What a great morning to catch an early breakfast in Forde Hall, then walk across plush lawns to the beautifully maintained courts for a few sets of tennis?
Xavier Combe from Paris asked if I wanted to play and I readily agreed because he is a clay court specialist. He is graceful with classic ground strokes and on this surface he can mix it up with anyone here. In Paris that’s all he plays on, he says the red clay is much slower and have to be steady to survive the long rallies. I took the initiative in the match, by hitting short angles and drop shots to take control and I had him running around pretty good, but then he started attacking my forehand with short angled cross court shots of his own. I started missing, a few shots at first to make me bleed, then the hemorrhage started. We got into 5 ball rallies and then he'd throw in the short cross court forehand and I'd hit it long or in the net.
I lost confidence in the forehand and the match losing 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Despite the defeat it was a fun match, X is such an even tempered guy. He doesn’t say much but when he does it's something you can use, and dwell on. We were changing sides and he said that I need to trust the forehand and glide into the short balls. He was right ,I was taking too many steps which is good on hard courts but a disaster on clay.
Later we talked all the way back to the dorms, with Bevin it's art, Roger it's baseball, with X it's music. We talked a lot about Eric Burton who X claims is French. I didn’t know that. I think Burton is one of the all time greats, with great lyrics and interesting hooks in his music. X agreed. He's a drummer and asked me who I thought was the greatest drummer of all time, I answered John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, or Keith Moon from the Who. He thought Watts from the Stones was the best in terms of rock, he said Ringo Starr was a terrible technically so we disagreed there. All in all he thought I had a good start but then rattled off a bunch of jazz drummers that I have never heard of, I decided then and there not to challenge X in the field of music. I’ve heard him practice on his pad in his room and he's very impressive. X asked me who I listened to when it came to jazz. I told him Coltrane, Monk, and Davis…again he thought I had a good start.
I love this game. I had a talk with Mr. Brennan yesterday about tennis. He said it's more than a sport, it’s a business tool, it’s a social life, it's a fitness regime, its a running chess game and keeps the mind in shape. But he said most importantly that if you play the game seriously you strive to get better. When you strive to do something you set goals and he says when people quit setting goals they stop living. He said too many people his age quit playing, quit doing anything active at all and they die too soon. FXB said tennis is also part of the great network, you meet good people that trust you and want to do business. He says tennis doesn’t have limits, you can be a great player if that’s what you’re into or you can be a great networker, or a great social butterfly. He said that tennis in terms of rich and poor is classless, and colorless and can lift you he said that on the court you are free of the pressures of work, that youre no longer a too young for too fat, or too slow, no longer this or that. Tennis is the great equalizer claims FXB, where kings and paupers play on equal ground. That it frees you of everything in life that tends to drag one down. I never thought of it but he’s right. In my case Tennis got me to college and got me to this wonderful Tennis camp, theres no telling where it will take me next. Tennis took Mr. B to Camp David and on the court with the President of the United States, hard to imagine that the Patterson boy made it to Camp David to hit with the world’s most powerful man.
I haven’t had mail in two weeks, until today. I had 4 letters…all from that sweet Chris Russell-Vick, how nice is that? The letters were very campish and newsy and I found out more about what the girls have been up to all summer. She told me which girl counselors had crushes on which guy counselors. The letters were funny,cheeful and thoughtful just like the author; Chris Russell-Vick, who is nothing less than a hero in my eyes.
Again, its starting to rain. We were planning on taking the kids to Saunderosa Park, Its almost noon now and Im heading back to Forde Hall for lunch. I hope this rain doesn’t kill the whole day.
I had lunch with that cute Chris in the the fancy dining hall and I imagined we were dining in a London castle. I thanked her for the mail and later asked her about Wimbledon and she told me what its like there, how much fun it is to get a field pass and walk the grounds. She told me about the strawberries and cream and how nasty Nastase really is and how easy it is to spend a day watching tennis with good friends. I hope one day I can see it all.
I just got back from lunch and its still raining, Im listening to WRCV and that great Fleetwood Mac song is on again…Rayana. That’s good music, I wish I had a stero, but its just another luxury a poor college student can't afford.
It's after 11 now, we ended up going to Saunderosa after all but it rained all the way there and it was so dark. Luckily they have a little club house there and everyone was inside listening to the juke box. I talked to Bevin for a couple of hours, she told me about life at William and Mary college, and it sounded good. She told me about the house on the Cape all the while we were wading in the lake, getting soaked by the rain, we didn’t care, good talks with a good friend is more powerful than an umbrella.
A bunch of us walked downtown with the kids to see the movies. I sat with Bevin and on the way home we talked about how movies are mini vacations for the mind, an escape. That’s why I go, to get away, but it was fun getting away with her!
Im looking out the window of my Fowle Hall dormroom, up toward Tippits. All the girls are in bed and its dark. I can see the outline of the trees in the night. With all this rain it smells so fresh. I hope it’s a good day tomorrow because I want to play some more tennis.
I lost confidence in the forehand and the match losing 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Despite the defeat it was a fun match, X is such an even tempered guy. He doesn’t say much but when he does it's something you can use, and dwell on. We were changing sides and he said that I need to trust the forehand and glide into the short balls. He was right ,I was taking too many steps which is good on hard courts but a disaster on clay.
Later we talked all the way back to the dorms, with Bevin it's art, Roger it's baseball, with X it's music. We talked a lot about Eric Burton who X claims is French. I didn’t know that. I think Burton is one of the all time greats, with great lyrics and interesting hooks in his music. X agreed. He's a drummer and asked me who I thought was the greatest drummer of all time, I answered John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, or Keith Moon from the Who. He thought Watts from the Stones was the best in terms of rock, he said Ringo Starr was a terrible technically so we disagreed there. All in all he thought I had a good start but then rattled off a bunch of jazz drummers that I have never heard of, I decided then and there not to challenge X in the field of music. I’ve heard him practice on his pad in his room and he's very impressive. X asked me who I listened to when it came to jazz. I told him Coltrane, Monk, and Davis…again he thought I had a good start.
I love this game. I had a talk with Mr. Brennan yesterday about tennis. He said it's more than a sport, it’s a business tool, it’s a social life, it's a fitness regime, its a running chess game and keeps the mind in shape. But he said most importantly that if you play the game seriously you strive to get better. When you strive to do something you set goals and he says when people quit setting goals they stop living. He said too many people his age quit playing, quit doing anything active at all and they die too soon. FXB said tennis is also part of the great network, you meet good people that trust you and want to do business. He says tennis doesn’t have limits, you can be a great player if that’s what you’re into or you can be a great networker, or a great social butterfly. He said that tennis in terms of rich and poor is classless, and colorless and can lift you he said that on the court you are free of the pressures of work, that youre no longer a too young for too fat, or too slow, no longer this or that. Tennis is the great equalizer claims FXB, where kings and paupers play on equal ground. That it frees you of everything in life that tends to drag one down. I never thought of it but he’s right. In my case Tennis got me to college and got me to this wonderful Tennis camp, theres no telling where it will take me next. Tennis took Mr. B to Camp David and on the court with the President of the United States, hard to imagine that the Patterson boy made it to Camp David to hit with the world’s most powerful man.
I haven’t had mail in two weeks, until today. I had 4 letters…all from that sweet Chris Russell-Vick, how nice is that? The letters were very campish and newsy and I found out more about what the girls have been up to all summer. She told me which girl counselors had crushes on which guy counselors. The letters were funny,cheeful and thoughtful just like the author; Chris Russell-Vick, who is nothing less than a hero in my eyes.
Again, its starting to rain. We were planning on taking the kids to Saunderosa Park, Its almost noon now and Im heading back to Forde Hall for lunch. I hope this rain doesn’t kill the whole day.
I had lunch with that cute Chris in the the fancy dining hall and I imagined we were dining in a London castle. I thanked her for the mail and later asked her about Wimbledon and she told me what its like there, how much fun it is to get a field pass and walk the grounds. She told me about the strawberries and cream and how nasty Nastase really is and how easy it is to spend a day watching tennis with good friends. I hope one day I can see it all.
I just got back from lunch and its still raining, Im listening to WRCV and that great Fleetwood Mac song is on again…Rayana. That’s good music, I wish I had a stero, but its just another luxury a poor college student can't afford.
It's after 11 now, we ended up going to Saunderosa after all but it rained all the way there and it was so dark. Luckily they have a little club house there and everyone was inside listening to the juke box. I talked to Bevin for a couple of hours, she told me about life at William and Mary college, and it sounded good. She told me about the house on the Cape all the while we were wading in the lake, getting soaked by the rain, we didn’t care, good talks with a good friend is more powerful than an umbrella.
A bunch of us walked downtown with the kids to see the movies. I sat with Bevin and on the way home we talked about how movies are mini vacations for the mind, an escape. That’s why I go, to get away, but it was fun getting away with her!
Im looking out the window of my Fowle Hall dormroom, up toward Tippits. All the girls are in bed and its dark. I can see the outline of the trees in the night. With all this rain it smells so fresh. I hope it’s a good day tomorrow because I want to play some more tennis.
2 comments:
Jake
Keep the pearls of wisdom from Mr. B coming. It's funny, I did not think about it much back then, but now realize what a profound impact it had on how I conduct every aspect of my life. My two favorites were the 1 u mentioned about your parents being your hero. Not a day goes by now when raising the kids, when I dont think back on all the stuff my parents did for me and the sacrifices they made. the other is the one about the two brothers and the pony. Mr. B was right, attitude really does matter in everything u do, whether it involves family, your job, or just every day life.
Hell dickerson you sound all mature and grown up,,What happen to that wise candy ass,, dry sense of humor I liked so much..Hell remember Teddy applegate Lawrence the 3rd,,The bat in the pillow case making him come down to the 1st floor with his bad ankle for a phone call that didnt exist..Hell man Jake did a great job didnt he..Thanks Jake..As Archie Bunker would say,,"Those were the days"
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