Au Cochonnet Marin

Last Saturday, Tamara and I drove to Sonoma to participate in the Valley of the Moon 2021 Season Opener Tournament. We did this for various reasons.

First of all, this tournament might mean that after over a year of house arrest, our sentence has been commuted to an early release from imprisonment. We now feel free to visit our friends and share some good times with them.

I also did it because I have not played in a tournament for over a year, and above all because pétanque keeps me humble. It prevents me from getting a fat head and “fart higher than my arse”. On the field, you quickly learn that many people are much better than you and will swiftly bring you down a notch or two. It is highly therapeutic.

Last Saturday then, 23 select teams (46 players) came to Sonoma to compete. They came as far as Sacramento as Tom and Susie Lee did.
Joe La Torre (club president) and Michelle Benton (freelancing secretary?) welcomed us and signed us up for the tournament

Later on, in his welcome speech, Joe told us that the wearing of a mask was optional. Some people (including us) came masked, but many came bare-faced. By now, most of the people have received their Covid shots and since this tournament takes place in an open area, everybody felt (relatively) safe; by the end of the day, practically nobody was wearing a mask.

The games started around 9:30 am and ended up around 6:30 pm. By then it was cold and windy, and many people had already left.

Tamara and I started well. On our first game, we encountered Tom (the Cobra) and Susie Lee. Both good players, but we managed to beat them 13/9. When you win the first game, it gives you a big boost.

In our second game, we faced Evan Falcone and Christine Morier. Again, we did well and won 13/7. This auspicious beginning might shed some light on what I said earlier on. With each win, you grow confident and think that this streak will last.

On our third game, we came across Le Facteur and innocuous-looking Bill Miller. I don’t think that I ever played with Bill and knew very little about him. It turns out that he was the devil in disguise. No matter how well we did, Bill destroyed us with his murderous shots. We lost ignominiously by a score of 2/13… but we still qualified for the Concours.

After lunch, fate threw us in the clutches of Delio Cuneo and Casey Franklin. They won the coin toss and dragged us to a gravelly isolated area to have their way with us. They murdered us 1/13 and we were eliminated from the Concours.

I then changed costumes and slipped into my second role:  story raconteur through images. I could not be everywhere at the same time, but I did my best to photograph most of the players. Some are very photogenic, some less, but everybody seemed to have a good time.

The big moments of the day were the semi-finals and the finals of the Concours. In the semi-finals, Jean-Michel and Bill Miller faced Peter Mathis and Antoine Lofaro. Peter and Antoine prevailed. Then Kevin Evoy and Wolfie played against Ed Clay and Schōn. Kevin and Wolfie won.

In the Concours finals, Peter and Antoine were up against Kevin and Wolfie. All excellent players. Peter and Antoine took immediately the lead and at one time amazingly, they were I believe, leading 8 to nothing.

Kevin and Wolfie got increasingly nervous but finally managed to get on the board. Peter was without question the star of the game. He seldom missed a shot and contributed mightily to his team’s victory. Wolfie is also a great shooter, but I think that he got too nervous to be efficient. He missed quite a few shots.

Finally, around 6:30 pm, the tournament was over.  The final score was 13/5 in favor of Peter and Antoine. Joe La Torre awarded the prizes, I took photographs and it was all over. A great day of pétanque.

Concours
1^st place: Peter Mathis & Antoine Lofaro
2^nd place: Wolfie Kurz & Kevin Evoy
3^rd place : Jean-Michel Poulnot & Bill Miller

Consolante
1st place: Tom & Susie Lee
2^nd place:  Bernard Passemar & Adair Hastings

Alain

PS: I shot over 500 pictures. When I came home, I had to go through all of them and keep what I judged to be the most interesting. I managed to whittle down this number to around 200. I hope that you will enjoy the show and let me know about it.
Have fun!

Generally speaking, when you see me on a pétanque court, I am there to play. But lately, due to a nagging back problem, I had to skip some games and show up as a mere bystander. This temporary setback (I hope) gave me a better chance to observe local players and assess their styles and performances.

Lately,  we have seen an increased number of women players on our field, and I am delighted by this trend. But unfortunately, and despite my urgings, few women volunteer to play as “strikers”. It is a crying shame because if you don’t try, you will never know if you have an aptitude for it or not. And some women definitely have it, and are accomplished strikers…

Most of all, this inclination has something to do with a person’s temperament. The men or women who take up this task are usually known in French as “battant” or “battante” (fighter), someone who reaches for success despite obstacles.

They are pretty self-assured and are not afraid to take chances. And this is good because a pétanque game without any boules clinking is like a dish without seasoning. Dull… terribly dull.

A spectator likes to see sparks and hear the sound of “carreaux” when watching a game. And a true striker won’t let a wall of boules deter him from hitting a valuable target behind any obstacle.

Strikers, like the gunslingers of yore, have different personalities. Some seem to be reluctant to take a chance on a dicey shot; but any true “battant” will go for it, and if successful, bathe in the deserved glory of his/her accomplishment.

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” –  Robert F. Kennedy

 A woman who dared to take up the striking challenge has been a certain Tamara (known to intimates as the Blazing Babushka). In the beginning, she was a little hesitant to do so, but with my encouragements, she started to assume her new role and eventually blossomed into a decent striker. She now surprises and delights many players with her newly acquired skills.

Another woman who is showing promises is a person with a thoroughly engaging personality. Her name is Ann K. and she has always been eager to learn and try new things. Give her another year and she will bloom into a great player.

I am now looking forward to next Sunday where in Sonoma we are going to participate in the first official tournament since the beginning of the pandemic. I am teaming up with the Blazing Babushka and I expect her to do most of the heavy lifting.

See you on the battlefield (masked, naturally).

Alain

It can strike anytime, anywhere and absolutely nobody is immune from it. This terrible affliction has been around for centuries, but there is still no known cure for it. Age is no factor, and everybody is susceptible to it.

A few days ago, our 6-year-old grandkid, was struck by one of Eros’s gold-tipped arrows and fell in love with a pert young waitress.

“There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment.” – Sarah Dessen

 He was so perturbed by this new emotion that he could not even take a bite of his delicious-looking Tarte Tatin. A true testament for this young man, to the seriousness of his ailment.

“You know that tingly little feeling you get when you like someone? That’s your common sense leaving your body.”

He was too shy to declare his flame, but he told us about it, and we let the young lady know about it. She was flattered and felt sorry about their age gap and their challenging romance, but she did not rebuff him. After all, president Emmanuel Macron of France married his high school teacher who was 25 years older than him.

Ain’t no mountain high enough to stop you when you are in love. Upon our return home, he penned a letter that we promised to deliver to the young lady. It was short and to the point. He started by saying “I like you miss” and ended up simply by declaring “I love you”

It was a simple but very powerful message, and it might sway (????) the young lady to wait for him… After all, the kid is good-looking and very mature for his age…

Love is no laughing matter. It is a very powerful emotion that can derail and incapacitate any human being. Most everybody has loved and lost at least once and can relate to this. Regardless of your age and experience, you can fall prey to this pandemic anytime.

The Russians, the Chinese, and a slew of authoritarian regimes have been working on a vaccine for years but so far without success. Because if you fall in love, you lose your head and won’t pay attention to any government’s directives anymore… a big no-no in certain countries.

We promised to deliver our young man’s message to his beloved but warned him that there was no guarantee of success. With a stiff upper lip, he told us that he understood this, but still hoped for the best.

Hope springs eternal.  People will keep on hoping, no matter what the odds… and that is good, isn’t it?

Alain