I rolled my ankle in a major way two Wednesdays ago while playing Ultimate frisbee outside. Due to a warm spell, most of the snow was gone and the field was muddy. I’ve been inactive since. It seemed that my ankle was on the mend, when I tried to slide my foot into a shoe last night and rolled it again. The roll wasn’t as bad as before, but it hurt a lot. Ultimate seems to be out of the picture again this weekend.
In the meantime, I’ll share a few photos from my annual pilgrimage to Santa Monica, California. For the past four years, I’ve been playing in a Ultimate tournament on the beach called Lei Out. I was so new to the sport at the time, I asked if we needed to bring cleats. For a beach tournament.
Lei Out is a great way to hang out with friends in a different place – a welcome change for Minnesotans in January – and an excuse to get away from the cold. Our team plays in a low bracket, so games are just challenging enough and still enjoyable. Playing on sand is a different experience.
I brought my Olympus OMD-E10 with me, since one of our teammates was unable to play. Normally, I wouldn’t bring my camera because of all the sand and responsibility. She took good care of my camera and I was able to get it back to snap a few shots of the elite finals.
The final game involved Team ERIC and Spotted Cat Bears. It was exciting to watch people playing so confidently and so quickly. I plunked myself down near the closest end zone, among a team that ordered pizza. That was a bit tortuous, after a long day of playing under the sun and eating nothing more substantial than potato chips and pepperoni slices.
It was worth it though. Most of the points were scored in this end zone, so even with the kit lens I was able to snap some worthy photos. Perhaps I’ll save up for a longer zoom for this summer.
This one of Cassidy Rasmussen and Simon Higgins made its way onto the AUDL Facebook page. That felt really good even though they misspelled my last name. A friend caught it and they corrected it. Thanks, Josh!
Moments like these make me glad I brought my camera. And it only got plunked down into the sand once! I better get started on those ankle stretches.
Lady Base Camp 