtedly get the chance to play--along with a better chance of staying healthy and maybe even grabbing a few wins...
LPK
Dreamwidth
10.4.2019
Clamped to the edge of the sink, above the paver, is a 250-watt heat lamp which heats the block below the shoes at the same time that it's heating the shoes from above. It takes a couple of days to dry them out that way, but since I hadn't fired-up the furnace yet, it's the only way I had to do it.
(One internet genius suggested putting them in the microwave, but that ain't happening. Not in my microwave and not in this lifetime. I can only imagine the smell of dying micro-organisms wafting through my house, not to mention the flavor of my next meal, lol.)
It wasn't until this morning that I realized I'd forgotten to drop off his spare soccer shoes for practice this afternoon. So I texted him, said the others were drying, and that I'd bring the spares when I picked him up for practice after school.
That was around noon, which is when he usually texts me if there's something he wants me to know. A short while later, I heard back. Coach had cancelled practice for today because so many of the kids were out with injuries. Damn!
I asked him if he was one of them, because he'd been in the thick of it the whole game, and was relieved when he said that he wasn't.
The thing is, I can't help but feel that this is at least partly a result of not having enough players to substitute when there's an injury or when a few minutes on the bench is needed because a player has been "putting the pedal to the metal" for almost 90 minutes.
Which is how soccer, as opposed to just about any other sport, is played. Without helmets or pads or any other protective gear except two or three ounces of plastic shin guards and the socks to hold them in place.
But, that's the game. We have, I think, three more to finish the outdoor season in scholastic competition. Then it's back indoors where he's rejoining his old club team, the Eastwood Fire.
I'm incredibly proud of him and his teammates, the way they've left it all on the field, game after undermanned game. I only hope that they all come back next year and that there are enough underclassmen in the pipeline to not only replace the departing seniors but to maybe put a few butts on that long, mostly-empty bench.
Because they'd all undoubtedly get the chance to play--along with a better chance of staying healthy and maybe even grabbing a few wins...
LPK
Dreamwidth
10.4.2019
