There were two things I wanted today:

1.  To enjoy a day of tennis

2.  To be on the Zoom call with the Evolutionary Collective that I had agreed to be on

Finding a quiet place at a tennis tournament for a Zoom call is some task.  A nearby park would work, I reasoned, and yesterday I went searching online for such a thing.  I found one – near the ocean and away from traffic.  Plus it appeared to have benches … something necessary to keep the phone steady.

First thing this morning I did further research – on site.  A lovely bench welcomed me, nestled among trees.

Later in the day it indeed was my shady home for an hour.  As I did a practice with one of our EC members, she said “I hear Spanish in the background.”  Ah yes, the residents of the neighbouring bench.  Another partner saw palm fronds behind me.  “Where are you?”  Great fun.

Before the call, I was rising and falling with the tennis fortunes of Harriet Dart from the U.K. as she tussled with Marie Bouzkova from the Czech Republic in an epic three hour and twenty-nine minute match.  I left well before the end to make my Zoom connection.  I got to have both: feeling the fury of their competition and keeping my word.  Sweet.

***

Today I also watched a player I’d never experienced live – Jelena Ostapenko from Latvia.  Here she is in orange and blue:

Jelena is often grumpy on court and has a habit of not shaking her opponent’s hand if she loses.  So why do I like her?  Doesn’t sound like my type.  Simple … she hits just about every ball really hard, especially her backhand.  So little margin for error.  Sometimes she wins big and sometimes she loses big.  I love it.  (She won)

***

My day came to a rosy conclusion.  As daylight faded, I got to see my fellow Canadian Leylah Fernandez up close and personal, as she played Barbora Krejcikova from the Czech Republic.  Leylah was right in front of me, mouthing words and shaking her fist at herself.  So intense.  Such one-pointed concentration.  I cheered.  She won.  (Perhaps the two are connected)

***

The tennis ball got smashed a lot today.  Plus I held my head high in the heat of athletic battles and in being where I agreed to be.

It was good for life