I am a soccer mom. In other seasons, different labels apply — basketball mom, Little League mom, day-camp mom — until soccer rolls around again.
The subject is soccer parenthood, but not in the sense of a political demographic. Even now — in this campaign season spiced up by self-described hockey mom and VP candidate Sarah Palin — I don’t see much evidence of “soccer mom” as the singular voting block targeted in Bill Clinton’s 1996 White House run.
On any weekend this fall, go through any parking lot at a soccer field complex in Snohomish County and quickly scan bumpers for campaign stickers. You’ll see that soccer moms and dads are much like the rest of the country: politically at odds.
If not politics, what’s to be said about soccer parenthood?
All of us who live it know the drill. Get up on Saturday, or race home from church Sunday, and grab coats, sweatshirts, umbrellas, water bottles, and — oh, yeah — the kids. Don’t forget shin guards, orange slices and after-game snacks.
That’s what we have in common. We get in the car and go, all through the fall.
I got to thinking about all this Sunday on our drive home from my boy’s soccer game. His home field this season is Walter E. Hall Park in Everett. Like last year, his away games have us driving all over Snohomish County.
Sunday’s game was at Woodside Elementary School. Ever been there? It’s in the Everett School District but has a Bothell address. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have guessed Woodside is in Mill Creek, or south Snohomish, somewhere out that way.
Which, finally, brings me to the reason I embrace soccer-mom weekends beyond seeing that wonderful kid of mine kick a ball.
It gets us out. I’ve seen a whole lot of Snohomish County just by following MapQuest directions to soccer fields. Living close to work and my son’s school, I get a little stuck in my north Everett rut. Without soccer, would I have ever seen Woodside Elementary School? Maybe not.
One of last fall’s best days was a golden afternoon I spent at Lochsloy Fields between Lake Stevens and Granite Falls on Highway 92. In Snohomish, the huge Stocker Fields complex always feels like a place apart, especially on cold mornings when the sea of fields is shrouded in fog.
After a game at Skykomish River Park in Monroe last fall, we chanced upon a dog show. We stayed to see the pooches run through their paces. Accustomed to a parking lot playground, my boy voiced envy after a game last year at Stanwood’s Cedarhome Elementary School, a modern school with several soccer fields.
When I was little, my father liked nothing better than long Sunday drives. In a different place and time, long before driving meant gridlock and road rage, an afternoon behind the wheel was a relaxing way to see the sights. Much of what I know about the geography and history of Spokane, my hometown, I saw through the window of the family car.
As soon as snow started melting, my parents would take us on drives to Coeur d’Alene Lake in Idaho, or for picnics in the nearby countryside. It was their antidote to cabin fever. Cars were big and gas was cheap. If I didn’t get stuck between my brother and sister in the back seat, times were good.
Sunday, in the spirit of those Sunday drives, I took a right instead of the left turn toward home after the game at Woodside Elementary. I wanted to show my son the campus of Archbishop Thomas J. Murphy High School.
In no hurry to be home raking, I kept driving east on 132nd Street SE, which turns into Cathcart Way. Without thinking I’d see something new, we found Glacier Peak High School. Of course I’d read about the new Snohomish high school. Until I saw it Sunday, I hadn’t been paying enough attention to know its exact location.
If you’re up for a Sunday drive, Glacier Peak is an interesting looking red building. It’s not far from Willis D. Tucker Community Park. I haven’t spent any time there yet, although the county park opened in 2004. Too busy, I guess.
Let’s see, the soccer schedule says we’ll be out that way again Oct. 19. Time for another Sunday drive, soccer-mom style.
Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlstein@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
