September is the ninth month, but everything seems to start in September, maybe just a lot of things that effect me. The kids go back to school, football starts up (both college and pro), the English Premier League, the Bundesliga, a bunch of new seasons of shows on regular TV and Netflix.  All kinds of things ramping up.  More things start in September than in January, the year should start in September…

Kids’ soccer starts today, with a Labor Day tournament.  Two games to be played in the middle of a hot California day.  Some parents loathe the weekends they “lose” to soccer, but I really enjoy it.  I have always loved the game… it’s the only sport that I can watch and really enjoy both men and women’s games, and at any age/ability level.

I played a ton of soccer growing up, and I remember very vividly the feel of the dry, late summer/early fall heat on the field.  I remember the smell of the fresh cut grass, and feeling the nervousness and butterflies in the stomach during warmups… and my big water jug, that I would always have filled with ice water or gatorade.  I remember playing four or mores games in a weekend, and getting tired, but never being sore.

I have found it impossible to explain to a child why my cleats give me blood blisters, or why I can sometimes have trouble walking correctly for a week if something goes wrong for me in a game (and sometimes even if everything goes right).  The inability to understand that with which they have no practical experience makes me think of the Shaw quote, “Youth is wasted on the young.”  If confronted with having to make a choice between possessing youth or wisdom, I think I’d choose wisdom, but it would definitely be a tough choice.