Hi Everyone, 

Hope everyone is staying safe, and doing well. These are tough times, to be sure. I know we each have our own ways of coping with the current situation. I shared a quote with many of you the other day, and want to put it out there again today, for it seems to help me a great deal, and I hope it does the same for you:

"I travel everywhere looking, looking breathlessly, for paths with a heart." -- Carlos Castenada

Those paths are still out there, even now. Orindawoods has been one of my paths, and continues to be so, even with us social distancing apart for now. With that in mind, I give you this. 

Our Orindawoods

Our tennis club brings much joy

A gentle sunrise for the soul

A game, a group, a community

A place for all of us to be

In these times of anxiety and strife

It pleases me to reflect on those times

When all together we did play

In the brightness of the day

As a community we are strong

And have tied together such bonds

That a little time away

Can’t keep those feelings at bay

Now we all stay safe

Receiving our daily grace

In smiles coming from the day

That we can return to play 

Poetry is something that I have always enjoyed writing. Who would have thought? Eh? 

As for tennis, there are a couple of great teachers out there that I enjoy following and put out some free stuff either daily, or fairly often. Of course they also have lots to purchase, if you want (I have a few things), but the free content is of high quality, and is certainly enough. 

Craig O'Shannessy, braingametennis.com  You can register for an tennis strategy newsletter at the bottom. Craig has changed the way the world looks at tennis, literally. Much of what we thought about strategy just doesn't hold up when you look at the facts. 

Jeff Salzenstein, Tennisevolution.com You can also register for his e-mails and posts

Jeff is a bit more aggressive about trying to get you to buy stuff, but it isn't necessary. He is a very good technical coach, and I have seen him speak many times at conferences. He went to Stanford, but so did my dad, so I guess he is OK. :-) 

Fuzzy Yellow Balls, Will Hamilton, has good content as well, but that is pretty much all for fees. Courses you can buy, and he promotes quite a bit, if that sort of thing bothers you. But his lessons are quality, and he often brings in guests, some of the top teachers in the world, like Craig above. 

If you want more tennis, the club newsletters are available on line, www.orindawoodstennis.com. Look under information menu, and pull down. Newsletters, third item. Years of my musings, on tennis. And reliving some of the club's events. 

Beyond that, I will leave you with two of my all-time favorites, because again, they have really spoken to me, and hopefully to you. 

Invictus

William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me

Black as a pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeoning of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade, 

And yet the menace of the years

finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how straight the gate

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

I am the captain of my soul

And then, 

Not They Who Soar

Paul Laurence Dunbar

Not they who soar, but they who plod

Their rugged way, unhelped to God

Are heroes; they who higher fare, 

And flying, fan the upper air, 

Miss all the toil that hugs the sod.

'Tis they whose backs have felt the rod,

Whose feet have pressed the path unshod

May smile upon defeated care

Not they who soar

High up there are no thorns to prod

Nor boulders lurking 'neath the clod

To turn the keenness of the share,

For flight is ever free and rare;

But heroes they the soil who've trod

Not they who soar! 

On a funny note, writing or copying poetry on a website that wants to autocorrect is ... difficult. Amusing ... I could think of a few other words...

Hopefully there are not too many errors (I tried to catch them, and all apologies to Paul Laurence Dunbar and William Ernest Henley for the ones I missed, if there are any -- there were a lot when I looked back, but hopefully found them all). 

On a technical note, some people are not getting the e-mails (its based on the court reservations system, when you register for the club website). I have a list of some people that haven't gotten them (and I'm sending this via another path), but if you know of someone, you might pass it along, if you'd like to. It is a strange, computer / internet /server thing. A lot of times, I even have the right address, but the e-mail doesn't go through anyway. Not sure why, other than spam blockers. 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Be safe, stay healthy, be well, 

Blessings, and fond memories, 

-- Keith 

Hi Sandy,