Chimeras

I'm on a new hockey team this summer, called the Chimeras. We have a pretty cool logo and a very skilled and fun team. It's a women's team in the True North league at Rinx, which is a significantly higher level than at Bill Bolton arena, the only other women's league I've been in. That means that our passes don't meander off into nowhere, people play positions properly, and it's way more competitive and challenging. The Chimeras are in the middle of three divisions, and I love it. We're kicking ass too - lots of shutouts and only a couple of losses so far.



Except... I've developed the dreaded "skate bite," for the second time in my four short years of hockey playing. It's so painful! Basically, it's an infammation of the tendon at the front of my ankle, and there's a big angry lump of bruise that reddens and curses me every time I skate. So I've had to skip my two-hour Friday game for a couple weeks, and pad and wrap my ankle for the short Wednesday games. I know that skating on it is probably making it worse, but c'mon, once a week is as infrequent as I can get.



(I just heard a great line from a bluegrass song on the radio: "I don't drink as much as I want too...") Had to share that with you. Mmm this beer is good.



Other than Angry Ankle, playing with the Chimeras this summer has been great. I've had tonnes of assists and even a goal, and the gals on the team are great fun, going for pints afterward and even, I've heard, sneakin' in some j's. Nice moves! There's a certain amount of camaraderie on this team that I haven't always experienced elsewhere...







Other things that rock lately:



The Tottenham Bluegrass Festival
the moose in Algonquin
getting out of Toronto so often
seeing the novel's end in sight
The Wolfe Island Literary Festival
Alexandra moving back to Toronto


Of course, there are a lot of things that suck, but I won't subject you to that today. That list would be too long.

Cheers.