“Sometimes you have to get to know someone really well to realize you’re really strangers.” — Mary Tyler Moore
“You can’t study the darkness by flooding it with light.” — Edward Abbey
“As regards obstacles, the shortest distance between two points can be a curve.” — Bertolt Brecht
“The best thing that happens to us is when a great company gets into temporary trouble…We want to buy them when they’re on the operating table.” — Warren Buffett
“It is wonderful what you can do when you have to.” — C.S. Lewis
“Just because you got the monkey off your back, doesn’t mean the circus has left town.” — George Carlin
“In the end there doesn’t have to be anyone who understands you. There just has to be someone who wants to.” — Robert Brault
“Bad weather always looks worse through a window.” — Tom Lehrer
It was news to me when I discovered that there was a podcast called “The Pickleball Show.” One of the steps any game or sport needs to take before it becomes more mainstream is to find a way to get into the public eye. Having a podcast about Pickleball is one move to help accomplish that. Chris Allen is the congenial host who has good interviewing skills as well as the gift of gab. His sense of humor also adds to the enjoyment of the podcasts.
I have listened to three plus shows thus far and they have been quite interesting for me. The show with Gail Leach, author of The Art of Pickleball, was quite informative.
I actually started listening to the podcasts out of order because the first one I found out about was show #9 which is described as:
009:Smart Pickleball with Prem Carnot, 25:36, 3/23/15 – Prem Carnot, author of Smart Pickleball, tells Chris about a serve technique that’ll drive your opponent even further back from the baseline, plus a great rule-of-thumb as to when to cover the line and when to cover the middle.
There were three good tips/hints mentioned in the above podcast. Two are what I would call good strategy tips, but I won’t steal the show’s thunder. The third tip was basically advice not to back up if a hard shot comes your way, but to either stand your ground and hope for a “blocked” shot return or, if you need to back up, only take a couple of steps back.
Prem Carnot pointed out that if a player is backing up all the way to the baseline, they will have a great deal of difficulty executing any kind of an offensive shot when the ball is hit their way because they most likely will not have time to get set.
He also points to those who turn their back to “protect” themselves when the ball is going to be hit hard. If you are fearful, then go ahead, but that won’t return the ball. If you want to try to turn the situation around, stand your ground and try to just connect the paddle to the ball to block it back.
I encourage you to listen to the remainder of podcast episode #9 to hear the other two tips hinted at in the synopsis of episode #9.
If you go to the show’s website The Pickleball Show [ http://pickleballshow.com/ ], you can subscribe to the podcast. I used iTunes since it was so easy to read a synopsis of the show(s), download all of the episodes, etc. and have them synched to my devices.
ALTERNATIVELY...If you visit the Podcast page of the website, you can scroll through the individual podcasts listed (scroll down to see the earlier shows) and listen to the podcasts by clicking on the green READ MORE buttons.
I am supporting this show by posting this blurb here and by subscribing because it can only help the sport I have grown to really enjoy AND I can use all the advice I can get about how to improve my game.
Good luck and Thank You to Chris Allen and The Pickleball Show. Good luck as well to all those who listen to increase their skills and their enjoyment of our sport.
Happy Playing!
“If you have a talent, use it in every which way possible. Don’t hoard it. Don’t dole it out like a miser. Spend it lavishly like a millionaire intent on going broke.” — Brendan Francis
“The flower that follows the sun does so even in cloudy days.” — Robert Leighton
“Much of our lives are spent dealing with strangers, even those we’ve known for years.” — Unknown
“I belong to a gym now… well, let me rephrase that: I don’t belong there at all, but I go.” — Ted Alexandro
On the blog, Photographing the Great Outdoors, by Matt Kloskowski Matt shares his experience of photographing the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta near sunset. The stunning picture below was part of that shoot.
Read the rest of the story, see more fabulous photographs and learn about his experience with the Sony A7 II and the 70-200 lens.
“Let go of your past, but don’t pretend that it never happened.” — Oscar Wilde
“A great champion always fights like a challenger.” — Unknown
“If you wish to move mountains tomorrow, you must start by lifting stones today.” — African Proverb
“His finest hour lasted a minute and a half.” — Phyllis Diller
This past month was a busy time for us with a number of visitors to our desert home. Many of our guests came from the north or northeast to enjoy our warmer days and sample an early spring. One of our favorite places to take people who want to walk in the desert is the Jewel of the Creek Preserve near the Spur Cross Conservation Area in Cave Creek, AZ.
Our last few guests of the month were treated to the Jewel with a beautiful spring day at the creek. It was warm, but a soft breeze made it quite bearable and the addition of several canopied stops made it that much more pleasant.
As we began our descent to the creek we saw many beautiful cactus in bloom.
The yellow, near orange, Englemann’s Prickly Pear was one of the first to greet us.
Perhaps the most spectacular blooms were on the Engelmann’s Hedgehog cactus. The twin blooms below were a portent of things to come.
It appears as a near contradiction that such a delicate flower can be nestled among these sharp, spiny needles, but in the desert plants survive the animal marauders by having such defenses.
As the days wear on, the Hedgehog cactus begin to close shop and create an urn-like shape.
The Sonoran Desert has probably achieved a level of notoriety because of some of their desert denizens and usually we see many lizards, but not too many snakes. On this hike, however we were “treated” to a couple of rattlesnake sightings. The fellow below briefly posed for us as he meandered along his route. We kept our distance, but were able to get some good pictures.
We estimate that this snake was approximately 36-40 inches long.
The trees were in their glory as well. In addition to the Palo Verdes, the Velvet Mesquites were strutting their frothy catkins.
About ten minutes after seeing the first rattlesnake, we came across our second rattler. It is hard to see, but the head of the snake is inside the yellow circle with most of the body above.
We decided that we had enough snake encounters and began the return trip to the trail head. Along the way, this Cholla was highlighted by the arc of the sun. The dark green of the flesh juxtaposed against the lighter needles created a beautiful pattern.
Some of the Prickly Pear cactus were a deeper orange color as opposed to the more traditional yellow.
At the start of the trail this lone Compass Barrel cactus (my best guess) stands watch in the middle of the path to greet those who are coming or going. Since this is a managed area cared for by the Foothills Land Trust, it will probably survive and thrive.
If you are in the Cave Creek, AZ area, and you enjoy hiking, I think a walk along the Jewel of the Creek would be a worthy and manageable adventure!
“Write in the sand the flaws of your friend.” — Pythagoras
“To be born in a duck’s nest, in a farmyard, is of no consequence to a bird, if it is hatched from a swan’s egg.” — Hans Christian Andersen, “The Ugly Duckling”
“The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain as your legacy.” — Kalu Ndukwe Kalu
“The great thing about a computer notebook is that no matter how much you stuff into it, it doesn’t get bigger or heavier.” — Bill Gates
Find out the answers to these and more at the San Diego Zoo’s Butterfly Facts page: 19 Fascinating Butterfly Facts
