THE WEEKENDER-A GIFT

BEYOND CAROLS

     A couple of weeks ago I posted a video with Dan and Phil Ponce, a couple of Chicago news casters who are also extraordinarily talented musicians and singers.  Dan was one of the founders of Straight No Chaser an a Capella group formed at Indiana University that is now a hot ticket.

       As fate would have it, several of you have sent me videos of the group, so I am "re gifting."  Most of you are no doubt aware of them, but for those of you who are not-

Enjoy.  Here's an early gift.

AND AN EARLY VERSION OF THEIR FAMOUS RENDITION

DAVID HANGS IT UP

     An era came to a sad but noble end today. I think of it as a ghost of Christmas future.  

     A tennis partner quietly announced at the net as we were shaking hands at the conclusion of a match, that he would no longer be playing. David said he could not trust his balance anymore and he didn't want to take another fall, as he has twice this year.  David is an octogenarian.

     I didn't play tennis until we moved to Cambria.  My court sport in Indiana was basketball, but wanting to stay in shape I began as a late aged neophyte on the tennis court. It took months of some awful play before I was worthy of joining into a foursome.  David, Phil and Janos were the first group to ask me to sub from time to time.  They were also the first group to ask me to join as a permanent player.

     I play three days a week in three different foursomes now, but the Friday morning 9AM foursome on Court 1 was the "mother's milk" of my tennis play.  David, Phil and Janos allowed me to learn and grow and they are a delightful group of guys. After our play, we always end up at Lilly's coffee deck for wide ranging conversations and a good dose of friendship.

      David and I were often partners and there would be times he wore a frustration at what had departed his game. But there were also those times when his wicked cross court shot, or a hard hit liner would do the job and was evidence of a man who had great game.  He particularly enjoyed, as I did as well, when we would rally back from being down and win the match. We both would leave the court with more spring in our step.  He remained a competitor though he knew his days of being an excellent player were history. He loved the game and he continued to play.  

     David was also the picture of a gentlemen competitor at all times.  He evinced a great sportsmanship and integrity.  He is also a true gentlemen in every other regard.  A class act if ever there was one.  As well traveled as anyone I've met, even among other globe trotting journalists, David is a great joy in social settings.  We hope he will continue to join us for our post match coffee.

      Our buddy Phil has been on medical leave of recent, though his love for the game is pushing him to get back on the court as well.  In my few years of play I have come to know that love of the game and can understand how tough it must be to hang it up.  David will now take up lawn bowling, of which there is a tough league in Cambria.  And he may join the ping pong matches.

      I am indebted to Janos, Phil and David.  I will miss David's enthusiastic narratives and droll humor as we play. And I hope at some distant match, holiday season or other wise, I can leave the game with the same class and gentlemanly style as David.

      And for the record David's quick returns and well aimed shots earned us several points today.

      See you down the trail.

     

NURTURE THEM OR A SHOT TO THE HEART?

  A RANGE OF SENTIMENT

     I'd heard that packs of wild bucks had been rampaging through open spaces and through gardens on this side of the Pacific Coast Highway.

      This morning Lana spotted a pack working on the green space just north of our place on the ridge.

             As you view these inhabitants of Cambria please understand they evoke a wild swing of reaction from their two legged neighbors.

            There are some who feed the deer, a practice generally frowned upon by most, including wild life experts.

         There are others who fantasize about deer steaks and other cuts.  

                  If only we could "thin" the herds, some say.  Bring in hunters they clamor.  Too dangerous in a village others will counter.  Then bring in bow hunters is a response.

                 Listen carefully in the grocery, coffee shop or on the street and you'll hear people recount how their gardens have been trashed and what can or should be done about it.  In the meantime the herd is growing and we've seen larger packs than in years past.

              So far our deer fence has worked.  Were it not for the fence, this pack of bucks would have been all over the blooms Lana is, this year, being able to enjoy.  
         In the meantime we co-habitate, sharing roadways and green spaces, natural and cultivated.  And the discussions
continue. 
         This is the old west and there are ways of controlling an over population.  Ways that some would be eager to employ.
        I've enjoyed a dinner of deer on many occasions. The secret, a great bow hunter told me, is to fell a buck with a single shot to the heart, causing them to die rapidly without fright and without pumping adrenaline into the meat. 
         I suspect this last paragraph may earn me an upbraiding from some.  And a plaudit or two from others.  And likely I'll hear it at Lilly's Coffee Shop, or the Cookie Crock Supermarket, or on the tennis court.  Wherever, I will have had to drive carefully to get there.  Guys like the fellow below are all over the place and seem to love to dash into the road.  Does that say something about their intelligence?  

      Or is it just the verve and swagger of a young buck in the spring?

      See you down the trail.