PICTURE PERFECT & WAITING FOR THE NEXT DANCE

GLORIOUS SPRING

   Spring blooms spray the hills rolling to the Pacific behind Cayucos California.

   Echium bathes in spring sun.

   Color explodes.

    A wind chime serenades.

   Walkers trek to iconic Morro Rock.

    Walking on water?

   A box set. Hemingway and Joy ready for a snooze.

CONFESSIONS OF A BASKETBALL JUNKIE

     It's tough now. The Big Dance is over, the confetti has been swept away. It ended well, one of the most competitive and hard fought games in the history of the men's championships, but that makes it tougher, the withdrawal harder. 

      When Villanova's Kris Jenkins left fly a three point buzzer beater, basketball fans were in ecstasy. North Carolina and Villanova had spent 39 minutes and 58 seconds of extraordinary athletic and emotional effort. After a month of tourney play when 66 other teams had failed to get to the summit, that a game could come down to a final shot with two seconds left is an exhilaration stupendous.

       But now it's over. No more Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sundays of back to back games. That unique harmonic rush of arenas full of thousands cheering, balls and shoes on hardwood, rims rattling, the CBS sports theme, announcers and analysts who become like friends and neighbors no longer fill the sound scape.

      Growing up in Indiana, home of Hoosiers, and the Hoosiers, Bulldogs, Boilermakers, Cardinals and Fighting Irish this guy fell in love with the game.  We started playing in the second and third grade. High School basketball is a thing of legend the world knows because of the above mentioned Hoosiers. But college basketball is my addiction and that jones is fevered during March. It is indeed a madness, but April brings the hard comedown.  

       I get mildly interested in the NBA playoffs but it is somehow different, less passionate and without the same buzz. My daughters remind me some of their happy family memories include the almost festive air of the home during basketball season, the aroma of chili, or pizza or chicken wings, or burgers in the air with that hypnotic audio mix of a game on the tv and dad and mom in varying states of enthusiasm or despair. Now we must wait another year as we rehab and withdraw. 

      But there are sports classic channels and youtube. And course there is tennis, which conveniently fills the calendar. I love tennis. I no longer play basketball, but I play tennis and I love to watch it. The Opens and the Slams are great, but it is oh so quiet and there are no last second shots!

    See you down the trail.

HOOPS TO GO & WRITE ON + SPRING PINK & MOON

BETTER THAN IT USED TO BE

     If you enjoy March Madness as much as I do, you have to love the way you can now stay connected with your phone

or tablet. The NCAA and CBS provide mobile links to all of the action.

      Oh how that could have made life easier a few years ago!

When the girls were in school, we'd take an annual spring break tonic of sun and beach on beautiful Sanibel Island.  As its was, that day of air travel conflicted with key games in

the big dance.  Having a couple of Indiana teams, or more,

that I was passionate about, it was torture to be in the air or car and away from seeing the tourney. 

      There were many years I'd ask the ATA flight attendant to ask the pilot to keep us up to date on scores.  Since the Indianapolis based flight crew and the plane full of passengers, for the most part, had the same basketball jones, they did a great job.  Still nothing like being able to

watch it on your phone.  Somethings in the good old days

weren't so good as they are now eh?! 

LOTS OF COMPANY AS WE WRITE ON

      I caught an amazing statistic in this blog. What you are reading now is one of 181 million blogs in the world!  Mind boggling.  As we used to say in television news, "Thanks for tuning in here. We know you have choices." And the number keeps growing.

DAY BOOK

SPRING PINK

&

FULL MOON

       An afternoon glass of wine and picnic.

       Full moon rising over the Santa Lucias.
       See you down the trail.