the non-event of the season
There’s been a lot of little things that have happened during the last week, that right afterwards I had the though “Oh, it’d be funny to write a blog entry around that”. Sadly, by the time I was next at a computer whatever had been so incredibly amusing at the time has totally skipped my mind.
I think one of the ones was my netball grand final – well, lack of grand final.
I had spent a week building it up, mentioning it constantly, sending silly emails to my team members about my need to run through a banner when we would be getting on the court and searching for Mullet wigs (we’re called the Mullets, so I thought it would be appropriate). So as Wednesday dawned, I looked out the window slightly concerned that I’d see great big, grey rain clouds and small but fierce road-side rivers (as London appears to not have installed drainage, even though it does rain 364 days out of the year). You can imagine my surprise and happiness when I was greeted with the sun shining and frost on the cars around my flat.
Yes, I was a happy person. I wandered into work, ready to face my day and confident in the knowledge that it was beautiful outside, there’s no possible way that it could change in 4 hours. I know what you’re all thinking – I’m incredibly naive and optimistic about the weather for a Melbournian.
The team started email conversations between ourselves during the day and because we’d talked it up so much during the week, everyone and anyone knew that we were playing the final. There was lots of well wishing and the occasional comment regarding me and my ability to (unintentionally of course) hurt my opponent.
And then it happened. That one email to ruin it all. The email that would forever change the evening.
The email commented on how pleasant the weather was.
Now I’m not superstitious generally. I’ll run under a ladder, carrying a black cat and directly through a large mirror with the best of them, but I would never put in written or verbal words that we were lucky that the weather was fine. I’m from Melbourne, we know about four seasons in one day.
As I stepped out of the office in the evening to head to the tube it starting spitting with rain and I thought “Well, that’s ok… as long as you just continue to do that.” HA, as if. When I got out of the tube it was bucketing down like God was crying because it’s inevitable for Johnny Howard to lose his seat in the House of Reps tomorrow evening. As I walked to the netball courts I wondered (quite like I used to when my netball team back in Melbourne – Jedi Knights) exactly why I thought that playing sport in the rain was a fun activity on a Wednesday night and the rain just got heavier, my jacket got heavier and the squeaky sound my shoes began to make resembled a group of rats at a rave party.
The dramas and tears that were going on at the court would be the stuff of legends and as we began to peel off our layers and brave the elements, it was announced (rather quietly and through word-of-mouth) that the grand finals would be postponed until next week.
What a relief it was. No worrying about falling over, wet backsides and damaged joints. We all celebrated by going to the pub – as all good Australian in London do.
And now I have had another week to build up the hype of Grand Final 07 and make sure that next week I do get to run through a banner.
Once I get to do that, all I need to do is sing the National Anthem at the AFL Grand Final at the MCG and I can tick off all the things I wanted to complete before I was 30.
Although, I want to add dancing on the Great Wall of China to that list, so me thinks the list won’t disappear for good.
