“Love will draw an elephant through a key-hole.” — Samuel Richardson
“Better to trust the man who is frequently in error than the one who is never in doubt.” — Eric Sevareid
“To live is to feel oneself lost.” — Jose Ortega y Gasset
“God created the flirt as soon as he made the fool.” — Victor Hugo
The picture below has been posted on many websites and I thought my readers would enjoy seeing it as well. One site that originally posted it was the NY Daily News
From the NY Daily News Story:
“ A delightful image taken by NASA’s Hubble Telescope shows a part of space appear to form a smiling face for the camera.
The picture, which shows some parts of the universe may be friendlier than others, was taken of galaxy cluster SDSS J1038+4849 — and it seems to be smiling.
The image shows a circle for the head, two gorgeous big bright eyes, a spot for a cute little nose and a big smile fit to be painted on the side of a water tower.
NASA says the picture shows different materials that clustered to form the happy looking environment.
The two bright orange “eyes” are actually bright galaxies, the agency states.
The smile-shaped line underneath them is due to “strong gravitational lensing” that pulls material into the shape.
The phenomenon actually bends light from the camera and creates the image, NASA states.
Many of the more unique Hubble images are due to this occurrence, the agency said.
The telescope has captured more than a million images but this one is a keeper.”
To see links to the NASA site and other images, visit the NY Daily News linked above.
“To be prepared is half the victory.” — Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish novelist
“He speaketh not, and yet there lies a conversation in his eyes.” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“You do your rebellions any way you can.” — Sue Monk Kidd, The Invention of Wings
“Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the ‘Titanic’ who waved off the dessert cart.” — Erma Bombeck
* It is a fact that many Pickleball players lose track of the score. That is why it is important for everyone to call the score before each serve. To double-check if the score has been tallied correctly, you can use this method:
Note that when the score is zero, zero, it is considered an “even” score. The 2 people who are the very first servers (on the right side of their respective courts) for each team are even.
“When the serving team wins a point, the server moves to the other side of the serving team’s court. If the serve rotation is done properly, and the score is called correctly, the serving team’s score will always be even when the player that started the game on the right side is on the right side and odd when that player is on the left side.”
Do you enjoy Pickleball? Would you like to have more Pickleball venues and see the sport thrive? Why not consider joining the USA Pickleball Association (USAPA) – They are the “keepers of the flame,” so to speak. Click this link to find out more:
http://www.usapa.org/usapa-membership/
*Thanks to M. Travis, Phoenix-area Pickleball Ambassador
This is an interesting story of Ra Paulette who found his passion as a Cave Digger. The video episode below was aired on CBS Sunday Morning. Without any formal training or experience in architecture or cave digging, Mr. Paulette has become an expert at designing and building underground dwellings. Although he has been given the title of “Cave Digger,” once you see his work, you will agree he is much more than that.
So spectacular are the designs and executions of these cave dwellings, that an award winning and Academy Award nominated documentary, Cave Digger, was made. You can learn more about the film here:
Before you do that, however, why not watch the Sunday Morning segment below which I assure you is quite intriguing.
“For the past 25 years, Ra Paulette has been carving out man-made caves from the sandstone hills of New Mexico, and then sculpting these spaces into works of art he calls wilderness shrines. Lee Cowan has the story of an artist who does his best work underground.”
“Only the guy who isn’t rowing has time to rock the boat.” — Jean-Paul Sartre
“We need people in our lives with whom we can be as open as possible. To have real conversation with people may seem like such a simple, obvious suggestion, but it involves courage and risk.” — Thomas Moore
“The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas.” — Linus Pauling
“Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute.” — Gil Stern
The Curve-Billed Thrasher is an interesting bird, especially in the mid-to-late spring. They often “claim” a saguaro as their own and stand guard over the ripening seed pods which mature into sweet, tasty treats. Native Americans would collect these and make some delectable edibles out of them. If you want to collect them today, you need to be prepared because the Curve-billed Thrashers are patient and when the fruit is ripe, they dive right in.
These Sonoran Desert denizens are prevalent and can be seen throughout the year. They have a very distinctive call which is easy to discern. I especially like the very rich orange-yellow color of their eyes.
The pictures above were taken on February 9, 2015 during a hike at the Jewel of the Creek Trail, Cave Creek Arizona. The “Jewel” is a riparian habitat with a number of birds taking refuge there at various times of the year. The water runs most of the year and provides a home for frogs and other water-loving creatures.
You can read more about the Curve-billed Thrasher at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
“The Size of Your Audience Doesn’t Matter. Keep Up The Good Work.”
“We adore chaos because we love to produce order.” — M.C. Escher
“Love the people who saw you when you were invisible to everyone else.” — Unknown
“The most important things are the hardest to say, because words diminish them.” — Stephen King
“Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.” — Mark Twain
I have been playing PB for only a year +/- and one of my issues has been the number of balls I hit into the net when I am at the non volley zone line. I think this tip from Deb Harrison might be of some help to me. If you have the same issue, perhaps this will be one way of reducing those errors!
“This pickleball instructional video builds on one of our most popular episodes, the swing volley. Today we add snap to the swing volley, to pound the ball down at our opponents’ feet.”