Wet

 Today was, by any measure, wet. Very wet.

The Silver Vixen was meeting a friend for coffee near Worthing, Urban-Cub had to take Ellie to the child-minder (after what can only be described as a disturbed night), and the Gorse Fox had football.

The Gorse Fox was signed up for two sessions - the first hour was the usual walking football, the second hour was over-40s (running) football. As he prepared himself, he started to question whether he was properly attired for the conditions. Should he have fins and a wet suit? Would a scuba tank be required? The rain blasted horizontally across the pitch. There were times when it was so heavy that you couldn't make out the faces of the players by the other goal. The Gorse Fox was wearing 4 layers, to no avail. Water had seeped through and trickled down his front, his back, his legs, and into his boots. Drips formed on the end of his nose before being whipped away by the wind. The wind, meanwhile, made sure that the utmost effort was put into making everyone cold to the core.

The first hour was a mixed bunch. A win, a draw, and a loss. Not really too much on which to comment. Nobody was playing slick football in those conditions.

At the end of the first hour there was a change of personnel as the wimps left and a few new faces joined us. The rain continued to pound the pitch and an ark floated into view. Seals frolicked in the penalty area, and a French fishing boat appeared on the running track. 

We kicked off. The sides were somewhat lopsided. In fact, we were carved apart and the Gorse Fox gave up trying to keep count of the score. One player, taking pity on us, swapped sides halfway through. It made little difference. As the game ticked towards the final whistle, the Gorse Fox sent out a dove, which returned with a twig in its beak. Clearly, there was dry land somewhere. 

He headed back to the car. He had a warm fleece on the back seat. Stripping off his four top layers he pulled on the fleece and dropped into the car. Heating was cranked up and he made his way home with his track suit leggings stuck to his legs. Urban-Cub had a cup of tea waiting for him as he went up for a long hot shower. All his kit was washed and dried this afternoon and his boots are still in the airing cupboard. Hopefully they'll all be ready for the morning (and hopefully it won't be as wet).