Day 17 - Rainy Morning, Selections, Axe Throwing
In any "Intro to Film" class, the first thing you learn is that rain signifies change. I think today's rainy morning was planted by the director to mark a turning point for the tour.
For me, yesterday with my family and the wonderful breakfast this morning before Dee Dee, Mike, and Evan left for the airport and Mom, Dad, Eric, and Rob left for Lake Louise helped to remind me that life is more than just rugby. There are people who love us regardless of whether or not we get to play, and are more concerned with whether or not we're happy doing what we're doing.
At 11:15am, we congregated in the lobby and by the time we did our count-off/roll-call on the front steps of the lobby (and the countdown starts in 1...), the sun was shining again and we were headed to the Druids' practice field. We dropped our bags off, picked up Subway sandwiches (or pitas) and brought them back to the clubhouse. We had a few moments to eat, and as I was sitting outside with Crouse and Carter I felt that "incredible lightness of being" (a feeling I've often thought about from Milan Kundera's book of the same name). It was great - the sun was out, there was a slight fall breeze, I was hanging out with unique people doing something that very few people ever have the opportunity to do and took the moment to soak up that feeling.
The next moment was back to rugby, but it was great to have that sanity check. We watched the video of the USA vs. Australia match we played a few days ago and then cleated up for practice. After that we did our standard warm-up: 10 minutes on our own, and some 4 corners (pop pass, posting, gut pass, pass and run left/right, and 2 people driving through traffic in the middle).
We gathered to hear the selection announcement for Tuesday's game. "After much deliberation, we decided to stay with almost the same line-up as the previous match with a few changes in the forwards." This was an especially tough pill to swallow for the replacements and those who didn't dress for the match. We had been hoping that Kathy would put in the "other combination" (since our fates seemed to have been paired together) and all secretly told ourselves until now that we'd be playing in the next Australia match. After dropping that bomb, we went right into the practice for the next 2 hours.
The showers weren't working, so we changed into clothes to go to Sue and Wes' house again for another BBQ. They are incredibly generous and fantastic hosts. One of the coolest things was axe throwing at a wood target (an event for the lumberjack competition that Sue was practicing for). Each of us had a chance to throw the axe and many of us ended up hitting the shed behind the target. It was pretty fun and decptively difficult. We also fed their neighbor's horses, saw Kathy ride a dog sled, and hung out around the bonfire in their backyard.
Our feelings were settling in and some were more upset than others. While we'd all love to play, we have to come to terms with the selection decision. I've been in a very positive mental space since yesterday and was very happy with my game against Ireland, so for me it's not that bad. I'm in it now to enjoy the experience and not worry too much about playing.
For me, yesterday with my family and the wonderful breakfast this morning before Dee Dee, Mike, and Evan left for the airport and Mom, Dad, Eric, and Rob left for Lake Louise helped to remind me that life is more than just rugby. There are people who love us regardless of whether or not we get to play, and are more concerned with whether or not we're happy doing what we're doing.
At 11:15am, we congregated in the lobby and by the time we did our count-off/roll-call on the front steps of the lobby (and the countdown starts in 1...), the sun was shining again and we were headed to the Druids' practice field. We dropped our bags off, picked up Subway sandwiches (or pitas) and brought them back to the clubhouse. We had a few moments to eat, and as I was sitting outside with Crouse and Carter I felt that "incredible lightness of being" (a feeling I've often thought about from Milan Kundera's book of the same name). It was great - the sun was out, there was a slight fall breeze, I was hanging out with unique people doing something that very few people ever have the opportunity to do and took the moment to soak up that feeling.
The next moment was back to rugby, but it was great to have that sanity check. We watched the video of the USA vs. Australia match we played a few days ago and then cleated up for practice. After that we did our standard warm-up: 10 minutes on our own, and some 4 corners (pop pass, posting, gut pass, pass and run left/right, and 2 people driving through traffic in the middle).
We gathered to hear the selection announcement for Tuesday's game. "After much deliberation, we decided to stay with almost the same line-up as the previous match with a few changes in the forwards." This was an especially tough pill to swallow for the replacements and those who didn't dress for the match. We had been hoping that Kathy would put in the "other combination" (since our fates seemed to have been paired together) and all secretly told ourselves until now that we'd be playing in the next Australia match. After dropping that bomb, we went right into the practice for the next 2 hours.
The showers weren't working, so we changed into clothes to go to Sue and Wes' house again for another BBQ. They are incredibly generous and fantastic hosts. One of the coolest things was axe throwing at a wood target (an event for the lumberjack competition that Sue was practicing for). Each of us had a chance to throw the axe and many of us ended up hitting the shed behind the target. It was pretty fun and decptively difficult. We also fed their neighbor's horses, saw Kathy ride a dog sled, and hung out around the bonfire in their backyard.
Our feelings were settling in and some were more upset than others. While we'd all love to play, we have to come to terms with the selection decision. I've been in a very positive mental space since yesterday and was very happy with my game against Ireland, so for me it's not that bad. I'm in it now to enjoy the experience and not worry too much about playing.
posted by Lee Knight at 11:49 PM
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