Sunday Cricket.

Many Continentals think life is a game; the English think cricket is a game.- George MikesWe are not doing well about getting to church on the mainland regularly. I do recall that it was one of the reasons we committed to doing church on the island originally. We will be all organised but I will still be sitting in the car waiting on Liddy appearing when our boat pulls out because, though the shop is open all day, everyone arrives just as they are about to lock the doors & shop till they drop.



Liddy, who is in charge Sundays, gets terribly frustrated. Her girls are always all Juniors [because you don't have to pay them so much] & after the inevitable string of kids who don't show up for their shift, or arrive late & the one who kept dashing to the loo [morning sickness; Liddy rang wanting a *cure* for morning sickness yesterday; I suggested plain potato chips & ginger beer], & the bungling of lunch times & break times she is inevitably spitting chips when she walks out that door. And that is a shocking sentence but I don't think I have the willpower this morning to fix it. I keep telling her that she just needs to accept that the manager can't schedule to save herself & go to work knowing she will have to tweak everything in order to make it work & knowing she will have the inevitable *no shows* instead of getting fraught about something that happens every week.






This week we didn't even try for church. Firstly I have had Dino flat on his back on my couch most of the week with his dislocated shoulder. He wasn't good. He looked like death warmed over & slept most of the time in front of the t.v. I'm grateful we're on holidays because when he does that during school it is not good for Ditz. The girl has no concentration as it is. He's started crabbing again so I guess he's about ready to go back to work & I get my couch back.







Late Saturday Theo arrived with his girlfriend. I am still battling the migraine triggered by waiting up too late to give them a lift home from the party they went to. Mornings I usually have quietly to myself. My girls aren't morning people & if Dino rises he departs on the water after an interim period of noise & bustle. Theo, who doesn't live here any more, couldn't find anything so banged about the kitchen opening & shutting doors, poking about in freezers & enquiring where I'd hidden the food then proceeded to cook up a storm of bacon, sausages, eggs , fried tomatoes & toast. For breakfast. Ugh. All that grease first thing! The smells wafting about dragged everyone from their beds, not necessarily happily, but as Theo pointed out he was taking Dino's place on the cricket team & required sustenance.







My morning then proceeded to run like this: drop the love birds at the cricket oval; drop Liddy at work; take water up to the cricket oval because Theo forgot water; take Dino up to the cricket oval because they needed an umpire; take lunch up to Liddy; grab Ditz & head back to the oval to keep the girl friend company & watch the lad for an hour or so. This is something of a hardship. There are some things duller than cricket [gridiron & baseball come to mind] but not many. Luckily the view from the oval is pretty terrific & it wasn't too hot.

We timed it pretty well. Just as we arrived a batsman got bowled out [that's always exciting] & Theo walked to the crease. That's him hiking across the paddock to do the front & centre let's bang the bat on the crease thing. What is it with that? I'm sure it can't be good for a bat.

He then proceeded to show off for the girlfriend by knocking the ball all around the pitch. That was pretty exciting too. As he'd already scalped the oppositions two most important wickets as a bowler he was having a pretty good day & ended up not out & man of the match. For someone who hasn't played this season he did pretty well.



Meanwhile the opposition's female adherents had spotted Dino [& that he was unattached] & were in hot pursuit. Between the heckling he was getting from his own team & the girls Dino didn't know if he was Arthur or Martha. We relieved his mind & took him away.



Sunday was neither a day of rest nor a day of worship & frankly I'm glad it's over. Next Sunday Ditz & I should be perched quietly beside a waterhole watching for platypus. I can't wait!