Good manners

“Civility costs nothing and buys everything.”
Mary Wortley Montague

Pétanque is a pastime, an activity that someone does regularly for enjoyment.
One enjoys a game when taking pleasure in it. But sometimes, due to a bothersome player, one participates in a game without enjoying it.

soupTherefore, like the Soup Nazi of Seinfeld’s fame, I reserve the right to refuse serving soup, or playing pétanque with anyone.

Being a club member doesn’t give anybody any special privilege. It just gives you the opportunity to interact with other club members.

It is an individual’s attitude, on and off the field, that will dictate if this person will be readily invited to join a casual game or not.
Arguing and contesting every point makes an individual particularly undesirable.
When disagreeing, there are civilized ways to settle an argument, and being belligerent is not one of them.

Winning a game can also turn into a pyrrhic victory. A victory won at too great a cost to be worthwhile.
You might win a game, but permanently alienate the other players.

In life (or in pétanque) one needs to be generous, magnanimous.
If you win gracefully, people will admire you. If you win unpleasantly people will resent you.

“Good manners: the noise you don’t make when eating soup”.
Bennett Cerf

Equally good manners:
The noise you don’t make when playing pétanque.

Moral of the story:
If you want to be accepted, be mellow.
Before, during and after.

That’s the way I see it.

Alain

Double fault

July 1971There was a time when tennis was for me an all-encompassing passion.
I would eat, breathe and play tennis almost every evening on the foggy Marina Tennis courts in San Francisco.
I would also naturally compete on weekends.

I don’t play the game anymore, but tennis remains one of the few sports that I can bear to view on TV.

A few days ago I watched Maria Sharapova play against a young Spanish woman named Garbine Muguruza in the quarterfinals of the French Open.

By the way, I love those four syllables names. They roll off the tongue in a delicious sounding manner and I find them much classier than those poor two or three syllables patronyms.
Let’s be frank, Sha-ra-po-va sounds much better than Du-pont.

The French TV commentator also loved that name and must have pronounced it at least a hundred times during the match. He only referred to Muguruza as the “Young Spaniard”.

Sharapova lost the first set 1-6 but armed  with a steely determination she rallied and finally defeated the young Spaniard 7-5, 6-1.

Being a keen observer of human nature, I took a few notes and here is what I noticed:

– Screaming while hitting the ball greatly helps your shots.
– Wearing a visor style cap (or a bandana) instead of a regular cap is the way to go. Carrying tennis balls in knickers is very practical.
-Bouncing the ball at least six times before serving helps to concentrate.
-Munching on a piece of banana between sets looks like the thing to do.

I always try to apply everything I learn to the game of pétanque.
After all, both sports are very similar. They both use balls that are roughly of the same size and they both require the same athletic ability.

So in the next pétanque tournament, I will slightly modify my look and approach to the game.

First of all, to aerate my skull, instead of my beloved “casquette” I will wear a visor style cap. It might not help my game, but it will definitely cool the top of my head.
I will carry my spare “boules” in my knickers.
Regrettably I won’t be able to bounce my balls before shooting but I know that this would have helped.
When shooting, I will scream like a banshee.
And finally, between games, instead of an enchilada, I will chew on a piece of banana .

My philosophy has always been “don’t be afraid to innovate”.
If the above-mentioned moves work for the champs, I don’t see any reason why it would not work for me.

Alain

PS: To see a picture full size, click on it.

 

Bains de silence

Assis au soleil sur un banc, je me ressource.
Ou plutôt, je me détends.
Il y a des gens qui se « ressourcent », mais moi je préfère me « détendre ». C’est moins fatigant.

Pour me détendre donc, quatre ou cinq fois par semaine je viens trainer mes guêtres dans une réserve naturelle située aux environs de chez moi.
Dans cet endroit, à l’écart du bruit et des humains, j’observe et je rêvasse.
Il y a généralement peu de passants et comme un chien débarrassé de son licol, je laisse mon esprit vagabonder.
Il virevolte comme un papillon d’une idée à l’autre sans jamais s’attarder sur aucune d’elles.

IMG_4095Conforté par un soleil printanier, je laisse trainer mon regard sur un étang où cohabitent une multitude de palmipèdes et d’échassiers.
Il y a des canards, des oies du Canada, des aigrettes, des pélicans, des cygnes majestueux et toutes sortes de petits oiseaux rapides et effrontés.
Les canards sont souvent en couples. Sur l’eau, ils se déplacent nonchalamment mais une fois aéroportés ils filent comme le vent.
Les aigrettes, plus rarissimes, planent gracieusement au dessus de l’eau avant de se poser délicatement sur une berge.

IMG_0395Je garde également un oeil sur le ciel et le trafic aérien. Mon appareil photo sur mes genoux, j’anticipe l’arrivée des oiseaux de passage.
La plupart d’entre eux ne s’annoncent pas. Ils arrivent silencieusement et amerrissent savamment pieds tendus en avant et volets rentrés.
Seules les oies trompettent leur arrivée. Elles sont bruyantes et même en vol elles mènent grand tapage.

Quand j’entends le cacardement des oies canadiennes je sors de ma torpeur et j’empoigne mon appareil photo.
Pour prendre une photo d’un oiseau en vol, il faut garder le doigt sur la gâchette et prendre une rapide succession de clichés.
Si vous êtes chanceux, une photo sur cinq sera claire et digne de figurer dans un album.

IMG_0423Mais avant toute chose, ces bains de silence sont extrêmement thérapeutique.
Après le cacardement des oies et le cancanement des canards, je suis beaucoup plus enclin a tolérer le gazouillement de ma moitié, ce qui fait beaucoup pour préserver il faut l’avouer l’harmonie d’un couple.

Alain

PS: To fully appreciate the photos shown above, click on any of them to see them full size.