AND it continues

Yes thise pictures show a life that as of now does not exist.  Pretty much all major league sports has been cancelled and that goes for college and maybe sports of all kinds.  We still are playing tennis here and I have not heard if they will shut that down.  Our third villa party which was to be this Thursday is now cancelled for the time being and if I were a betting person I would bet on no more parties this season.  IF it had been my call I would say let's do it but if you are expecting 30 people and many of them say we will stay home well I guess the right call is to say "cancel".

I have not heard anyone saying we should cancel our tennis party which is to be this Wednesday.  There will only be 13 people coming and they all are from the club here so I would think it should be a go.  IF some call and say is it a good idea maybe it will change.

I have tennis at 10:30 today so will see what the courts look like.  I am guessing they will be full.  I have heard of some people who may change their minds about going north as some of the communities they go to are almost in lock down.

It looks like we will have mid to high 80s all week here.  That is about 5-8 degrees warmer than normal.
Here is a TRUE note that I wrote about for our party.  If there is NO party Wednesday Terry and I may have candy on our hands as at the party I have some give-aways for each player and this is one of them.

MARCH 13TH 1965

The disappointments of the many athletes who did not get to play in March Madness reminded me of this day but of course on a much much smaller scale!

My friend Larry, his girl friend Pat and my girl friend JoEllen walked around town kind of aimlessly. We had just won our basketball game and actually it should have been a time to be happy.  My game was on and the score book showed that my 25 points propelled us to a win and the consolation trophy.  BUT there really was NO consolation.  As the four of us walked around town with no destination in mind my thoughts were oh so far away.  A year ago I had been the sixth man on the team.  We were good and actually went to state.  In the district we blew away our opponents but my playing time was limited and I think I may have even had wet eyes after the game.  Coach Wohler saw my state of mind and he walked over to me.  He said, Carmen your time will come next year!"   Well this was next year and things did not pan out very well.  We played in a district tournament that was outside of our league so who knows how the seeding should go.  I do not remember where we were seeded but I do know we were one of the favorites.  Yes, we had our share of injuries but still we had high hopes.  In the first game of the tournament we lost on a last second shot to Wyndmere who then went on to lose their second game.  Of course we were then relegated to consolation.  This afternoon we played Lidgerwood in the 5th place game and came away with the trophy.  Some time later I would end up looking at things in Dad's cupboard and there was the clipping of our game.  It praised the play of Carmen Lee who led Sargent Central with 25 points.  Did Dad ever talk to me about it--NO.  Well here I was walking around town with friends but with a mind that was far far away.  My thoughts were kind of like this.  Our football team had finished with a 1-6 record which was a disaster.  As captain I felt partly responsible for that.  Now here really was my last chance to feel successful but a 5th place did not feel very successful.  AND it was our senior year.  Larry and I, as well as Pat and JoEllen would soon be away from Sargent Central, away from home and who knows what would be next.  So my thoughts were about football, about basketball, about leaving home, about relationships and much much more.  We wandered downtown and as we approached a cafe Pat mentioned the bus would be leaving in 45 minutes.  Well that was enough time to have a soda and fries BUT was not enough time for me to deal with what had just happened and what I had to look forward to!!!

Well as I have said in the past, "Tomorrow the sun will come up in the east as usual and life goes on! One small bump in life's path does not mean the end of the world so to speak."

AND life did go on.  The last two months of high school were mostly fun.  Memories of football and basketball remainded but I decided to go out for track as one last hurray.  With years of throwing rocks into the rock wagon and throwing Russel's and Rollof's bales onto the wagon I felt fit to do the shot put, javelin and discus throw.  Dad still insisted I ride the bus home for afternoon work.  I somehow feel that was still related to Ronald's death in the fall.  So I talked Mr. Neuman into allowing me to practice my throws during school instead of sitting in study hall waiting for the bell to ring. So when 5th period came around I would hurry to the locker room, change my clothes and get out on the football field to practice.  No coach, no supervision just me.  How did I do?  Well I did well enough to place in the javelin and the discus throws.  First, no way but it did kind of wet my competitive juices for one last time.  

Socially I was kind of a flunkie.  This may even be true to this day!  I did go to the spring prom but don't think it was all that memorable.  May came to a close with high school graduation.  On the day there were tiny snow flakes and I wore my new suit that looked like a wrinkled mess as I got out of the car.  I am guessing if I were to remember the 60 or so graduating seniors that day I maybe have seen a dozen or less after that day.   

Of course today as I look back at many of those events they seem not only so far away but actually very very insufficient when put against the journey of life.  HOWEVER at the time they were not only important but in many ways life shaping.