Tennis on Crack

I have been anxiously awaiting my time to post this blog with that title!

I recently visit to my hometown for my 30th High School Reunion, and I had been looking forward to playing tennis against a backboard that I used to play against all the time when I was a teenager. Just a need to revisit that time and place, especially since I've been playing again this last month.

But this real-time visit was preceded by a 21st Century visit via Google Maps. (I really should be boycotting Google Maps since they have been violating privacy rights all over Sonoma County by trespassing on private roads in order to photograph homes for Google Street View. Now they are saying they are not going to stop and will challenge the privacy rights!)

But I did use aerial view and street view to check out my old beloved backboard at the intersection of Alexandria and Hammer. Yes, it was still there. No, it didn't look like it had become a "bad" part of town.

So DH and I got up at 6:30 am (a very good idea to get up early in Stockton in the summer if you plan any physical exertion) and headed over. Beautiful morning, still cool and of course very clear. None of those low clouds and coastal fog of Sonoma county!

What Google's satellite or car mounted spy eye couldn't show me, however, were the number of cracks in the court surface. Big fissures. Fault lines you might say. (Get it, fault lines, in a tennis court...) It gave me a new kind of practice where I had to second guess which way the ball was going to bounce off a crack. Sort of a combination bumper pool/tennis game.

We played for a bit on the back side of the backboard (a double-sided structure) since the surface was a little better, and the sun not in our eyes. However, we quickly realized the disadvantage to playing on the side that can't be seen from the street. In a public park. I'm used to bits of condensation here and there in Sonoma county--that fog I mentioned is ever-present even in the summer. Stockton, however, had been in the 90s all week. That was not condensation in the corners of the backboard. We left a couple balls at the court. Some dog will be extremely happy to find them, pre-scented and all.

DH had brought DD's child racquet to play with since he didn't have one at that point (small one and pink, very cute). I used it for a bit, but realized the grand difference between a $12 racquet and a $270 one. (Now, I must interject, I did not pay $270 for my racquet. There is a definite racket when it comes to racquets. Big 5 carries a dozen or so models and at any one time half of them are on sale. Usually at a deep discount. I paid about $70. We found similar deals when we bought DH a racquet later that day.)

We got in a good hour of tennis-on-backboard, worked up an honorable sweat, and headed back to the hotel to get ready to go to a Baptist church service. (Yes, possibly another post of its own. The music was great.)

The poor condition of the backboard courts left me with greater respect for my current courts which are in perfect condition. If I were Bill Gates, I would donate the money to have them resurfaced (and all the others in town while I am at it!). But alas, I am a mere professional organizer still paying off my daughter's preschool loans (just kidding...sort of ), and I can only broadcast my appeal to the wealthy residents of Stockton...hey, donate some money to parks and rec and get those backboards in shape! They are good not just for tennis, but racquetball and handball. Let's keep our kids in shape.

Ok, time to go. DD had her first birthday party sleepover and the cherubs have awakened.

Margaret

Three-Oh Update

The reunion was fantastic. Although a really low turnout and the hall was in a place even the current Stocktonians couldn't find, it was fun. No name tags! Added an element of intrigue.

Had nice talks with a number of people. A person who never liked me (it was mutual) kept coming up and hugging me. Faulty memory or water under the bridge? I'll never know.

And one person who I hadn't seen in 30 years finally came to a reunion and it was really great to reconnect. Looking forward to that relationship continuing. And hey, I just realized I didn't get to see pictures of his kids....are you listening TGQ? :)

Reconnected with Stockton, too. My next post will delve into the tennis aspect. The Blackwater Cafe is up and alive again, but it was a dive from hell. The first clue was the 8 smokers sitting outside at 11:30 in the morning. Inside smelled just as bad so we left. Nice Thai place in the "new" downtown. Drove around the old neighborhood near American Legion Park. Visted Big 5 and the Weberstown Mall since DH needed to do his once-a-decade clothes shopping. (And we got him a tennis racquet, too.)

And yes, I found a great dress to wear. I liked it and felt good in it. And DH said I looked great. (Good boy.)

See ya all in another 10, SM '78 grads!

And to all you folks who still live in Stockton and didn't show up--shame on you!

To all my friends in far away places who have NEVER shown up...hey you missed probably your last chance to look great. We're all going to be nearly 60 next time around. Not that we can't look great at 60, but the chances are going to get slimmer....:)

Anyway, I'll still be a year younger than all of you!

;)

The Big Three-Oh!

Well, tonight's the night. The big 30th High School Reunion. I'm as ready as I'll ever be. I guess.

I've actually been feeling some anxiety about it in the past few days. I have no idea what to expect. I really have no expectations. At the last two reunions, while a few of my "group" were there, many of them have never shown up for these things. So if they do show up tonight, it will have been nearly 3o years since I've seen them. These are folks I've had no contact with in three decades, yet they were the main players in my life (my drama) of my teen years.

I feel confident in who I am. I feel independent of those years, even though formed by them. I am who I am.

Now back to that weighty issue.

I've been very good about playing tennis almost every day for the past two weeks. I found myself discouraged last week when I actually gained a couple pounds, yet continued to eat cleanly and play every day (I'm up to an hour against the backboard now).

But I realized that two things really contributed to that gain (or lack of loss). One (TMI alert) was the fact that my period started. Apparently I do gain weight for a whole week. And two, while I ate "cleanly" I did eat out a lot since it was my "Stay at home vacation" (more on that in another blog). I had lunch out three different times during the week, and we were traveling on the weekend. A chocolate coconut bliss shake here (see this Blog about Guayaki Yerba Mate Bar in Sebastopol) and a raw vegan brownie sundae (at Seed vegan restaurant in Santa Rosa) there really adds up. Yes, it was all vegan. And yes, I am not the skinny pale vegan most carnivores like to refer to in defending their own diets. It is a great time to be a vegan these days, but not for one who easily gains weight!

So late this week the scale did start to tip downward, as I had hoped it would, once the monthly bloat went away. And today I can officially say I have lost 10 pounds since the start of this endeavor. I am at 152.0 pounds! Yeah! Yes, I had hoped to lose 20, but I knew that was probably unrealistic without attending some sort of boot camp. I think the 10 I did lose is a "solid" ten and a healthy one. Yes, I'd like to see 10 more go away and I will keep working on it. The tennis is fun and I've been able to get the backboard court if I get there very early. I honestly don't think I'd have as good a workout if I played a real game with a real person!

OK, off to finish packing and see my cohorts of 30+ years ago.

I'm sure we will all look just fabulous!

And being a year younger than all my schoolmates is finally paying off....