Lacrosse summer league is so relaxed. 
Twice a week all summer, young men show up to play summer lacrosse.
And parents come to watch . . . OK, and to talk. These warm summer evenings of summer league feel something like the early days of t-ball, when our young men were, for the first time, experiencing 'the field' and all it has to offer. It doesn't really matter who wins, so no one actually keeps score. There is often vicious scrambling over a ball or a goal or ground not yielded. Summer ball for parents is more about finding a shady spot to talk and watch. For me, I just like to be on the premises when there are young men, extreme heat, and lots of beating on each other with sticks. Just sayin'.For the boys - it's serious, intense competition with mortal enemies. It's also laughing and talking, and joking around on the sidelines. Boys, balls, sticks, water bottles in a shady spot on a warm summer evening. What's not to like about that?
When next we line up for lacrosse, there will be nothing relaxed and little joking. This is a serious and fierce state championship team. So, before lacrosse summer league fades... consider what we saw at the field, and who we saw at the field. 
Summer lax starts and ends like this: a bunch of guys slinging lacrosse gear all over the track. Fans wandering around in the sparsely populated stands. Looking for shade. In the summer, younger sibs can run up and down the stairs, climb on the seats, crawl in and out the rails. The stands won't be sparsely populated in a month, so the youngest do all that clambering in another place.
Get into the right shoes. And make some jokes about something.
J-Rut is working the elbow pads. We'll see lots of these boys in heavier and hotter football pads, in about a month. The heat will still be oppressive and muggy.
Everyone who shows up to play summer lacrosse begins by lining up midfield. Guys come from different schools. One day you may play against a guy you play with the rest of the year. Another day ... same team with a brother who is your enemy the rest of the year. Every time the teams are different. There is NO LOYALTY in summer league.
When you get to wear a red COACH shirt, like Coach Ron here, you get to tell people what to do and where to play and who is on what team. Also, whether you wear the blue side or the white side of the jersey. Occcasionally he yells all that. "Yell" is the operative word.
The playing starts. Just so you know, it's really, really hot.
Summer lax starts and ends like this: a bunch of guys slinging lacrosse gear all over the track. Fans wandering around in the sparsely populated stands. Looking for shade. In the summer, younger sibs can run up and down the stairs, climb on the seats, crawl in and out the rails. The stands won't be sparsely populated in a month, so the youngest do all that clambering in another place.Get into the right shoes. And make some jokes about something.J-Rut is working the elbow pads. We'll see lots of these boys in heavier and hotter football pads, in about a month. The heat will still be oppressive and muggy.Everyone who shows up to play summer lacrosse begins by lining up midfield. Guys come from different schools. One day you may play against a guy you play with the rest of the year. Another day ... same team with a brother who is your enemy the rest of the year. Every time the teams are different. There is NO LOYALTY in summer league.When you get to wear a red COACH shirt, like Coach Ron here, you get to tell people what to do and where to play and who is on what team. Also, whether you wear the blue side or the white side of the jersey. Occcasionally he yells all that. "Yell" is the operative word. The playing starts. Just so you know, it's really, really hot.Lucky for everyone, there is an easy way to get a drink of water, and also to spray other people . Those things are called A-frames, they are attached to a regular hose, and have many nozzles on each one, so several boys can get a drink at the same time. Also, spray themselves on the head to cool down. Also spray some unsuspecting guy and start a water fight. OR, just get a drink of water. Boys and water hoses, boys with balls and sticks, boys driving around on Gators. Boys and their toys. 
And...... boys and their phones.
And...... boys and their phones.
Well, moms and phones, too.
A little time for conversation. Always.
And for watching the action.
Mr. T. is always there. His son, Big Russ, can be full of suprises.
What is Big Russ doing HERE, playing goalie?
Doing this? He doesn't play with that kind of stick, usually.
Big Russ is supposed to be down here, doing this.The relaxed pace of summer league lacrosse is over. Football . . . the early morning summer work-out phase . . . yields to the football all-day phase. And then school starts, so football + school = Total Physical Exhaustion. When next we see these stands and this field, sorry - turf, it will be intense and loud, and fiercely competitive. It will still be seriously hot. So more squirting water at each other and riding around the Gator.
Different line up.
Same friends.
Our eldest daughter, The Sophisticate, is a woman of many talents. As we face the last semester at the University, she is honing the skills she learned at my knee...or on my hip...or in my car....or being dragged along on my wild, over-extended commitments. So,let's see how she's doing on some critical life skills. 
MAXIMIZE and HURRY "I'm just trying to get this done as quick as possible. It's bright and freezing." FALSE. She wanted to make sure we all saw her manicure, and it's hard to get that in the picture. Future life skill - maximize the manicure - useful for professional anybodies - especially useful for carpool lines, women's clubs, and avoiding cleaing up the kitchen...maximize the manicure. Always.
BE IN THE PICTURE: And here they are at last - LINED UP and SMILING - thanks in large part to her persuasive effort. And, she's making sure that she doesn't get left out of the shot. Future life skill - make sure you DOCUMENT everything. Don't do all the work and then not even BE THERE. Document, document, document. So it's documented - The Sophisticate was on the deck.
SHOW UP and TIE BOWS: The Sophisticate can tie a bow like no one else in these parts, nay in the whole world. If there were a Bravo reality show on bow-tying, The Sophisticate would be the HOSTESS - the PADMA of TOP BOW. This particular day, 64 perfect bows on chairs in under 90 minutes. Future life skill - bow tying. No shortage of applications: gift wrap of all kinds and types, bows on wreaths, hair bows, tying string around a bunch of papers to recycle, tying bows on wedding programs, tying sashes on the backs of dresses. Second life skill - showing up to help her mother get the bows on the chairs. Excellent life skill - showing up to help. OK, so those are all related to mother skills. Good plan. 
DON'T GET TO A SIZE 60:That is a single pair of seersucker pants, waist size 60. Pretty Pretty Princess and The Sophisticate took one leg each. Two girls, one pair of pants. Striped pants, no less. And they are both smiling. Future life skill - make sure you are smaller than HALF the size of pants that big. Also, pick up stuff on the spur of the moment at the Thrift Store, because nothing beats a good costume box, which is where these pants are.
WORK the PARTY: At a party, listen carefully, even if it means getting a kind of fixed yet distant stare that simulates your fascination with the other person.... and hold your wine glass gracefully. The Sophisticate can hold her own at a party. Behind her are all the bows she had tied 4 hours earlier. Future life skill - work the cocktail party. 
Laugh a lot. Things get tough; life can be dark and twisty sometimes. Everybody gets tired, and everyone doesn't always want to do it your way. The world is inherently unfair. Laughing works on most all of that. The Sophisticate uses her prodigious laughing skill to the fullest. I'm really, really grateful for that. It changes her world and it changes ours too.
FIND THE SHADE. In these hot and muggy parts, the shade is your friend. And somehow, she has all those men looking right at her. PPP is NOT looking at her. The Sophisticate has these gentlemen right where she wants them, in the shade.
Hug a lot. And hang on tight. Just saying.
