So, how was it yesterday?
I will sum it up in one word: HOT!
It was f*****g hot! Hacía mucho calor my friends!
The mercury rose to 90 degrees and if it would not have been for our trees, only mad dogs, Englishmen and Sonomans would have ventured on the field.
In Marin, we entertain a love/hate relationship with our trees, something a little similar to the love story I once had with a cat.
Antoine was a splendid feline that I loved dearly, but unfortunately he shed faster than a Vegas stripper. I constantly had to clean after him.
Same thing with our trees. They also shed a lot and we continuously have to sweep under them. But we love them, especially when it gets unbearably hot.
The weather bureau had predicted this turn of events and I tried to prepare for it. Instead of donning my habitual long pants (and to the surprise of many) I exceptionally wore shorts and laid my legs bare.
I think that I heard a few gasps in the crowd but I ignored them.
I also elected not to play in the tournament. Everybody knows how good I am and I had nothing to prove. So I devoted myself exclusively to taking pictures of our jocks in action.
But back to the main event.
The following hearty souls signed up to play in the tournament:
- Steve Jones/Christine Jones/Jean-Claude Mallan
- Blaise West/Sabine Mattei/Monique Mallan
- Henry Wessel/Liliane Sebban/Colette Van Der Meulen
- Charlie Davantes/Tamara Efron/Minette Etallaz
- Louis Toulon/Francois Moser/Eva Lofaro
- Jean-Claude Etallaz/Claudie Chourre/Calvert Barron
- Ken Lee/Jean-Claude Bunand/Susan Hobbart
- Wright Kunkle/Jean-Michel Poulnot/Heidi Rytter
- Frosty Sabo/Mireille Di Maio/Sally Kunkle
- Bernard Passmar/Verena Rytter/John Morrisson
- Steve Van Vieck/David Stallwood/Alex Craft
Before playing though, everybody partook in a picnic prepared by the following people:
In the brass section, Alain Marchand, Antoine Lofaro and Jean-Claude Etallaz shopped for the food and prepared the steaks and the beans.
In the string section, Claudie Chourré, Genevieve Etallaz and Mireille Di Maio assembled and handed out the salad, cheese and bread.
I don’t want to forget mentioning the people who also cleaned the field, mainly Mireille and Charlie Davantes who did a tremendous job a few days before the tournament.
The tournament (3 games, mêlée format) started after lunch and ended around 5:00 p.m. By then, I was too pooped to pop and headed home before the finals results were published.
If Verena is kind enough to send me those, I will add them to this report. In the meantime, look at and enjoy the pictures that I took under very difficult conditions.
Ta ta for now!
Alain (la Foudre)
To look at photos of this event and listen to accompanying background music, turn the sound on, and click on the link “My Photos” located on the right side of this page.
http://youtu.be/q1wPhjbqbWs