Monday, September 29, 2008

Throw I Frisbees whilst I can


I still can't find any locals in Mathis, TX to throw Frisbee with. //double sigh// This is the 50th year of my doing that pastime, and I hate to have it pass with no major or even much minor activity in that dimension. One day I will be unable to throw them, so I'll adapt the "gather ye rosebuds while ye may"* by saying "throw I Frisbees whilst I can."

My first Frisbee was termed a "Pluto Platter". The inventor is shown above and an article about him and his invention is here.

* Quoted from: Robert Herrick, b. London 1591, buried Devon 1674

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying,
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying.

4 comments:

  1. There is something zen-like, cosmic nearly, almost transcendent, about throwing a Frisbee. And, if you wish, you can remove the -like, almost and nearly. A Frisbee thrown by a person centered in himself soars, and then seems to seek the embrace of whomever it was directed towards, All those.. between the legs, over the shoulder, hyperextended reach, catchs are not the result of the receiver going to all lengths, but the inner soul of the Frisbee inself, forcing itself to be caught, nabbed,latched onto, snared, grabbed and otherwise wrapped in the hand of the diving one downwind.
    "Good Catch." we yell.
    "Yes." says the disc, "Now let me fly!!
    Joe(start with the disc near your right hip...... )Nation

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  2. Aha, Joe! You've caught the fever! Let us hear you say, "AMEN!" I personally think it goes so far beyond Zen as to be in the next county. There wasn't anyone who knew how to throw when I learned. *I* had to be the teacher of all my friends who cared to learn. I certainly learned that ONE is the loneliest number when it comes to throwing Frisbees.

    I threw between the high voltage wires in front of my house back then, going over and under, then getting good enough to go under and over. Then I got good enough to make the Frisbee just tip the wire and not hard enough to make it go off course too far, so I could still catch it when it returned.

    That element of gentle control is sublime.

    But we differ in carrying it out, as I use a wide stance and bring it around from behind my left hip with my right hand, following through to where it will eventually wind up. Just a matter of style, but I never found ME able to have a short flip from my right hip, straightening out at the last moment, to be
    a. accurate and
    b. satisfying.
    Again, just me. But, gosh, would I just LOVE to have you around Mathis, flinging Frisbees across the dual, covered basketball courts in rain and across the Jr. high exercise field in good weather!

    I'd pound the pounds off of both of us, as well as or even better than the distance running that you're doing in NYC.

    Heck, we might even get an Ultimate team together, or is that too much for old cusses like us?

    The best to you, old friend!

    Ref:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_(sport)

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  3. We could throw a Frisbee this Sunday ya know!

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  4. I'm all for it. The Jr. high exercise field stretches out before us...or at least a block away from the house.

    What can I say? (Rain, rain, go away.)

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