Today we have a guest blogger with us, Harry Weekes. Harry is a high school biology teacher at The Community School in Sun Valley, Idaho. Harry, tell us a bit about yourself…

HARRY: I have taught here in Sun Valley for 15 years and lived here for 35 (I moved here when I was three…more precisely, I was moved here when I was three).  I am married to Hilary, have three kids (Georgia - 6, Penelope - 4, and Simon - 14 months), a dog (Uncas), a cat (Pepsi), a fish (Pebbles) and one Fair Trade Rugby Ball, affectionately known as “The Pumpkin.”

FTS: Ah, thus the reason for the guest blogger spot.

HARRY: Yes, my wife and I get Grounds for Change Coffee, and I think your Fair Trade Sports balls postcard was in there.  For whatever reason, I saw the flyer and knew that I had to have a rugby ball.  

Some would think this is because I played rugby in college, or because I know the first thing about rugby, or because I am a coach.  And those people would think wrong.  

I have never played rugby, the only thing I know about rugby is that quite often you throw the ball laterally, my cat used to chew the rubber buttons on my first rugby shirt, and after 10 minutes of watching the Women’s Rugby Initiation outside of the dorm in college, I was dizzy.  Oh, and I don’t coach.  I just thought, “now that’s a fetching ball.”

And fetching ball it is.  I blew it up with my two daughters (Georgia and Penelope) looking over my shoulder.  When one of them saw the orange, she said “It looks like a pumpkin.”  And the legend was born.  “The Pumpkin” now lives in the house.  I have taught the girls a nice lateral through the living room, and we have learned that it rolls in the most wonderful way.  Simon, my 14 month old son, just loves the thing.

So, I’d like to say The Pumpkin is seeing time on the pitch, but truth be told, I use it as a ‘fidget’- I throw it, I roll it, I bounce it.  And it is absolutely WONDERFUL. I give it two thumbs, way up.

The Pumpkin’s legend continues to build.  Simon, a.k.a. ‘Clubber’, has taken a real liking to the Pumpkin.  At all of 14 months old, he is turning into a weirdly coordinated infant.  He can’t walk, so he sits on the ground and grunts and kicks at the ball.  Then he rolls it.  I think the white and orange are strangely soothing to him.  

Oh, and why do I call him Clubber?  That’s because he has his first cast, which he uses to beat the ground in anticipation of getting the ball.  

How did he get his first cast?  Short story - adult swan protecting its nest chases 6 year old and mom, carrying 14 month old on shoulders, shrieks to the defense, drops 14 month old, catches said infant by ankle, but not before arm hits ground.  Yeah, it’s bizarre.  Needless to say, as the biologist, I haven’t stopped lecturing her about ornithology (coincidentally, I was on a birding trip when this happened- ah, fate).

Anyway, while not in the scrum at the bottom of a bunch of sweaty Australians, The Pumpkin, like an old dog adopted from the pound, has found a happy place to play.

FTS: So we will hear from you again on the continuing saga of the Fair Trade Pumpkin?

HARRY: Oh yes, I have been ‘writing’ (my word for thinking) of another entry for the blog about the epic battle that took place recently between The Pumpkin and an old helium balloon in our house, with Simon (the 14 month old) caught in the middle…the wonders never stop.

FTS: Until next time then. Harry, thank you for your time and your loyalty as a Fair Trade Sports customer, blogger, and rugby ball aficionado.

Do you have a story to share about the escapades of your Fair Trade Sports ball? Let us know.