Au Cochonnet Marin

« Les jours se suivent mais ne se ressemblent pas. »

 Roughly translated this means “Days go by, yet each one is different.”

Unlike previous days, yesterday was a rather odd event for me. I arrived at the field around 8:30 am, and while trying to pay the entry fee to the tournament, I suddenly realized that I had left my wallet at home. This should have told me right away that the stars were out of alignment.

The command bunker by the way, was manned by our bionic president Christine Cragg and lieutenant Mike O’Leary.

The day was a little overcast and the field rather on the damp side; experienced players know that playing on a spongy field can be rather unforgiving. If you are not mindful, your boule will bounce and jump over its target… and as predicted it happened quite a few times.
If you want to win, you absolutely need to know how to “plomber”.

Eighteen (18) select doubles signed up for the tournament, some heavyweight among them.

Around 9:30 Christine gave us the customary briefing: 3 timed games in the morning and Concours and Consolante in the afternoon.

My battle plan was as usual, to play the best I could in the morning, end up in the Consolante in the afternoon and spend the rest of day recording the action. I am realistic enough to know that I don’t stand a chance playing against the Big Boys in the Concours.

My teammate by the way, was renown pointer Tamara Simeonovna (also known as my better half). As luck would have it, Tamara played too well (we won 2 games – 13/7 and 13/7 – out of 3) and we ended up in the Concours.

After lunch, we donned our bulletproof vests again and looked for our opponents. They turned out to be Kevin Evoy and Christophe Sarafian, two tough customers who would eventually end up in the Finals. While not really wishing to remain in the Concours, we also did not want to give away the game. We battled hard, and until the end, the outcome remained in the balance. Kevin and Christophe finally won 13/10, but had to fight hard to subdue us.

OK, I was then free to indulge in another of my favorite pastime, photography. When shooting tournaments, I usually carry two cameras. One small one for proximity shots, and another heavier, more sophisticated apparel for discreet long-distance shots.

I pulled out Big Bertha out of my bag and I suddenly realized that the battery was dead… and that I forgot to pack a spare. I would have to continue shooting with Sneaky Pete, not my favorite option for action shots.

The games went on all afternoon and we finally reached the Concours Finals.

In this decisive game, Peter Mathis and Dave Lanter faced Christophe Sarafian and Kevin Evoy, a fairly even matched game.
Again, while playing on a wet field, it is essential to know how to “plomber” and both Peter and Christophe were good at it.

Peter proved to be a more versatile player than his opponents. He could point, shoot and “plomber” whenever the situation demanded it, while his opponents could not.
Christophe also did a very good job, but Kevin proved erratic.

After a rather uneventful match, Peter and Dave finally defeated Christophe and Kevin 13/5.

Concours
1^st place: Peter Mathis and Dave Lanter
2^nd place: Christophe Sarafian and Kevin Evoy
3^rd place: Wolfie Kurz and Wetzel

Consolante
1^st place: Maryanne Curley and Sandra Shirkey
2^nd place: Noel Marcovecchio and Brigitte Davantes

Alain

PS: Pether Mathis gave back his prize money to the club. A classy move. Thank you champ!

Feel free to download any of my pictures, but when posting any of them on social media, please include photo credit (Photos by Alain Efron). Thank you. 

When I am feeling challenged by what I call our “Brave New World” I tend to return to the past in my souvenirs. This is a sign of aging I am sure, but I love to pick out one of my large collection of photo albums and revisit the scenes of years past.

Photos are so satisfying, much more than viewing them on the computer. I have saved matchbooks of restaurants that are long gone, greeting cards, and other bits of the past and I love to read old letters as well. Even perusing my box of old passports, drivers’ licenses, and my children’s art projects from grade school is a simple pleasure of mine.

I don’t own a Kindle, somehow, I can’t derive the same pleasure of reading electronically and I revel in losing myself in a good book, one that I can feel, smell, and put a bookmark between it well-turned pages. I hope that I will never go to a museum and view the last book in a glass case in the future!  Even handwriting is on its way out and I know that no one will need to sign a checkbook but will we block print our signature in the future? Perhaps we will sign with a fingerprint or a scan mark imprinted on our skin!

Some of my favorite pleasures are seldom available but I long to experience them again. Lying on the warm sand on a beach, swimming underwater, and diving into a deep still pool or riding the waves on a surfboard. Dancing with abandonment and flexibility, and singing with the Sweet Adelines. Enjoying the excitement of a dramatic thunder and lightning storm and smelling the aroma of the lavender fields in the aftermath.  Hugging my favorite dog Simba, our departed faithful German Shepherd.

Eating with my husband’s large loving family with much laughter, animated conversation, and wonderful simple food of the past with delicious stews that simmered for hours, young lamb chops grilled on branches from the vineyard, sweet home-grown tomatoes and succulent tree-ripened fruit, crusty French baguettes, and enjoying several glasses of chilled dry rose wine under the warm Provençal sun.

We are so blessed

to have a store of pleasurable experiences to weave into the fabric of our lives, I am forever grateful.

Jan Toulon

Do I believe in miracles? I didn’t, but now I do… although this epiphany occurred recently.

I have been plagued intermittently with a painful condition called “plantar fasciitis”. According to the Mayo Clinic:

“Plantar fasciitis commonly causes stabbing pain that usually occurs with your first steps in the morning. It is one of the most common causes of heel pain. It involves inflammation of a thick band of tissue that runs across the bottom of your foot and connects your heel bone to your toes (plantar fascia).”

To sum it up, it is a miserable condition that greatly impairs your mobility, and if deprived of it, any human will wither and fall into decline.
I am not ready for this. My best years are still ahead of me.

This pain initially started on the right foot. After numerous and costly visits to a chiropractor it suddenly vanished… and I don’t think that the chiropractor had anything to do with it.

Then one year later, I woke up with the same condition, on the left foot this time. Drat, double drat! I am going on vacation soon and I urgently need that damn foot.

Upon my friends’ advice, I tried all kinds of remedies… without great success. The pain loved me and clung to me like a sick puppy. Some pills provided a temporary relief, but I don’t relish becoming a perennial pill-popper.

Then I started to think about massages… foot massagers. After a little research, I purchased a Shiatsu Foot Massager (with a customer approval rate of 73%) from Amazon.

To be truthful, I was a little skeptical, but Holy Mackerel, the elusive miracle occurred. After a fairly short infrared massage the pain subsided… Not before I chanted “pain be gone, pain be gone, pain be gone” though.

“It is always by way of pain that one arrives at pleasure.” – Marquis de Sade

 How true Marquis! You appreciate life so much more after going through pain. Pain is a companion, but a nasty companion. It nags you constantly, and like a high-maintenance girlfriend, it demands constant attention.
Just remember how great it felt, after giving her the boot. Yeah!

So far, so good. After going for a (relatively pain free) one-mile “constitutional” I feel OK. After that, I used the machine again and I feel good.

Pain (like deceased people) leaves a beautiful memory… once it is gone.

 Alain