Today was a nail-biter.

My daughters had their annual Sports Day at school today and while the event was exciting, the weather was also a major event.

We awoke to rain and the knowledge it had rained all night. That could only mean that today’s event would be cancelled, right? Wrong. Shortly after waking up at 6 AM, we started getting e-mails, passed from family to family that today’s event would proceed. Was this not crazy?

Well, sure enough the rain stopped and the streets started drying up. When we later came to the school we found the centre of the school ground damp, but perfectly fine for the day’s events. The same could not be said for the surrounding areas. All around the centre area the ground was not only damp, or wet, but boggy.

Though the clouds threatened on and off all day, we were able to stay dry all day.

A Sports Day involves various races, events, games and dancing. There are activities for the very young, who are often attending with parents watching the older siblings as well as activities for the elderly, who likewise have come to watch grandchildren.

Grades are divided into two groups, one red and the other white. The day’s event continually pit red against white and at the end of the day, points are tallied and one of the two colours wins.

At the end of the event, children, adults and teachers help to dismantle all the tents and decorations.

Our daughters came home tired, but satisfied with their efforts and the fun they had all day.

After the event was finished, we were surprised to learn about the work that went on before the parents came in the morning. It seems the school ground was REALLY wet when the children first arrived, and so children and teachers used rags to mop up as much moisture as possible, squeezing the water into buckets which were then emptied away from the school sports ground.

Hats off to everyone involved in today’s Sports Day. You did a great job, and it was successful.