Because of Haven Beach

17 | hygge

hygge (n.)

the warm feeling you get while enjoying the company of great friends and all life has to offer

* * *

OUR entire family went to the annual Thanksgiving Day football game at the high school. The game also happened to be the first round of playoffs this year, making it even more special. And since Haven Beach was the number one seed in the regular season, we got to face one of the worst teams in the league. It wouldn't make for a very interesting game, but it would still be entertaining to watch the boys annihilate them.

I found Delaney in the front row, wrapped in a wool blanket and drinking hot cocoa from Dunkin.

"Hey, Happy Thanksgiving," I said, taking a seat on the cold bench next to her.

"Happy Thanksgiving," she echoed as she made space for me under her blanket.

I unzipped my bag and set my camera on my lap. "When does the game start?"

"Ten more minutes," she said, watching the football players stretch and run laps. She turned to me. "You brought your camera?"

"Yeah. Ethan asked me to take some pics."

I attached my zoom lens and turned the camera on. Naturally, my eyes sought out Eli. I snapped pictures of him stretching his hamstrings and tossing a football back and forth with a teammate. Making a conscious effort to get pictures of other people, I focused on Aubrey and the cheerleaders in their pyramid.

Soon, the athletes got in their positions to start the game. I continued snapping photos as the other team kicked the ball. Someone on our team caught it and began running down the field.

The fans erupted around us as the player threw the ball to Ben, who was wide open. He sprinted down the field, with someone hot on his tail. He ran out of bounds, barely avoiding the tackle.

A ref put a marker on the sideline to mark the location.

Returning to the middle of the field on the thirty-yard line, an offensive lineman hiked the ball through his legs to Eli. I snapped a burst of photos as Eli shuffled and passed the ball to Ethan.

I tracked the boys with my camera as they ran and passed the ball down the field, dodging the other team's defense each time. After another down, they neared the end zone and made a touchdown. The Haven Beach section of the crowd roared around me, getting louder in volume as the kicker scored the extra point.

The teams switched roles and Eli left the field, much to my disappointment. I took closeups of his sweaty face as he ripped his helmet off and jogged to the bench. Before he sat down and faced away from the stands, I was able to capture the look of fierce concentration on his face.

I paid little attention to our team's defense for the rest of the game. I tried to convince myself that it was because I preferred watching Ethan, Ben, and Eli playing, but I couldn't fool myself. Even though Ethan and Ben were also offensive players, I was only paying full attention when Eli was directly involved with the play.

The Haven Beach Hawks ended up winning, 42-6. It wasn't a surprise, but everyone was still ecstatic that we were unquestionably moving onto the next round of playoffs.