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What a difference a week or few can make?

I haven’t been to rugby practice in a few weeks. It was taking up too much time and I had things that I needed to work on at home. I missed a week of and at the next practice it dawned on me that I wasn’t having fun anymore. It was resenting the amount of time I was having to devote to it and it was starting to feel like a job. It was supposed to be recreational fun. A lot of the people who were coming out to practice weren’t coming out anymore and I was missing them. For now, I’m taking a step back and just supporting the team. Today the Lumberjacks play their first game and I’ll be out there cheering them on. Maybe I’ll be out there playing sometime soon.

I had a great Valentine’s Day weekend with the guy that I was seeing, Alex. The next weekend (which was also last weekend) things were different. Simply put, he’s got some things he needs to work through, so he needs to take a step back and just be friends. It was a shock to me because everything was great up to the moment he told me this. He assured me that I hadn’t done anything wrong, though. We’ve been in contact throughout the week. We had drinks last night and I feel optimistic.

That’s how life goes sometimes. Life is still good.

Because I’m a little crazy, I went and joined a recreational rugby team. It’s a new team called the Portland Lumberjacks.

It started out with an informational meeting at a local bar last October or November and we’ve been having practices since then. I joined because I thought it would be good to be involved in some kind of physical activity and I thought the social aspect would be nice. So far I’m having a great time. I’ve even gotten a couple of friends to come out to practice.

It’s a gay, inclusive team. The Lumberjacks are the first gay rugby team in Portland since the previous team disbanded about 7 years ago. Yes, there are some straight guys on the team. We’ll be playing other teams in the Oregon and Washington, including other gay teams. The vast majority of us have never played before. I had only seen a little bit of rugby on TV previously. It’s a little intimidating trying to keep everything straight, but I’m sure it’ll become more natural.

I’m pretty average. I’m not the oldest, not the slowest, and probably not the strongest. Tonight I found out what positions I’ll probably be playing. It looks like I’ll be a hooker and sometimes a loose forward. I was told independently by 2 different people that hooker is the most dangerous position out there, the most likely position to sustain injury. We didn’t have any say in our positions, probably because we don’t know enough about rugby, but I’m not worried though.

We started out practicing on Saturdays, but for the past couple of weeks we’ve been practicing on Mondays and Wednesdays. They’ve been fun and informative, but also tiring. I’m usually sore the next day.

Earlier in the month some of the Seattle team came down to do a bar crawl with us and they practiced with us the next day. We have two scrimmages planned with them in about a month. I don’t feel ready yet, but we’re playing their B team, which is full of brand new players. I’m sure it’ll be fun.

I’m looking forward to the rugby season. I’m already enjoying making friends and learning about the game. It may be a while before we actually win a game since we’re so new, but I still expect to have a good time.