Tennis Stuff

If you're going to call it a tennis blog, it should occasionally have a picture of equipment related to the game. I'm still playing with the same Wilson Prostaff racket that I was playing with in 2000. It's a good racket, and it has been restrung several times. I have in that span of time bought two brand new rackets with the idea of using them as my new main weapon, but in both cases found that I was unable to play as well with the new racket and thus reverted to the old Wilson. The shoes are much newer than the racket, but the balls are only a week or so from the store shelf.

Thanksgiving is three days away and I've been thinking about how much cinnamon should go into the pumpkin pie that I plan to bake. I usually double the amount called for in the recipe, but I'm contemplating kicking it up a little more to triple strength. I'm wondering what quantities of cinnamon other people have used in their pumpkin pies. I'd like to know. Then I'll go for the record.

The Scent of Pumpkins

Thanksgiving is just a couple of days away and I'm beginning to catch the aroma of a pie party.


The Prairie Princess was home for the weekend. She had laundry and video gaming to do. She's back in Minneapolis now with her clean clothes and a good attitude.

Herb, PP, and I were chatting about the new president's cabinet and his penchant for naming his rivals to the cabinet, much like Abe Lincoln did in 1860 when the U.S. was facing a Civil War. Obama has chosen Hillary Clinton and Bill Richardson, both former rivals for the Democratic nomination, to serve in his cabinet. I wondered aloud what has become of John McCain and where he might fit into the new cabinet. Herb suggested that he could serve as Secretary of "The Guy I Beat". To loud guffaws.

More tennis today for me, and good tennis it was. We four geezers played nearly three sets at Fort Snelling, beginning just as the Viking game was concluding. It was my 14th day of tennis in November, during which I have completed 31 complete sets and several partials. There may be a rendering of statistics when the month finally concludes. I'm ready for some time off.

A and Za

Friday night is often pizza night at the House of Tousan. This beauty is from Pappa Murphy's and is Herb's vegetarian blend - artie's chokes, black olives and mushies. When it gets here we add the carrots and a suitable mixture of spices - garlic, oregano, black and red pepper, et. al. We were joined in the feast by the Prairie Princess, who came home to use the clothes washing facilities and exercise the Wii, among other things.


I managed to get in almost two hours of tennis this afternoon with the hard core retirees. The only guy not retired labors in the financial sector of the economy and was happy to be away from work as the world economy continues its slide into some sort of swamp. It was good tennis and I was playing well, even visiting the elusive "zone" for short periods of time. A pretty good day in spite of the lack of outdoor heat causing the thermometers to register below freezing data all the live long day.

The recount of the vote for U.S. Senator from Minnesota goes on. It's a pretty good spectator sport for this time of year. My neighborhood guy, Norm Coleman, still holds a tenuous lead - slightly ahead of Al Franken, Dean Barkley and the Lizard People.

14 degrees

It's 14 degrees outside as I key-in these words. To counter balance the weight of impending winter and the stock market meltdown (again today!), I'm posting this photo taken in June, 2007, at the Sculpture Garden in Minneapolis. It has been a tradition to go there on Father's Day and this was taken then. The building framed by the sculpture is the IDS Building, one of the tallest, if not the tallest of the Twin Cities structures.


I spent a few minutes outside today and can affirm that it was a cold, windy, chilly day. There was also a chance to play tennis again, but it was inside and there was no wind, so I wore shorts.

Hard Water

The time of ice has arrived. This pond has a layer of frozen water covering the other water below. The air was brisk and bracing, and winter seems to be in the air.


Wednesday night is the night when we curl (on ice) at SPCC. We had the full complement of curlers and came very close to a win. It came down to the last rock. We had the hammer, down by one, and we barely missed a shot that would have sent us into extra time. It was an enjoyable game with some very good shots and a lot of hard, productive sweeping. Our fan, the Prairie Princess, came to watch her roomie, her uncle, and her tousan [and Burt] compete.

Birthday Greetings

T.J. is Totally Jammin' and is 10 years old today. Happy Birthday, young fellow.


This photo was taken almost a month ago when PP and I were visiting Santini and family in Michigan. T.J was only nine then, but he was having a good time at Tunnel Park. I'm not sure what he has in his hand - some sort of magic weapon, I presume.

St Paul Sunset

It's Monday and it was cold enough to discourage my planned continuation of leaf gathering. Unky Herb and I raked the backyard yesterday and I thought I'd do the front yard today. The sun was out, but the temperature came with a wind chill, but I gave it a try. There is still a half yard to do, the half under the pin oak, which stubbornly refuses to give up its old leaves.

At about 4:30, I trekked to Linwood to see if the sun sets in Minnesota in that attractive way that it does in Michigan. As you can see, there is a qualitative difference between summer and late fall sunsets, but they both have some allure. The sun is much further south now at time of setting than it is in June, and that allows the event to be seen in the southwest sky visible from the high hill at Linwood.


Another fact about bacteria, from "Discover"::
"4. Bacteria have been around for at least 3.5 billion years, making them the oldest known life-form on the planet."

It makes me want to ask, "how many is a Brazilian?"

Right Arm and Herb

Herb and the Princess were home to partake of vittles. My right arm was a factor in today's tennis action at Fort Snelling. Scores at eleven.



From "Discover" magazine: "20 Things you didn't know about bacteria."

"9. No escaping them: Your body has 10 times more bacteria cells than human cells."

Very Old Photos

I could have taken photos today. The sun was out for most of the day and I spent a couple of hours with Unky Herb raking and bagging leaves. The sun was low in the sky by the time we finished delivering the leaves to the leaf recycling center, but my camera was in the house and we needed to make a stop at the bread store to top up the larder. I also could have snapped a photo or two ar Wooddale before or after engaging in tennis competition. I did neither.

Instead, I offer old photos from my stock of classics. On exhibit today are G.L. Miller (1848-1920) - my great grandfather - and his wife and my great grandmother, Nancy Jane McDill Miller (1847-1926). Between the two of them they account for about a quarter of my DNA (and that of a number of readers of the blog). G.L. was an attorney, a politician, a newspaper owner-editor and a gentleman farmer in Wisconsin. He led what seems to be a very interesting life. Much of his editorial writing exists on newspaper archives at various Historical Society sites at Wisconsin colleges.



Nancy Jane married G.L in DeSoto, Wisconsin, on January 17, 1875. A little over seven months later my grandfather, G.E Miller, was born (undoubtedly prematurely) in DeSoto, followed by Charles and Mayme some years later. One of Nancy's brothers, George Davis McDill, was a captain of the Wisconsin Volunteers in the Civil War and a Wisconsin State legislator. When he died in1899, two of his children (Ruth and Ella) came to live with G.L. Nancy and family.


I think that G.L bears a striking resemblance to one of his great grandsons.

The Old Days

It was a dark and sometimes rainy day in the Saintly City. I resorted to rummaging around in my cache of old, obscure photos that haven't seen the light of day in years. The first is of Gino's youth football team from about 1972 or so. He was co-head coach as I recall, and I spent some small time helping out and watching the games with my various cameras in hand. This is a team photo after a successful season, perhaps even a championship season. I can only name the "adults" in the photo, but I suspect that Mr Moohoo knows the names of the players and perhaps an anecdote about a few of them.


This next photo was taken in August of 1969 in my nearly unfurnished apartment near Lake Owasso. Santini is familiar with the youngsters in the photo and has been married to the guy in the foreground forever. I am standing in the background surrounded by some of my possessions at the time. I think I still have the bricks that were part of the bookcase - and the stereo. I don't know where the golf club came from.


I did manage to play my usual Thursday night mixed doubles with the hard core girls and Jerry at Wooddale tonight. And on the way home I stopped at Yang's Chinese Food Emporium to get some fried tofu lomein. And when I got home I was able to share the largess with Herb and the Prairie Princess. All in all, not a bad day.