World of Chig   

25.4.02

Where does it go from here? Is it down to the lake I fear?
or...Parklife II


I forgot to say (in Parklife below) that when I was sitting in the park on Tuesday, watching people playing football, I found myself thinking, 'why don't I know anyone who likes playing football?' and then 'why don't any of my friends have children, so I can take them down the park and play football with them?'
Yesterday though, I went again - another gloriously sunny evening - and had a brilliant time. As soon as I got there, I saw a group of boys playing footie. Two of them were neighbours of mine until they moved away at Christmas. I sat down to read the paper, to see if the photo of my feet was in (it wasn't) and to my great joy, one of the boys asked if I wanted to join in. Someone's Dad had joined in too, so I evened up the teams. Unfortunately, I got stuck in goal. I have never played in goal, not at school, not even when I played in a gay five-a-side team a few years ago. We ended up playing for about 45 minutes, as two more adults and a few more children joined in, making it about six-a-side by the time we'd finished. One of the hazards of playing in Cannon Hill Park is the lake. The field slopes down to it, and so inevitably, we lost the ball in there, twice! Luckily, a slight breeze and my adeptness with a long stick meant I was able to retrieve it. I am a hero to small children! I have achieved acceptance by my peer group: 8 to 12 year old boys and their fathers!

Anyway, it was great fun, even in goal. The agility of some of the kids was quite astounding, so I think being in goal was probably a blessing. I believe the score was 16-13 by the time the ball went into the lake again and the owner of the spare decided it was time to go home. As my team was already 8-6 down when I joined in, I don't think I did too badly. I even made one spectacular (though I say so myself) save. And I have a lovely grazed knee and cut shin to show for it, as I was wearing football shorts. God I'm so butch.

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