Look Out Toronto Here We Come...

8/1/11

We’re in Canada now, after a short trip across the border and past Niagara Falls. We didn’t actually have a chance to get outside and see the falls, but we definitely got a pretty good view while driving past. I got some video (not the best quality), and I’ll be posting soon.

We’re staying and playing (all of our matches but one) at Appleby College, which isn’t really a college—more like a really nice high school (boarding school style). It’s beautiful here. The campus borders Lake Ontario and the pitch is nestled in a little nook overlooking the lake. In the evening, when we’ll be playing, the field is all shadows (with maybe some ghosts here and there), with the blood orange sun fading behind the posts and light zephyrs rolling in from the lake. Ahhhhh, what great place for some rugby.

We had a good practice session and seem to be in a really good place, as a collective, to play England tomorrow. The starting line-up was announced, earlier this evening, (we had our jersey ceremony) and I’ll be starting at fullback. A part of me is, to quote the Golden Girls, “Wound up tighter than the girdle on a Baptist minister’s wife at an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast.” But I know that part is mostly just itching to play rugby—to play that game I love.

And now, it’s that time in our show for some off-the-field antics/mishaps (this time involving yours truly). I lost my room key this evening while we were all chatting down by the lake. My space pen (yes, I own a space pen) fell out of my pocket at one point during the chat, and I almost pooped my pants when I discovered it missing. After retrieving it, I was so relieved that I didn’t think to check the contents of my pockets for other possibly missing items, so I left our chat without my room key.

Luckily, I have genius coach, who concocted this brilliant idea, and awesome teammates, who implemented it and found my key. Pretty much, we got on our hands and knees and combed the area where we had been sitting. Hopefully, this tactical efficiency will carry over onto the field tomorrow.