A Good Moo-ed

Who doesn't appreciate a good cow sculpture?

As it turns out there is a very nice cow sculpture in the linear park near the bridge to Punta Gorda. We had a walk over by it this early afternoon and it struck my fancy. And who doesn't like to have their fancy struck?

It was a slower day than some in the recent past, but still pretty nice. We did some shopping, some cooking and a bit of hot tub soaking. It's nice to have the sun shining all day and realize how strong it is. I think the northern snowbanks are going to be hard pressed to keep from melting away soon. And it can't be any too soon.

Annual Imperative

March 4th. March forth.

NCW and I visited Gasparilla Island to play some tennis with John and to search for shells and walk on the beach next to the Gulf of Mexico. NCW took this photo just before we began playing our abbreviated set. The players are TT and one of the tennis geezers who lives in St Paul, but vacations here, John. We quit early to catch the ferry to the island. It was a good idea. I was hot and getting heated. I've now played three times during this trip.

Shelling on the beach at Gasparilla Island. NCW, Beth and John. The beach and the aqua colored sea water are quite striking.  NCW gathered some nice shells and a nice collection of million year old shark teeth. Ask her to see them.

The bad news is that both NCW and I sunburned our feet. Another lesson relearned.

Florida Tennis

I played five sets of tennis during this week here so far. We went to Spring Hill where my high school tennis coach has retired and continues to live with his wife. He coached at Greenway High School from 1958-61 and left that year to a job in the Twin Cities at the same time that I went off to college. He was a young coach, just eight years older than me, in his first job. We're a bit older now, 71 and 79, but he still plays tennis twice a week and golfs twice, too. My schedule is similar, four days of indoor tennis in a cold city. We've reconnected and have played tennis in February for about the last six or seven years (since 2007). He lines up some other older gents to play and we see if we still have what it takes.

Here we are getting ready to play last Friday on hard courts. It was morning so I was still wearing my Minnesota vest for warmth.

Paul still can hit a tennis ball with authority. Here he's lining up a backhand. Photo by NCW.

The team picture at the end of the third set. We played for two hours on hard courts in the morning of our first day there. The scores were 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 and all competitive and fun against two good guys. Ken is the lefty on the left, Kevin, from New York is next to him. Paul is third from left.  TT in blue.

The second of our two matches was played on clay - the so-called soft surface - on Saturday. Paul and I split sets with Terry and Dan 6-7, 6-4. But we quit before anyone was badly hurt or fell down or anything drastic like that. Terry was from Cincinnati and Dan, on the right, originally from Kansas.  I'm wearing my Twins spring training tee shirt, just so people knew that I appreciate underdogs.  Photo by Barb Q.-B.

We had a couple of days to reminisce about the old days and the years in between. We also ate well and had a look at some Florida real estate for entertainment. It was a couple of days well spent.  Especially the tennis.