Here’s a picture of my Airbnb host Jean and her daughter from a few years ago.  Blessing is now 12.

What a marvelous person mom is.  We’ve already had two great talks.  She knows about balance: telling me about her life and wanting me to share about mine. 

Jean teaches “Health and Social Care” to 16 to 18-year-olds.  The teens are learning about staying healthy throughout the span of life, about aging, about disabilities.  And it’s far beyond giving them knowledge.  Empathy is also being transmitted from Jean to the soon-to-be adults.  I was so impressed that young British people are having their eyes opened in this way.

I expect that there will be plenty more of Jean-Bruce discussions.  Plus Jean and Blessing may visit me in Ghent!

***

I remain entranced by the green grass of Devonshire Park.  The colour is entering my bloodstream.  And there are tennis players who play the game with such grace.

Jan Choinski is a 6’5″ British player ranked 167th on the world.  I watched him flow over the grass today.  It’s astonishing to see such a tall man virtually dance through the match.  Sometimes his serves and groundstrokes would be so powerful.  And then he’d hit a delicate shot that would slowly fade beyond his opponent’s reach.  Marvelous.  He reminded me of the ultimate caresser of the tennis ball: Roger Federer.

Jan lost today.  But I look forward to seeing him sometime down the road.

***

I watched a ball girl for a few minutes. No doubt the ball kids are chosen for their dexterity and fitness. They need that for chasing balls that come off the racquets of professional players. This one girl was fumbling several balls that were rolled to her by other kids.

“What’s wrong with that girl?”

Usually I have compassion for everybody but I lacked it for her. As I was creating stories about the youngster – an injury, a fight with her boyfriend – I looked more closely at her hands. Each one was grasping two balls as she attempted to field the one rolled to her!

I was completely wrong. And let’s just say … not for the first time.

***

There were more cool moments today with more cool people but enough writing is enough. Time to rest my tapping finger.

See you tomorrow … with beach revelations