Windy Days at McCallum

Sets 32-34 (of 365):

Stuart vs. C. at McCallum High. Winner: Stuart 6-3, 6-1, 6-2

My Mojo: Below-Average to Average

Well, I took a week off to go on an adventure that I haven't yet decided whether or not I will post details here about, mainly because it had nothing to do with tennis. Actually, I've already written journal entries about it, I just don't know if I'll put them up here. The short skinny on it is, I decided on the spur of the moment to take off in my car to wherever the hell. I saw snow paralyzing some places on the TV news, and decided, "Hey, I should go there." So I ventured off to the frozen north with my inadequate Texas clothing and my tiny car. Before I knew it, I was in Ohio after having driven mostly straight through, with a couple stops for some kinda-sleep at a few rest stops. I ended up taking some detours and visiting the town where I was born, seeing family that I hadn't seen in some time and had no expectation of seeing, visiting a foreign country (this time I brought shoes--one time before that I spent time in a foreign country I went with no shoes), freaking Homeland Security out by showing them a piece of paper written mostly in Arabic on the way back over into the U.S. (the takeout menu of a restaurant where I ate--what can I say, I like falafel), and coming back to my cozy little domicile (mostly) intact and ready to play more tennis. Driving, driving, driving. Very little sleep while traveling. I made it from Michigan to Texas in, basically, one day. I bet I could have made it to Colorado in a day and a half, even through the damn blizzard.

But I digress. C. and I played together at McCallum High. He was the last person I played before I left on my adventure and the first I played upon my return. It was way major windy again. This time I could not seem to get a handle on the wind. The wind was chewing up all my shots and spitting them at my feet, laughing at me with contempt. Or maybe that was just a hallucination from all the lack of sleep last week. Though I got enough decent shots in to win, nothing special was happening. My serves didn't fall where I wanted them to, so I started wimping. I did try some really hard flat serves for a while that just didn't work. I know, I'm supposed to serve high and with spin in the wind. What the hell, though. You only live once, eat dessert first, and all that. When it, predictably, didn't work, I went back to milquetoast shots. I hit lots of high shots that fell mid-court. I was just trying to get the ball in, since my shots that I intended to go close to the lines were going God knows where. I mostly did get the ball in, but it was really difficult to get any kind of strategic plan going.

I did manage to talk him into playing a third set. After that, we hit some more balls for a while. I would have played several more sets, as usual. I almost always ask my opponents if they want to play more. Even if they are whuppin' me so bad that I can't get any points. Even if they are running me all over the court. Even if I am half-dead and crippled. I'll keep taking abuse as long as it keeps a-comin', unless I'm just too sick to stand.