Welcome, Fall!

Yesterday morning I got up and rode my bike to work at 7:30 a.m. As soon as I opened the door, I could feel the change in the seasons. The normal blast of heat that usually greets me was missing, and as I started down the street, I could feel a faint (albeit very faint) chill to the air that brushed past me as I picked up speed. It even smelled different... not of anything in particular, but the lack of cooking asphalt odors was certainly a welcome change. I worked until 6 at night, so didn't really get to test the heat of the day, and decided that the cool morning was a result of my going in to work early, not because of any shift in the weather. So, this morning when I opened up the door to the same cool air at 8:30, I was pleasantly surprised. I rode the two miles into campus without sweat soaking into my clothes, and actually enjoyed the ride for once in a long time - taking time to notice the wind dancing on the lake with Four Peaks watching over the whole scene from the east. It REALLY IS cooler out. It JUST MIGHT be the beginning of the fall here in Phoenix. I'm not sure how long it will last, but it is most certainly welcome.

Especially after this weekend. What the weekend lacked in adventure, it made up for with sport and good friends. Friday night was spent honing my (lack of) skills in Guitar Hero and chowing down on pregame pasta at Suda's before a good night's sleep. Then it was up early on Saturday to line the pitch for our rugby game. It broke 100 degrees sometime while I was driving over at 9 a.m. Dry heat or not, it was HOT. For two hours we prepared the field, though it wasn't all boring - Kohl and I managed to break one of the spray paint cans used to paint the lines on the field, and by the time we were done, we had more paint on ourselves than the field, and Kohl even had a good portion in her mouth :). By the time we got around to running a few plays and drills, the sun was high in the sky without a cloud in sight. When the game started at 11, the water was almost boiling in our water bottles. Since I primarily play sevens rugby, and since I'm as much of a rookie as they come for 15s, I was pretty much there just to fill-in in the event that the team needed extra bodies. So, for the first half of the game, Kelly and I ran around as touch judges and tried to find shade along the sidelines, while the 30 on field ran around and tried to play rugby in the hellish conditions. We played the Surfers of San Diego (a perennially strong rugby club), and had decided that the heat would be in our favor since San Diego is "72 and sunny" year round, and we would be more adapted to the heat. I don't care how you look at it, you can't adapt to the fires of hell, and certainly not when you're running around hitting people while wearing heavy cotton jerseys. Even the lizards and snakes don't go around beating the crap out of each other at high noon. Anyways, I was more than happy to just watch. The game started out well enough, with the Lady Blues scoring the first try, but things went downhill from there. I went in for a bit in the second half, but as the weak side wing, didn't really do a whole lot. Like an outfielder, the wings are either the heroes or the scapegoats, and for the time that I played, I was neither. I tackled a few girls without letting them get to the sideline and ran along on offense, but overall, I just got sweaty and came out again when the girl that I had come in for had enjoyed a bit of rest (she was lucky, there were only three of us subs). By the end of the game, we looked a lot worse for wear and came out of it 19 - 49 and looking like we had just been through a boiling washing machine - hot, wet, bruised, and weary. Not the best way to start the season, but as I said, I'm only sticking around until adventure racing season really kicks in, so it was no skin off of my back. Plus, the social afterwards is fun win or lose. We enjoyed cold food and plenty of drinks, several traditional rugby songs and my fair share of rookie embarrassment (nothing too bad fortunately) until late in the afternoon. After a shower and a bit of rest, the evening was spent watching the men's game against the ASU team. It was much cooler after the sun went down, and quite enjoyable for all involved (except maybe ASU... they didn't score until the B-side game).

Sunday was the most nonathletic, unadventurous day that I have had in a very, very long time. I didn't even go outside except for a bit of yardwork early in the morning. I figured that I had done enough in the Phoenix sun for one weekend, and I didn't feel the need to put myself through that again for awhile. Despite the lack of adventure, I had a very good day. The morning was spent cleaning around the house and watching football. The Colts won, and shortly afterwards, several of my friends and coworkers started showing up to prepare food and decorations for another coworker, Namrata's, surprise baby shower. When Namrata arrived around 3, she thought that she was attending my housewarming party and she hadn't the faintest clue that we had been planning this for months... we really surprised her well, and the expression on her face when she walked in the door was priceless. For the rest of the day we ate some amazing Indian food, played games, watched Namrata open dozens of presents, and played with Michelle's five month old, Lela, who is growing in leaps and bounds every day. I'm not sure if she's going to be a rower (she has really strong legs), a soccer player (she loves to kick), or a basketball player (she can grip a balloon like it's her job), but if I babysit her enough, I'll try to turn her into a rower. She also didn't mind sitting on my bike, so we'll see... Anyways, it was a great afternoon, and Namrata was overjoyed with the surprise, so very successful overall. I was worn out by the end of it though (playing with babies is a tough job), and ended the weekend by falling asleep on the couch as the eastern winds began bringing the cooler air into the Valley to start off the week.

Hopefully the cold front will stick around at least until this evening so we can celebrate a win for Come From Behind, my co-ed ultimate frisbee team, while celebrating the coming of autumn. It is the Fall League afterall...