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So I was sitting in the main living quarters of the Frisco Compound and Gift Shop in suburban Enola tonight with the second of two wives and found myself in a most unusual spot (no, not THAT kind of spot, you dirty-minded viewers).
Just recently, my wife has become a bit of an empty nester: Her lone child from her first marriage, the gorgeous Meg, married her hunky Marine Tony last April, then waited nearly a year while he blew up stuff in Iraq and Afghanistan. During that time, Meg lived in the compound with Mom and Stepdad, and Mom remained happy. Meg was not happy: Tony was a half-world away, at least in some form of mortal danger and she had to share the upstairs bathroom with my three munchkins when they made their way over from the East Shore.
Well, Tony is back from the Eastern Hemisphere boonies, all in one gigantic muscular piece, and the gleeful Meg has taken up residence in Dillsburg with the in-laws (Tim and Ange, a great pair) and their new puppy, Lily. All very picket fence-y.
But tonight, there was no Meg, no Tony, no Lily and no triplets, who were back in East Hanover Twp. with the first of two wives. It was just the blonde and me in the compound.
Well, we came home from a very nice Chinese dinner and I sat down to bang out my rant. But I have to admit, I wasn’t feeling it. So I watched a show with Deb, burned an hour during which I should have been writing, and enjoyed all 60 minutes of playing hooky. And so did she.
But a Daily Rant has to be written daily, and my day was quickly running out. And I didn’t have a screaming subject at hand. I was still thinking about my wife’s empty nest.
And then it hit me: Empty nest? How about empty nets? As in tennis nets.
I grabbed the list of PIAA sports and went over it quickly, trying to confirm the thought that had just popped into my head: Have I covered every PIAA sport at some point during my career except tennis?
No, it wasn’t true. I realized there were two PIAA sports I haven’t covered. The first is tennis. The second is lacrosse. Both sports have nets.
So there you have it: I’m a serious empty netter.
It might remain that way for tennis. The PIAA team finals are May 21-22 at Hershey Racquet Club, in conflict with the District 1 and District 3 track championships. I have a business decision to make: Do I attend Team Tennis or one of the top two district track meets? At this moment, I do not know. But I will definitely be at the PIAA Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University on May 28-29 and seek a correspondent for the PIAA Singles and Doubles Championships.
But lacrosse? Oh, I’ll be there when the second PIAA Lacrosse Championships are conducted on June 12 at Hersheypark Stadium.
It’s not just that there is no conflict on the calendar that day (thank God it’s two days ahead of the triplets’ birthday), it’s that I have been a lacrosse fan for nearly 20 years and heartily cheered its inclusion on the PIAA roster of championship sports.
It doesn’t matter that PIAA lacrosse is very Philly-centric (I am decidedly NOT a Philly guy) and will remain so for a while. It’s simply a great, great sport. It combines some of the best elements of basketball, soccer, ice hockey, and football. To me, it’s the perfect team sport. (It will never surpass football on the ol’ rodfrisco.com love meter, but it’s high on the list).
But this night caused me to smile. In just a little more than one month, I’ll take in my first lacrosse championship game. And I’ll be an empty netter no more.
