Free-for-all…
The public tennis courts are just that — public! As such, sometimes you have to deal with some stuff, all of it alien to the mopes & scenesters who play within the sheltered confines of the private clubs!
Let’s recount this morning’s reminders that the outside world does indeed have an effect on the game when it’s played in the civic spaces.
There was a tree-trimming service directly across the streets today. Chainsaws and wood-chippers going at full tilt for the entirety of today’s action; the decibel levels might not have reached triple-digits, but they were not far off from them. (Of course, once we toweled off and left the courts, the tree-trimmers ceased! Of course!)
Squabbles over who gets to play when, and for how long, not to mention more than a few groups having to wait until a court opened-up. This one is a frequent occurrence. Sometimes the voices get raised, too, and the language is not always fit for public ears, especially if they belong to minors!
A whole family of n00bs taking the court alongside, spraying balls all over the place, causing hindrances, with one of the children being pretty much a toddler and having the accompanying tantrums & colicky crying jags, to boot. The serious players don’t like it; since anger is a luxury we ourselves can no longer afford, we put on a brave front and smile benignly at the disturbances & disruptions.
Mopes with their shirts off, wearing three-inch-inseam shorts with fire-engine-red ankle socks, practically naked or at least looking like something from Pride Month, strutting along the baseline like some overgrown rooster-human or pigeon-human hybrid.
(Well, on this last one, we raise our hand sheepishly and admit that we are the ones putting this overt show of bare skin on parade. We admit this. We think we are doing this because never before have we been able to show-out without giving away the game that we did not have any sort of physique other than that of a sack of potatoes. But, over the last six mos. or so, the gods of physical fitness have come to our aid, and somehow we suddenly have a waist to speak of, plus a chest area that protrudes farther than what remains of our belly, which is not that much anymore! Yea, verily, the lower-segment of the torso has miraculously become concave instead of convex. So, yeah, we are showing-out more, no longer in bondage to self, no longer burdened by a long-held sense of shame & embarrassment. However, this also is coinciding with a recent change in neuro-pharmaceutical intake, a relief from the affliction of some old brain-chemistry imbalances. So, is this newfound BDE from the newfound body, or the newfound mind, or the newfound both? Our development has been backwards, at least in terms of physicality & athleticism. We were quintessential flabby nerds through our early-30s; never had muscles, never had the lean upper-body, nevermind the abs. Yet now, approaching age 56, we are down to a weight we might have last seen during junior-high (!), but with way-more muscle than you could have at that early age. At a time in life when most of our contemporaries are pushing toward prediabetes and danger-zone BMIs, we are once again, as is our usual way of existing, going opposite of the vast majority. While our cohorts had their athletic glory days and fitness peaks some 30 or 40 years ago, we find we are just hitting our chiseled best in late-middle-age! The gods of physical fitness finally sculpted something coordinated & fast & athletically competitive from what started as a waistless, shapeless block of inert blob! Thank you to those merciful deities; we accept this element of grace. However, this BDE-element we are suddenly showing-off, it’s not ideal! We are not like that, yet exuding this BDE has undoubtedly been intoxicating. Surely, the gods will not stand for such hubris! No, our show of BDE is not obnoxious or loud-mouthed or flamboyant; mainly it is just transforming our lifelong slouching habit and walking more with the shoulders pinned back, chest out, quietly confident. Is that so bad? Is that still BDE? Again, the gods will let us know, as they always do, reminding the jabronis of their place if they possess too much hubris.)
BestLine Racing Society Recap:
Mountain, PennNat & Saratoga from earlier.
At Swampatoga Geysers, N.Y., Race 9 went to #1 Venti Valentine (.284 Win Prob / 2.52-1 Fair Odds / 3.93-1 Pr) at $12.40.
BestLine Racing Society Nightcap:
Assiniboia one more time this week.
Strongshots
Race 3
#6 Forittable (.460 / 1.17 / 1.61)
Longshots
Race 7
#3 Thatsalotofbling (.232 / 3.31 / 4.17)
#5 Savage Love (.223 / 3.48 / 4.38)
#2 Flying to the Line (.199 / 4.03 / 6.04)
#1 Kim’s Texas Bling (.151 / 5.62 / 8.27)
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