Well we are on vacation, but I have managed to get a few things ready so it wouldn’t be too lonesome around here. I thought I would post about some of my favorite summer indulgences. Today, it’s all about sports you can play in skirts…
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Here’s the deal. I am not particularly athletic. I prefer sports that you can play wearing a skirt.
Tennis, bike cruising. dancing, ping-pong.
And my favorite: Croquet.
I was 14 years old the first time I ever played croquet. For a mini-summer vacation, our family was staying in a fairly primitive cabin on a little nobby green piece of hill as far outside our home in Juneau as you could get without hitting ocean or glacier. The weather was sunny and bright (a rare treat in Southeast Alaska) and the grass was green, the wildflowers and salmon-berry bushes exploding with color and fragrance. The cabin had been owned by the same family for generations, and so buried in various nook and crannies were remnants of games and other forms of low-fi entertainment of decades past. Including a croquet set.
And this is how my love for this old-fashioned game began.
When I graduated college Sweet Man bought me a set and at my party that afternoon we played endless rounds behind the lopsided rent house we had celebrated our 1 year anniversary in.
That day was one of those days where everything just felt perfect and easy.
And yes, I played croquet in a skirt.
That wal-mart set has long since gone on to become the main weapons of choice in many backyard battle re-enactments. The shape of the club making it the perfect shape to be used for all sorts of mischief.
I have cobbled together another semi-full set from pieces purchased at various garage sales and the like.
But in every flea market I visit I cannot help but look for that perfect set,complete with rolling stand and perfectly worn patina.
Also, I tend to daydream from time to time about setting up the most perfect course on the farm and hosting croquet-and-cocktail where all the gals where the best sundresses and the fellas make the drinks.
Now wouldn’t that be fun?
croquet in Alaska…very nice! I grew up in southeast Alaska on a floating island logging camp. We moved around quite a bit from island to island logging anything standing in our way. We were mostly outside of Ketchikan and Petersburg. And you are so correct…a sunshiny day is quite a remarkable experience in that part of the world!
My mom does the same thing. I think she has half a dozen old croquet sets! A croquet party sounds lovely. Isn't there a scene in the most recent adaptation of Alice in Wonderland where they are playing croquet on a lush green lawn? I think I remember that.