Vacations from reality

I took my weekend today (I get a day a week, roughly) - couldn't concentrate on reading any more this afternoon after three days of solid book-learning broken by class and food and not much else. Funny thing, taking my weekend so shortly after my last one and knowing I won't get another for 10 days but so life goes. Back to normal next Tuesday. I can hardly wait. The worst thing was missing pickup tonight - indoor from now on, in the Armory - not quite full Henry Crown size I think, but it's hard to judge. We play in the middle of an indoor track that's more circular than what I think of as normal but with all eight cones and one white disc the location isn't so important. And I do find it fun to try to avoid the long-jump sand pits when we're warming up. Ultimate is going to be interesting from now on - I've never played so late before (10:30-12) consistently, especially after shifting to my earliest school-schedule ever (up by 7:30 every day) although I make a pact with Angelo to leave at 11:30. We'll see what happens on "practice" nights though... which brings me to point number two: a possible split of genders from the coed team for the college season - we're short on eligible women but the interest is there and with some recruiting they'd have a decent group at the least. Enough to go to regionals, certainly and probably do fairly well there even. But for me the most exciting thing isn't practicing with women again (which does certainly have its advantages) but having a coach for the first time ever. And from the first day he had advice for me, useful: work on touch. I find this piece rather amusing since the past year or more I've worked on adding more power to my throwing in spin to cut through wind better, travel farther, and fly more accurately. I don't feel like I'm there yet - wind still gives me trouble - but Zill says "softer" so I must obey. I do overthrow people more than I'd like, although I chalk it up to either laziness or tiredness on the part of the cutter I know if I just put on a little more float (while keeping control) that number would decrease if not disappear. Wishful thinking, but I'll try. There's precious little immune to practice. So I did, last weekend at Fallout with my beloved Supersnatch who, like a rebellious teenager, is growing up so quickly that even only a few years distant I feel utterly disconnected. Pickup more often in Chicago, I guess. But it was a fun weekend - playing in a leadership role again, touching the disc multiple times on every point, giving advice on the line, holding a cup together, watching girls improve dramatically over the course of a day or a game or even a point. I tried to lay out my throws gently, swing upwind for yards but also make everything easily catchable. Mostly I succeeded. A few short throws too floaty, a few breaks too excited but overall a good ratio. Ultimate becomes fun again, I become useful on the field. This sense of purpose, confidence, excitement - this is what I love about playing and something I lose when I don't feel like I can contribute well. So here's to the next 11 months before Regionals - time to work on touch, to get in shape, to dream of Sarasota.