Scottish Highlands

Scottish Highlands

Monday, October 06, 2014

Making It Up As I Go Along #594

Fall Sundays
Memories of teenage years
A gathering in parking lot rinks
Teammates and opponents
Walking together
Shouldered nets, pads and sticks
Discussing teen importance along the way
School drama, action movies and girls

Hours of hockey follow
Best three of five series
Having jerseys of all kinds running the asphalt
Oiler white a teammate of Canadien red
Maple Leaf versus Canuck
Red Wing and Nordique with the pass n’ play

And as dusk closes in the games end
Gear removed and packed up again
Nets re-shouldered
And the trek back home
Teammates and opponents all friends again
Discussing the games best plays
Analyzing the outcomes
And a return to discussion of school, movies and girls

Through the door I’m blasted
A wall of heat blankets me from the sweaty autumn cold
Cooked dinner wafting through the house
Chicken, turkey, roast
Each week brings a different fragrance.
Welcoming me through the door
Bringing calming ease to the hectic day

My best friend excitedly welcomes
Ears pinned back while tail wags
Jumping to my thigh before dropping back to all fours
Sniffing around my hockey bag
Learning of my day by way of nose
While a mellow uncle wanders with mug in hand
Asking for hockey highlights
Before walking away when his fill is met

A plate of raw carrots handed over
Chopped up with mothers hands
Knowing those of the cooked variety
Would lay untouched upon my dish
I take my pre-meal snack downstairs
Chomping a bite before asking dad for the score
The football watched innocently
For love of team rather than the money of modern bets
And it’s the Canadian variety that we’re watching
NFL ignored, dad catches me up on what brought us to this place
The touchdowns of the first half
An interception that swayed the momentum

I plunk down upon the sofa nodding
And update him on my street hockey career
Telling of the shutout I got
Playing out a replay of a glove save
All told with the expectation that Montreal may still call on me
My street hockey being fantasy minor leagues
Secretly scouted from cars by old Hab legends

And to this day I’m transported back
From a different town
In a different age
But Fall Sundays remain entrenched
As I wander up to my kitchen
Swearing I can detect the aroma
Of an ovened roast
Prepared twenty-five years ago.



MONDAY…
--- Monday on a Monday at work.  The pain of such things is at least reduced with the ability to wear jeans for charity. 

TUESDAY…
--- Lunch across with Shannon.  First time we’ve done it in months.  The cafeteria is really reducing.  Very little choice of food compared to even a year or two ago.  One type of wrap.  Burgers.  And today’s special… spaghetti.  That works fine for me.  But poor Shannon.

WEDNESDAY…
--- Fairly regular night shift. 

THURSDAY…
--- Pizza night.  Mona and I split a Louis’ Pizza.  Work has to be a pretty good time with that to be eaten.

FRIDAY…
--- Lay fairly low.  Go to the eye care place to look at getting my frames fixed/repaired.  Lucky to have it fall under the warrantee.  A small walk and most of the time just hanging around the house.  Relaxing.

SATURDAY…
--- Laundry day.  And TV watching as the rain is falling outside. 
--- Evening hockey pool draft goes fairly well. 

SUNDAY…
--- The big draft tonight in hockey pool land.  Our office keeper league picks tonight.  I guess I do OK in the draft.  As good as I could considering the trades I made last season.   But I need things to go right with some player development for me to get in the money this season.

MONDAY…
--- Back to the eye care place to get my new frames done.  Much better fit again. 

--- Look into the cell phone thing.  My contract is running out and I have to figure out what to do.  Back to Telus? Over to Rogers? iPhone 6? LG phone?  HTC? The head spins with phone stuff.

No comments: