Marshall: Offseason and time

[FrostBeard 2,061]

Marshall here, hailing from his lovely home town of Nereta. (Picture from last year but well, close enough I guess)

To be honest, did not think that I will be taking any time to inform you all about my ways in the offseason but here I am. When it comes to spending time, I have always been a person to take as much time away from the game as possible as to me it allows me to set my priorities for the next season well and actually allows me to get there and perform on the highest level. 

 

First offseason in my career when I am unsure about my future. Not really talking about it in terms of retirement or anything like that - actually, I just worried that my play style will not be needed soon and that younger, more active and able guys will take my place. Considering that half of my career has already passed it is just a ticking time bomb at this point. For now it however means that I need to put in some extra training, be more active and show initiative. 

Well, but alright, enough about that. Surely, with C19 situation there is not really much to do around the town. On Fridays and Saturdays me and my old buddies would get together and have some fun playing a bit of music together. Now I have been spending time exploring my local area and trying to learn a bit more about history of this small little town. I guess the most interesting thing that I found in my latest travels is that Nereta in 1709-1717 Plague epidemic suffered extensively and lost almost 90% of the people. It did recover pretty easily and it is quite intriguing that my ancestors moved in to the area only 80 years later when Nereta was merely a Church, Apothecary and a Marketplace. 

Have been spending time alone a lot, not sure if it is a bit of weird mental state or just the feeling of being distant from the family. I do know however that for the first time since I remember we spend time together in evenings, eating dinner and playing some board games. I guess there is a silver lining to this whole situation? For the longest time I was wondering about actually learning a new trade, taking up a new hobby but nothing came to my mind that I would enjoy and would want to continue for a long time. And only few days ago it came to me - I want to start writing stories, stories about ordinary people living in extraordinary times, struggling but finding their own path. 

Also, I have taken up an old hobby of mine, well, actually two old hobbies but I have combined them together and created a monster. Well, I call it Poetry-Fishing. What I mean by that is this - I take a poem, a classic from Latvian literature (An example would be "Krēslā" (In the Twilight) by Fricis Bārda), take my fishing equipment, something to drink and a bit of food and go to the most remote place on Dienvidsusēja river (I am not walking for more than an hour so it actually might not be that remote) and I just enjoy a bit of fishing and learning/memorizing a beautiful poem in Latvian. Since the start of the off-season, well, really since the start of the playoffs, I have been doing this and have learned more than 15 different poems, mainly about love, passion and nature, but it doesn't really matter. It is more about learning something new, figuring out what did the poet mean by writing it exactly that way. It is rejuvenating to think that people who sometimes wrote more than 100 years ago, like for example a poet called Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš who lived in the town of Nereta for all his childhood with his beautiful poem called "Dzimtene" (Motherland/Fatherland/Homeland - I believe any are applicable), are still appropriate for our time. Poetry-fishing also allows me to connect with nature more and appreciate the beauty in a simple spring flower that has open doors to the vastness of generous fields, mighty forests, calm and mysterious rivers and all consuming lakes. It makes you understand that beauty that we all see sometimes is just not appreciated enough, when we look at a tiny daisy, we don't think about the struggles that little flower has gone through to open up to the most gentle sparks of sunlight, to see the purity of world around it. 

I have to accept that most of this would seem weird and fairly unique but again, I feel like taking my time off the game and figuring about everything but the next season allows me to get a focus that I would otherwise never get. I guess that is why I find a bit of peace in everything that I do. Even taking a glass of brandy in late evenings from time to time makes me feel free like a autumn leaf that is being ripped and torn and yet still moves forward with the same amount of passion as before. I could not word it otherwise, I love being a hockey player and I love spending time with my teammates but at the same time I am so glad to be alone. 

I guess this offseason has been an eye-opening experience, playing for another GM, looking at everything changing - from new GMs in the league, to fantastic and promising new people join our community, to finding a lot of new things about myself, figuring out my own path in life. I guess I could say more and more about this but I believe there are things that are meant to be given out to only those who ask. 

I guess I should mention that I have spent quite a lot of time reading about love and pain from western poets too, one of them being Alexander Pope. I think that feeling and passions we have need showing, mustn't be kept in the dark. To end this little article here I believe it would be appropriate to end it with these few lines from "Eloisa to Abelard" by Alexander Pope.

"... Now warm in love, now with'ring in thy bloom,
Lost in a convent's solitary gloom!
There stern religion quench'd th' unwilling flame,
There died the best of passions, love and fame. "

[FrostBeard 2,061]

Will claim this for this and next week (Also, if anyone is wondering, Poetry-fishing is a real thing, I have done it every spring for the past 3 years) 

[diamond_ace 3,114]

3 hours ago, FrostBeard said:

Will claim this for this and next week (Also, if anyone is wondering, Poetry-fishing is a real thing, I have done it every spring for the past 3 years) 

I'm so torn. Not a fishing guy at all, but big on poetry

[FrostBeard 2,061]

7 minutes ago, diamond_ace said:

I'm so torn. Not a fishing guy at all, but big on poetry

I can tell you that I most of the times just go there, drink my lemon water or sparkling water and just enjoy nature. Fishing rod is basically just an excuse