The Lord Mayor’s Parade, and other stories

An absolutely glorious day, which I obviously chose to be the one day in the year on which I had a long lie-in. Mrs. Ottawacker and the boy went out to ride the buses while they were free, and I only stirred around 10:45 a.m., just in time to make coffee, shower, and settle down to watch Liverpool’s abject surrender against Chelsea. Oh well. It’s hard to win games when only one team has anything to play for.
 
In the afternoon, took Ottawacker Jr. to the first goalkeeping clinic of the new season. The coaches really are exceptionally good – and good with him too. At the end, I asked the boy how he had enjoyed it and he said he had, very much. Why? “Well,” he said, “they treat me like an equal.” This took me a bit by surprise, as if there is one thing I thought I knew about my son, it was that he was very confident. So, I pressed him a bit more, and he said that as he was only 12 and the others were 16-18, they had gone out of their way to encourage and push him. You just never know, do you?
 
Drove him home, and while Mrs. Ottawacker went down to the supermarket for something or other, I cooked dinner, the boy showered (thank God), and we then settled down to watch Dr. Who.