Summer

Went to quite the wedding yesterday. It was in the basilica on Colfax; a rather extravagant and luxurious place that reminded me of being in Rome. It was another nice wedding thus far in the year. Not freezing cold like the one in January. It made me realize that I'm losing one cynical view of weddings but gaining another. Or maybe I should say I'm gaining complacency towards weddings, where I find myself suddenly recalling the scene from Wedding Crashers where their discussing what the family members are going to read: example Paul's letter to the Corinthians. But I have become less jaded about the whole affair. At one time I saw weddings as a sort of, look at me and wallow in my fountains of love kind of thing but it is more than that. And with the right people, weddings can be fun.

My hockey team is undefeated thus far in our burgeoning new summer season. 5-0 if you're counting. I played goalie tonight in an unusual variation from our standard roster when our regular tender is out. Normally we play Jackie in nets and keep me out because of my skating but tonight we switched up up and put me between the pipes. I started off weak and shaky at best, receiving virtually no shots(5 in the first). But after a defensive burn I had to stop a quick breakaway and suddenly I was in the groove, and not only that, but feeling truly confident, which helped my overall play. According to K, I faced 24 shots overall and only one went in - the one being a floating puck that was traveling wide before it was misplayed of my defender's hand. So essentially I had a shut-out. Did I forget to mention it was against the Avnots, my former team and generally the team to beat.

Blah blah, let me just share with you a quick moment in my glory. There was a sudden breakaway, as opposed to those really slow ones that nobody seems to stop. As the skater was coming in I knew that he was going to try and deke me instead of going for maybe a quick shot and rebound. Time seemed to slow for me as, for the first time, I weighed my options. Option #1, go down in typical butterfly, risk bad positioning, leave the net wide open, and possible attempt to slide over as he kept moving to my right. Option #2, stack my leg pads to the right, hoping to throw him off, risking leaving the world to shoot at and having to throw my weight in the wrong direction. Option #3, throw myself to the right and hope for timing, kicking my legs in the air as to make it harder to hit the net but leaving a vast amount of space to shoot. And yet you ask, what if he went to the left, you would have been screwed. But that is when I tell you that years of playing helped me recognize the fact that not only was he coming in just left of middle (typical when you want the goalie to butterfly so you can move past to the open net) but he was also traveling so fast that he could never cut back left without slamming into me. Which option was chosen? Why #3 of course. I decided that the other two wouldn't benefit me and just as he was breaking open ground to my right I threw my entire weight over. I slapped my left arm down flat on the ice over my head, kicking my legs up in order to hope for his shot to hit the worn pads. As my shoulders collided with the unforgiving ice, I felt the puck slam into the tender flesh above my unprotected wrist. My ploy had worked, and he had thought he was past me enough to shoot. I finished my roll and sprung to my feet, ready for the followup that never made it.

PS - It was like the end of the world here today. Air raid sirens going off for tornado warnings, the news and Emergency Alerts interrupting the tv. Black and grey crowds ate the frail light, leaving lighting and funnels in their wake. A sudden torrential downpour with lightning immediately overhead, rocking the house to make itself known before vanishing as quickly as whence it came. And then light at the end of the tunnel, as lovely yellow evening sun of the summertime spread glee back across the land. A sharp moment of turmoil before sunshine is restored. What a wet, stormy summer this has been.