Tennis acts as a touchstone, something that provides continuity in my life. While other things may be falling apart completely or coming together spectacularly, tennis remains a day in and day out practice. Sounds like meditation doesn’t it?

Practice and Competition Routine: Jose was gracious enough to play tennis with me while I am visiting his household in (freezing) Oakland. We played two rally games: 15-5, 15-8.
Solutions Analysis: we were sitting on the bench between games and Jose was remembering his tennis teacher’s instructions, “Move your feet, step into the ball…” Then I remembered, “Step into the ball.” From then on, my ground strokes were deeper and harder. We like it like that.
Success Analysis: after spending the week moving from one house to another, finishing the various paint and stain jobs in the new house, holding two parties in one night and then driving to Oakland the next day for a (did I say already?) freezing cold pool party, I am happy to say that I had enough left to move my feet and and get around the court really well. I was able to anticipate shots and use my footwork to come to the net very effectively.