I absolutely hate being stuck in an office. Never have liked it in fact.

To me, being stuck in the office is the equivalent to laying down with five cinder blocks on your chest. Sitting at a desk for large portions of the day is confining and often times detrimental to anything I’m attempting to get done unless, of course, it’s toning photos, constructing pages or finishing up a photo manipulation — those fun little things that are created by taking a base photo, cramming a bunch of elements into said photo and creating something completely different.

Then being in the office or at a desk isn’t so bad, but really being out is where I thoroughly enjoy to be, so when I got to spend nearly three hours at the Hayfield Invitational volleyball tournament last Saturday I was truly in heaven.

For a couple different reasons really. First, of course, I was out of the office and away from those ticks that sometimes nag at you while trying to accomplish something, but secondly and thirdly — I love the game of volleyball and I’ve always liked going to Hayfield.

I drove up to Hayfield on a sunny and cool morning, windows down, mood good. Now granted, I wasn’t going to spend that much time up there originally. Often times, it’s pretty much just me for a vast majority of the day on Saturdays, but this time, when I realized Hayfield varsity wasn’t the first match I would shoot and that I would have to wait until 2 p.m. when they did play, I wasn’t bummed — not in the least.

There was a very good reason why the varsity didn’t play, substituted by the junior varsity [which in some corner of my mind I still feel a bit like a heel for not shooting them and going down the hall to the west gym and that match featuring Lyle-Pacelli and Blooming Prairie, but they’ll get their time].

The girls that make up the varsity were off taking their ACTs. You don’t get in the way of academics.

So instead I whiled away the late morning, early afternoon photographing the matches with our varsity teams playing or just taking some time to enjoy a good match like the one Pine Island and Goodue demonstrated.

It’s hard for a lot of people to appreciate the game of volleyball, but not me. The ability it takes to put together a strong offensive attack on just three hits, all the while using at least two in some fashion to guide the ball to your hitters, is not easy. One wrong bump, one wrong set, can push everything off in the wrong direction. That’s why often times volleyball has two speeds — ponderous or fast-paced. Rarely is there a middle ground.

It can be  wonderfully liquid in its movement. Watch a real good match some time, preferably from a top angle where you can see the entire match. Watch as the game flows in ebbs and tides like an ocean moving in and off a beach again. There is a rhythm and a flow that good teams can get into that ends with a particularly violent-sounding end — a kill.

So yeah, any time I can sit back and enjoy a particularly good volleyball match I take that opportunity. Heck there have been moments where I even forget to shoot any pictures.

But here, we must deviate from my love of volleyball and zero in on one of the biggest reasons I like Hayfield. Don’t get me wrong. Some of the best people in our area come from Hayfield and I have a blast covering their teams, but in the end — Hayfield has an A&W.

However, I also have to admit that I dropped the ball living in Austin. I did not eat near that often at Austin’s when it was here which is criminal and I should probably be on probation for such.

I’ve always loved A&W ever since my mom and dad would stop at the drive-in in Montevideo which is now closed. I love the idea of ordering from the car and getting the carhop to bring us our meals [quite possibly the best fast-food burger I have yet to taste] which included that icy, frosty mug of root beer.

And yet, I was wholly ignorant of my opportunity of eating at Austin’s. I take no pride in this. I’m truly awful in that regard, so when I get the chance to eat in Hayfield, then you can bet I will.

Granted there is no car-hop service which is a pity. Kind of takes away from the atmosphere, which is quickly replaced by that burger. Bacon, cheese and all the toppings just combine to create a punch of one-of-a-kind food.

Now, anyone of my eight readers that might live in Hayfield, don’t be offended. You’re still great people and covering your kids is an honor, but that A&W burger was on my mind the moment I got into my car in the Herald’s parking lot.

You can bet I’ll be back, and when I am I’m getting the gorgeous frosty mug and we’re going to fill that bad boy with root beer.

It’s the only way to live.