1800 Miles

That is the number of miles I have put on my car in the month that I’ve had it. I really wish the public transportation system in the Phoenix metro was more practical. I keep wanting to take the bus into town, but I’d have to leave home at least 20 minutes earlier than I usually do when I drive. I’m never ready that early. So I think I may keep dreaming about all the time I could spend reading and knitting on the bus, and instead continue racking up the miles on my shiny new Accent.

Tennis!

Now that it’s no longer as hot as it was earlier in the summer, Tim and I have started playing tennis. We found out that there’s a park here in Chandler, Tumbleweed Park, where you can get a court for an hour and a half for $3. We also found out (the hard way) that for Saturdays you need a reservation. However, we did manage to make a reservation for last Saturday morning, and when Tim tried to make one for today he was told not to bother since Fridays aren’t as busy. So we went today, and sure enough, most of the courts were open. Fridays will be our day to play tennis.

Neither Tim nor I had played tennis in years. I’m not even sure when the last time I played was, but it was probably around 10 years ago. Same for Tim. I’d had lessons as a kid and Tim had learned a bit in high school, so it’s not like we were great players before. Then add about 10 years off the court, and you get some pretty goofy action with balls flying in odd directions. But we’ve had a lot of fun and plan to continue. Even over the past two tennis sessions, there has been definite improvement and we’ve both gotten some nice shots in. We hope that as we continue to play we’ll have to pick up the balls off the ground less often. Today I even practiced serving, something I had never finished learning. Getting the ball in the right spot is not easy, but I did manage to get some decent serves. I’m glad that we have found an outdoor activity that we both enjoy, and that is nearby and cheap.

My childhood tennis instructor, Pablo, actually had a pretty important impact on our family—he is the reason my brother and Silvina met! They were both also taking lessons with him and he introduced them. The rest is history. So we all have Pablo to thank not just for whatever tennis skills he may have taught us, but more importantly for his role in bringing Silvina into our family.

The Crocodile Hunter

Today is a sad day for all of us who have followed Steve Irwin’s antics over the years. While shooting footage for a new show in Australia, he was stung in the chest by a stingray and died almost instantly. He was only 44 and he leaves behind his wife and two children—that’s a real tragedy.

It’s somehow fitting that he died doing what he loved—sharing his passion for the animal world with people around the world. And part of me is surprised something didn’t happen to him sooner, considering all the potentially deadly animals he had worked with.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who would have loved to have him around for decades to come so he could continue to entertain (and educate) us about all the fascinating creatures of Australia. His enthusiasm and energy will be greatly missed—there’s definitely no one quite like him! Irwin also worked tirelessly for conservation, and I hope that all he has done will be continued by others after him.

Goodbye, Crocodile Hunter!

Bowling is Over

Yesterday was the last day of bowling, and in some ways it’s a relief. I’ve had a great time and my bowling has improved, but I’m glad we now have Friday nights available for other things. There were several events on Friday evenings that I would have liked to attend, but I would have had to pay my bowling dues anyway even if I did something else, so we always went bowling. Only one night did we miss it—Jim and Tara weren’t going to be there, and since Tim wasn’t bowling anymore at that point I would have been the only person bowling on our team. But all the other nights we went to the bowling alley, and I’m pleased with the progress I made.

These are the scores from the last several weeks:

125 – 136 – 90

141 – 110 – 126

149 – 103 – 91

113 – 138 – 119

110 – 137 – 99

126 – 110 – 107

My average didn’t improve that much over the last few weeks, but it went up from 107 at the beginning to a 116. I still had some games that were under 100, but for the most part I was able to make over 100 points per game, which is great because before this league it was very hard for me to get past that point. The funny thing is that I made my high score of 153 only on the second week of the league and I was never able to top it!

As for whether I’ll bowl in a league again, I think I probably will. It was a fun experience, and all the people we bowled with were very friendly and everyone cheered everyone else on. Some people got a bit more drunk than I would have liked, but even that wasn’t all that bad. They just got really loud but we either tried to tune them out or just made fun of their attempts at bowling. So another bowling league might be in my future, but for now I’m going to enjoy my Fridays off!