Today we had our homeschool track and field meet. Several of the local homeschooling groups get together with several of the Christian schools in our area and we have quite a large meet, and quite a fun day.
Nothing remotely exciting has ever happened in previous years, though. The weather has always been great, if a little on the hot side, and everything has gone as planned.
Not so this year. We were supposed to get together last Monday, but the local natives were blocking the road in protest about something. I can never keep track of the latest grievances, so I don't know what it was.
We were rescheduled to this Monday, at a different venue. And we went. It really was a lot of fun, and the kids had a great time together. My one daughter won the baseball throw, and came second in the triple jump. Rebecca, my oldest, came third in shotput which she wasn't even going to do because she thought she'd be lousy at it. It was her first time trying. Here are a few shots:
Here's one of my favourite shots of the day. I think I shall use this for a caption contest on Facebook. Rebecca will be so happy. She is so glad I am her mother and that I never embarrass her.
And then the skies opened. And when I say opened, I mean opened.
We ran as fast as we could under the little tents.
Rebecca was stuck with a few of the older kids on the other side of the field, and they took refuge under the bleachers, before someone said that being under a huge hunk of metal when there was lightning was probably not a wise thing.
But while they were there, they witnessed the premier moment of the meet. One woman, in desperation, took refuge in one of the port-a-potties. And while she was in there, the trucks came to empty them. They actually lifted up the port-a-potty she was in before the kids under the bleachers could alert the truck driver. No harm was done, but of such things are memories made.
I told Rebecca that when she was 50, and she remembered back to track and field meets, she would have vague memories of relay races run, and ribbons, and heat, and sunburns. But she will have vivid memories of huddling under the bleachers with some friends.
Sometimes it is when things don't go as planned that life becomes the most interesting. I'm always over-planning things, and when things don't go the way I think they should, I get grumpy. I think what today taught me is that sometimes we need to go with the flow and just laugh. Life is awfully funny when you think about it. And sometimes, all you can do is laugh.
About Me: I'm a Christian author of a bunch of books, and a frequent speaker to women's groups and marriage conferences. Best of all, I love homeschooling my daughters, Rebecca and Katie. And I love to knit. Preferably simultaneously.
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