“It is never too late to be wise.” — Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
“Your kids will forget what you bought them, but they won’t forget the magic. Your relatives will forget what you fed them, but they won’t forget the laughter. Focus on what really matters.” — Vironika Tugaleva
“A good goal is like a strenuous exercise-it makes you stretch.” — Mary Kay Ash
“Personally, I’m waiting for caller IQ.” — Sandra Bernhard
I finally made it to Thompson Peak Park in Scottsdale to look at the new pickleball courts and I am posting an introduction of sorts for those who want to know more about the facility.
Thompson Peak Park
20199 N. 78th Pl.
Scottsdale, AZ 85255
Here is a link to a Map showing the park location.
This is the link for the Thompson Peak Park Meetup group which enables players to see who intends to be at the park at certain dates, times, etc. and which also provides news and updates about the park.
This is the link for the Calendar explaining which groups (beginner, intermediate, advanced, etc.) meet on which days and at what times.
https://www.meetup.com/Scottsdale-Thompson-Peak-Pickleball/events/
There are two gates available when walking from the parking area to the basketball court and pickleball court areas. When I arrived, the gate leading directly to the pickleball courts was locked, but the basketball court gate was open and a secondary internal gate then allowed entrance to the pickleball playing area.
As you can see below, the courts are two-toned which I think makes it a bit easier to define the kitchen area during certain aspects of play. The paint patterns seem a bit more exaggerated in the photos than I remember, but I thought the courts were quite playable and the paint should not be a distraction.
Here is another view.
Note that the perimeter fence is not as high as most other venues and there may be some ball chasing necessary for players like me who, once in a while, tend to miss their overhead smash! I can sometimes get them over the highest fences anyway!!
A shorter fence separated the pickleball courts from the basketball area which has lines for three additional pickleball courts for those who have their own nets.
The black lines are for the pickleball court. I have drawn a red line on the picture to indicate approximately where the net would be.
Below is a picture of the middle pickleball court marked on the basketball area.
I returned to the park one evening to assess the lighting. The courts were well lit except the northernmost dedicated pickleball court which had a light out and was dark. The other two courts were fine. The basketball area, lined for three courts, was very well lit (see picture below).
I also wanted to check out the bathroom situation. There are bathrooms and they were open at 6:45PM so my assumption is they are open all day. It is a bit of a walk as they are located between the baseball fields to the south.
There are water fountains nearby…
and benches inside the pickleball court fence.
The courts are oriented east-to-west which may prove problematic when the sun is at certain angles. All-in-all though, I think Thompson Peak Park would be a very good place to play.
I have spoken about the wonder of our national parks a number of times as part of my blog posts. Considering the amount of funding and the scope of the task, I have to say that the workers in our parks should receive a lot of praise.
There were many instances as we hiked, we would come across a feature that took time and energy to build and probably did not receive the recognition it deserved. These individual touches give personality to our parks and add natural, artistic touches to the hiking experience.
Although it may be difficult to discern in the photo, just above the fern was a wall of boulders and water was dripping down that wall creating a perfect environment for shade loving plants. The park crews built two retaining ponds with the natural stone and it created a much appreciated water feature that added to both the visual and aural the pleasures of hikers as they passed. I do hope many of the visitors note and admire these distinctive touches!
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.
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“Next to excellence is the appreciation of it.” — William Thackeray
“Men are only as loyal as their options.” — Bill Maher
“One way to open your eyes is to ask yourself, What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?” — Rachel Carson
“Today it takes more brains and effort to make out the income tax form than it does to make the income.” — Alfred E. Neuman
Years ago, many national parks devised an intrapark transportation scheme that encouraged visitors to take buses rather than drive from trailhead to trailhead. By and large, I think this has been a very good transition for both the visitors and the parks.
There is less vehicle traffic which is an advantage for the native flora and fauna. We have found the buses very efficient and most, if not all, the drivers very helpful and friendly. Once in a while we were able to ride on a bus with one of the rangers and we then could use this opportunity to gather more information.
Our experience has been that the buses do not use gasoline and therefore there is a reduction of air pollution; always a good thing.
The bus waiting area pictured above is fairly typical of the waiting areas. There were some that were composed of stone and they were works of art. The frequency of the rounds was also very comfortable and waits were not too long. Needless to say, your experiences may vary when crowds surge, weather interferes or other unforeseen circumstances occur.
The managers of our national parks did this the right way!
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.
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Helle Sparre explains third shot options. I think many pickleballers will find this interesting. It isn’t a video of pickleball players on a court, but rather about strategy. She uses a magnetic board with “checkers” as players to explain the strategy. This won’t be one of those exciting videos (for most people), but it offers some THIRD SHOT strategy tips for players at different skill levels.
The gold standard, so to speak, of pickleball third shots is the third shot drop shot. My third shot drop shot from deep in the court isn’t very reliable and most of the people I play against would probably say something similar of their own third shot. So…what are the other alternatives for a third shot? Do you just throw your paddle in the air and give up? Of course not!
Helle explains what the three basic options are and offers ideas about what you should try to do. If you are honest with yourself, and you believe that Helle Sparre has the right idea, it will point you to areas in which you need to gain proficiency.
I think you will find this of interest if you are looking to improve your game.
IMPORTANT– Helle talks about when you should NOT RUN TO THE NON-VOLLEY ZONE based on the shot just hit! A very good point or two!
To See additonal Pickleball Videos Covering Many Aspects of the Game Click Here (primarily for beginners and less experienced players)
Check out Additional Pickleball Info and Videos! (for all players including average to more experienced players)
“The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that is the way to bet.” — Damon Runyon
“The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases.” — Carl Jung
“It’s not hard to find a new husband, but someone who is, for an example, a good bridge partner for you comes along once in a lifetime.” — Zsa Zsa Gabor
American Dipper at Seven Falls, CO – bobbing for food.
I have written about two of my interests, photography and bird watching, on the pages of this blog. When I speak of them, I describe myself as an “opportunistic” photographer and an “opportunistic” bird watcher.
What I mean when using such a phrase is that generally speaking photography and bird watching are not often the center of my activity. I am usually hiking, touring or visiting with friends. My camera is with me during most of these events so naturally, I like to capture photographs of things that are of interest me. I am not too hyper about my photography exploits however. I try to capture those images that will serve my artistic or educational purposes, but if I miss the shot…well, I miss the shot.
In the same light, a number of my photographs are lacking in quality for one reason or another. Perhaps my equipment is not up to the task. Sometimes I make a mistake and my settings are incorrect and the capture fails. While photographs taken under less than ideal circumstances may not have much artistic value and may not be worth placing on the Internet, they can be good enough. Let me explain…
We were recently visiting Colorado Springs, CO and during our stay, we went to the Broadmoor resort to hike their Seven Falls Park and it was very nice. As we walked the trail and came to an elevated platform called the Eagle’s Nest, there was a stream that ran along the base of the nearby mountain. Wading in that stream, looking for a good meal, was a bird I had never seen before: an American Dipper.
When I see a bird that is new to me, I like to capture a picture as “proof of sighting.” Quite honestly, at times I take a bird’s picture because I don’t know the bird and I hope to ID it later via a birding book, a birding app or the Internet. In this instance, I knew the bird was an American Dipper because of an explanatory nearby sign. I wanted a record of my sighting of the bird.
Here is my problem…the bird was relatively far away and the only camera that I had with a chance of yielding a photo that would be useable was my bridge camera, i.e. a Canon PowerShot SX50HS. As I have reported on this blog before, the camera does best with an ISO of 100, but may be passable at ISO 200. It also performs better with smaller aperture openings.
Unfortunately, this was a cloudy day and the time was getting late. Low ISO and smaller aperture settings were not going to work here. I could not use the settings I needed to get the best shot. What was I to do? My philosophy is “Take the picture anyway.” As long as the picture is able to be used to ID the bird and provide “proof of sighting,” it will be good enough.
Here are the pictures I was able to capture. They are not going to impress anyone or come close to winning any awards. They really aren’t even good enough for posting on Instagram, Flckr or anywhere on the Internet except for an educational article like this one.
The pictures are good enough for my purpose and when added together, enable me to identify the bird as the American Dipper. Whether or not a picture is good enough for you can only be determined by the goal(s) you set for yourself. I can use these photographs to validate that I saw and identified this particular bird and that was my goal!
“American Dipper at Seven Falls, CO – resting between bobbing for food “
“American Dipper at Seven Falls, CO – searching once more for food”
For comparison, below are two clearer pictures of an American Dipper. The yellow bill in my photographs indicate that my photos were of a young bird. The bill turns dark as they grow older.
American Dipper – Picture Courtesy of National Audubon Society
American Dipper – Picture Courtesy of the website of Joseph V Higbee
**NOTE** – The waterfall pictured above is inaccurately referred to as Vernal Fall when this was initially posted. It has now been corrected to reflect the appropriate reference to Nevada Falls.
Standing on the top of Sentinel Dome, was like having my head on a 360 degree swivel mechanism. All I could do was turn a bit and stare and then turn a bit more and stare until I absorbed as much of the 360 degree view as I could. While I had seen many of these Yosemite features from other areas of the park, it is much like looking at a spouse or good friend and noticing something that perhaps was not as memorable prior to that instant. These familiar features took on a different character because of the change of perspective when viewed from Sentinel Dome.
I hope this photograph conveys the power of Nevada Falls. The curtain of water had prominent cascades with the new waves of water trying earnestly to overtake those that went before. This, my friends, is a first-hand example of the power of the natural world.
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.
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Meta Data – Day 163 YOY – Year of Yosemite
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Capture date: June 9, 2016
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Canon PowerShot SX50 HS
“Life is half spent before one knows what life is.” — French Proverb
“If you want to catch something, running after it isn’t always the best way.” — Lois McMaster Bujold
“People don’t notice whether it’s winter or summer when they’re happy.” — Anton Chekhov
“I am a deeply superficial person.” — Andy Warhol