Pickleball Paddle Approval Process

Jeff

Jennifer Lucore is a Pickleball champion and in a recent post on her blog, she explains the process paddles must go through to be sanctioned by the USAPA. There are a few points I think you might find interesting.

  • Not only do paddles need to pass inspection by USAPA officials, but they also go through third party testing.
  • Once a paddle is approved, it is listed on the USAPA website.
  • The sport is really maturing because PB is approaching a milestone of 50 paddle manufacturers.

To read the entire story and see some photos, visit Jennifer Lucore’s website

STATUS QUOtes — 20150617

Jeff

“If you chase two rabbits you will not catch either one.” — Russian Proverb

“The things which are most important don’t always scream the loudest.” — Bob Hawk

“The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.” — Norman Vincent Peale

“Having the critics praise you is like having the hangman say you’ve got a pretty neck.” — Eli Wallach

Pine Tree Trail — OMDP NM, Las Cruces, NM

Jeff

Pine Tree Trail has been (rightfully) purported to be one of the premier hikes in the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument (OMDP) in Las Cruces, New Mexico

Loop hikes are of a special appeal; and a trail that provides an opportunity to experience new terrain with each step coupled with significant canopy is especially attractive. The trailhead starts at the Aguirre Springs Campground and the hike is fairly well marked.

 

Moon setting over the needles of the Organ Mountains

Pine Tree Trail Sign

Appropriate caveats are provided.

Warning Sign

The trail gained 1000 feet in elevation via gradual switchbacks around the edge of a depression created by Anvil and Sotol Creeks.

The needles as seen from the trail

The trail upward traversed lush vegetation, occasional rocky (dry) riverbeds, with some melt-off (in early May) noted seeping through some rocks. Varied wild flowers (Apache Plume and Blanket Flower (Gaillardia)) and ferns are evident on the trail.

River bed with some water

Beautiful Apache Plume

Indian Blanket Gallardia

A rock squirrel provided the requisite wildlife sighting!

Squirrel posing for the picture

Boulders along the path required some occasional negotiation.

Boulders along the path

The hollowed base of a dead tree conjured imagines of forest trolls!!
Spooky hollowed tree

The treeless expanse of Sugarloaf to the south was occasionally visible.
Sugarloaf Mountain

To the east, White Sands Missile Range came into intermittent view.
White Sands Missile Range

A primitive camp located at the top of the trail offered comfortable seating (note horizontal log!). Signage provided the reassurance that the hike was halfway complete!

Primitive camp; no amenities

Sign Marks Camp Location

White Sands National Monument is clearly seen on the descent, but the trail still remains fairly well-forested.

White Sands National Monument just below horizon

Completing the second half of the hike in a fraction of the time of the ascent, Pine Tree Trail definitely warranted favored hike status in the OMDP!!

Another picture of the trail

STATUS QUOtes — 20150616

Jeff

“If you count all your assets, you always show a profit.” — Robert Quillen

“The worth of a good book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it.” — James Bryce

“It’s not who you are that holds you back. It’s who you think you’re not.” — Denis Waitley

“A psychiatrist is a man who goes to the Folies Bergeres and looks at the audience.” — Arthur Mervyn Stockwood, (1913 – 1995) British Anglican Bishop

STATUS QUOtes — 20150615

Jeff

“I never wish to be easily defined.” — Franz Kafka

“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.” — Maya Angelou

“Understand the acute difference between the cost of something and the value of something.” — Robin Sharma

“Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it and I shall move the world.” — Archimedes

STATUS QUOtes — 20150614

Jeff

“A setback is a setup for a comeback.” — Eric Thomas

“If I had a flower for every time I thought of you…I could walk through my garden forever.” — Alfred Tennyson

“Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.” — Anne Lamott

“The bad news: nothing is permanent. The good news: nothing is permanent.” — Unknown

Whale of a Fight – Video

Jeff

“Swimming with humpback whales was the most magical, humbling, powerful experience of my life,” Karim Iliya writes, but things turned a bit scary when he jumped into the water in the middle of a fight between four adult males competing for the right to mate with a lone female

This video has beautiful, near stunning, pictures of one of earth’s most majestic creatures.

From the YouTube posting:

“Humpback whales are known to be one of the most majestic mammals on earth, but what happens when a diver winds up in the middle of a whale fight?

This weekly storytelling series uses the imagery of photographers and adventurers around the world to give us a deeper connection to and understanding of the human condition.”

More of Karim Iliya’s photos

STATUS QUOtes — 20150613

Jeff

“Opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss.” — Andy Rooney

“I’ve come to understand and to believe that each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.” — Bryan Stevenson

“People who shine from within don’t need the spotlight.” — Unknown

“If you haven’t got anything nice to say about anybody, come sit next to me.” — Alice Roosevelt Longworth