snow!

(written yesterday afternoon)

Today began depressingly drizzly and grey. Ordinarily I don't care, but I'm not looking forward to a Turkey Bowl in the rain. Unpleasant for the players, of course, but also for those of us on the sidelines. I hope secretly that the game is cancelled. It isn't.

I've been going to the Cottagers' Turkey Bowl for years now. Every Thanksgiving weekend Sunday, the cottagers from the north and the south ends of the lake battle it out in a game of touch football. It's a pretty casual game, with a wide mix of players, from little kids to guys who played semi-pro football. Girls only recently started participating, though they were never banned.





JBR is the referee, though also on a casual basis. Being deaf in one ear makes it more of a challenge, and he sometimes gets distracted from the game by a good conversation with the other onlookers.

This year was the first year that Jeff didn't play. Neither did Willi Powell. "I've done my twenty years," Willi says, as he and Jeff nurse bottles of beer from the sidelines as they talk about computers and cottage life. Rick (Larkin's husband) decides to play, but is injured after one play, pulling a calf muscle. :-(





For most of us non-players, the Turkey Bowl is a strictly social event. From time to time, one of us will ask about the score, especially if we're getting cold or have turkeys cooking in the oven. Otherwise, we're catching up on gossip, admiring babies, getting reacquainted. People bring blankets, hot drinks, snacks, beer.

On warmer Turkey Bowls, a few straggler blackflies come out to keep us company. More often, it snows. This time, it hailed. Not a lot, but enough to make it to the unofficial Turkey Bowl history books, I'm sure.

A whistle blows. Woohoo, the game's over! We all pile into our motorboats and head back to the turkeys in our cottage ovens. The wind is much fiercer now, however, and the dark skies look threatening. After slowly chugging through the waves for a bit, we decide it's not safe to go all the way back with a fully loaded boat. Jeff, Brittany and I get off at the next point of land and wait for JBR to drop the others and head back. The wind is roaring through the trees, and we climb the hill to the shelter of an empty cottage at the top, huddle together on the porch.

Brittany finds it all very exciting as we watch other motorboats full of people struggle home in the wind. JBR soon arrives, and we get back to the cottage. The boathouse is full of mouthwatering cooking fragrances. Brittany and I decorate the cottage with red and orange leaves we gathered earlier in the day.

Dinner: turkey with stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce, roasted vegetables. Dessert: homemade pumpkin pie with whipped cream, pumpkin cheesecake that Larkin and Brittany baked the day before.





Links/News:

One year ago, people did Guest Blatherings from Paul's and Beckett's house.

Two years ago, I gave Pearson Airport Escape Tips.

Three years ago, I went to the International Small Business Congress.

Four years ago, I agreed to babysit Annie and Sara for the first time by myself.

Five years ago, I fell in love with a boy named Spencer.

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Today's Blatherpics:

	Brittany does a dance of joy over the first snow of the year.
	Larkin and Rick and Brittany at the Turkey Bowl.
	Turkey Bowl team photo (both teams). The game ended up being a tie.
	Brittany and I spent part of the game drawing pictures in the dirt along the road beside the camp horse paddocks (is that the right term?) nearby.