Monday, July 9, 2012

Love Means Nothing ... and Everything













Let's get one thing clear: I am not an athlete. I'm a sports fan, but not a participant. The closest I've come to that is playing tennis. Over the weekend I watched a lot of Wimbledon and it made me remember how much I loved to play.


As a kid I went to church camp a couple times and took tennis lessons while there.

www.lutherlyn.com
Camp Lutherlyn - where I learned to play tennis; I later worked there in the office


In high school I used to go to Ewing Park and play tennis with friends or with my brother. If I didn't have a playing partner I'd go to the high school and hit balls against the wall. Tennis was also something that my dad and I shared and we played until his heart condition didn't allow it.

www.ecboro.com
No idea who this dude is, but that is one of the Ewing Park courts.


When I went to Wittenberg we had a certain amount of phys ed credits that we had to take. One of mine was, yep, tennis.

wikipedia.org
"Wittenberg, dear Wittenberg..."


In my adult years I have great memories of traveling to Cincinnati to watch the ATP Championship (now called the Western & Southern Open) and playing hooky from church on Sunday to watch the Wimbledon men's finals. In 1997 I took lessons again for a summer.

blog.roopevintage.com


I haven't played in a long time, and I miss it. My knees aren't very happy when I try to play, but maybe someday...



The Gila

Monday, July 2, 2012

Two Storms and a 911 Call

You might think being cooped up in the house would be totally boring. Not so, my friends. Here's what happened over the weekend.

Friday we got hit with a terrible storm - 80-something mph winds, thunder, lightning, the works. Here are some pictures of trees lost at our friends' and neighbors' houses (thankfully no one was hurt and no major property damage was done):







Saturday, our neighbor Christin came over for a visit and some ice cream. So nice to catch up and indulge in some Homemade Brand Coconut Almond Chip (for me) and Mint Chocolate Chip (for her).

One of my most favorite flavors!

That night, Aaron went over to Jen & Jason's house a couple blocks away. Around 10:30 I heard a bang. I thought it might be fireworks but then I heard it again. (It didn't help that I was watching Ghost Whisperer at the time.) I couldn't tell where it was coming from but I knew it was our house. I called Aaron and he ran home to find some girl beating on the front of our house with our mailbox that she had ripped off the brick wall (this apparently after using her shoe didn't get her anywhere). She kept insisting that it was her house. The cops arrived and they took her away to figure out where her real home is. She was - at a minimum - drunk, and more than likely high on something. Scary situation which turned out OK. THANK YOU, Columbus Police Department, for responding so quickly!

No, the mailbox isn't normally on the ground

Sunday was much less eventful. Aaron went on a long bike ride and I continued healing. We got another strong storm in the evening, and while it doesn't seem to have caused as much damage as Friday's storm, it did knock out power for even more people. There are over 100,000 homes in the area without power, most since Friday night, and they may be that way for another week. Sending out good thoughts to all those who are still suffering the effects of the storm.

Random thought: I'm watching a lot of Netflix and on the main screen it shows "Suggestions for You." In what universe is Fatal Attraction similar to Sleepless in Seattle?

Until next time,

The Gila