The beginning of another volleyball season...

.... ah, even if it's only until the end of the month (for this round that is). This is for the inter-district level. So there we were a bunch of ladies ranging from the youthful twenties to the 'aunty' forties and 'grandma' fifties; and oh ya! the forgotten-thirties, out in the court trying to recapture yet again what's left of our ability to squat, jump and bend. Volleyball here we come. Already as I type this, my arms are actually tingling with a little pain... from the digs that I did yesterday. And a faint mark of blue black has appeared. This always happens on the first day of volleyball.

Many of us have become good friends over the years that we've played together. And we've been coming together even though we keep telling ourselves that it's going to be our final year. It's not something that is easy to describe but to have everyone coming together despite the commitments we each have. Either we are all crazy or there is this indescribable feeling that you get from the camaraderie or we're all just suckers for the adrenaline highs from the games. Or it could just be the simple fact that it feels good that we can still dig a few balls, do some 'aunty-spikes', set new limits for ourselves.

For every opportunity that I (and my friends too, I believe) can still play, it is a blessing. Some of us are not so young anymore. Our lives run on a rather rigid routine. All of us have families. Some have grown up kids, others have young ones, yet there are those who just about to start out in their lives and still those who are plodding on. But we come together, and for a couple of hours a couple of times a week for the next 2 weeks; and we holler, play and banter as we go through the drills and games. Occasionally we'll even have disagreements, mutterings but by and by they will be forgotten and forgiven; and we'll move on.

We might even get sun burnt a little and have our hands bruised or even suffer abrasions, but I think we still won't trade it for the manicured and pedicured thingy.... the fact that we still show up at the courts. Life is so sterile and artificial in the latter, where everything is nipped and tucked away. So, here's a toast to us all.... LOL!