Battle of the Oldies but Goodies

Cresswind versus Imagery

Last Saturday the pickleball club at Imagery participated in a tournament at Cresswind, another 55+ active adult community in the Charlotte area. This is the second time we have played there, and it always such a fun time. They have four permanent pickleball courts, but their tennis courts are striped for pickleball which gives them eight additional courts. We have never hosted them because we just have two permanent pickleball courts. We can only add an additional four pickleball courts by taping out the two tennis courts here. 

The weather was perfect with blue skies, light winds and temperatures in the mid-70s. The clubs were broken down by sex and skill level. We played the same team two times, for a total of six games. It was competitive and fun, and my partner and I won four of our six games. Our two losses were to the same team, and they went on to win our division, so we felt pretty good about our performance.

At the end of the day, we all just love the game of pickleball. We are blessed at this stage of our lives to be able to participate in the sport, have fun, and make new friends. Pickle on!

The PPA Comes Our Way

Last week the PPA North Carolina Open was held at LifeTime Charlotte. PPA stands for the Professional Pickleball Association, so that meant that many of the leading pros in the sport would be coming to Charlotte. Jim and I decided to volunteer on Sunday, since it was Mother's Day and we figured they would have a hard time fining volunteers on that day. We also offered to host one or two pros at our house.

Collin Johns & Patrick Smith

Because we have two extra bedrooms and bathrooms, Collin Johns and Patrick Smith took us up on our offer. Both are in the top ten of male pickleball players in the world, and had partnered up for men's doubles in this tournament. They also each played in mixed doubles.

As volunteers we could come on any or all of the days to watch play. Our guys had no games on Thursday, so Jim made them a nice breakfast while I went to my women's league play. Then they practiced on our courts here before heading to the venue to get some practice in on the indoor courts. Friday they played mixed doubles, and we went on a wine bus tour with our neighborhood. This event had been rescheduled from May of last year due to Covid.

Saturday the guys had their men's doubles games, so we spent the day at LifeTime watching. Someone ended up giving us wrist bands to sit in the VIP section, which was a slightly elevated seating area above the championship court. It was amazing to watch the pros play.

some of the winning pros

Our guys did not advance to the finals on Sunday, but we still had to work so we left them slumbering at 7:00 in the morning. As luck would have it, Jim got assigned to the championship court to check that guests had the correct wrist bands on, and I was assigned to the VIP section. Both of us had great opportunities to watch the gold medal matches of singles, men's, mixed doubles and women's play. It is totally different to watch the games live as opposed to on television or a computer. And to get caught up in the enthusiasm of the crowd was so fun! I definitely would volunteer to help out again, and Collin and Patrick are more than welcome to stay with us in the future. They were a delight to host. I learned a lot from picking their brains, and watching them play. Paddles up!

More Skin Cancer

skin cancer removal

To add to the list of medical procedures I'm having done this week, yesterday I went to my plastic surgeon to have yet another suspicious spot removed from my forehead. It's one we have been watching for a bit, but as it has not responded to liquid nitrogen (it should blister and then peel, but it does nothing), the dermatologist said to was time to have it removed.

In checking my records I realized that I had not been to the plastic surgeon since September of 2016, so that actually is not too bad for me. Unfortunately this is my 14th skin cancer, if indeed the biopsy comes back positive. I have resigned myself to the fact that this is my life from now on, but I have been taking extra precautions with my skin so hopefully I won't have too many more that will need to be surgically removed.

I did not sleep well last night as the doctor told me to keep my head elevated to lesson the risk of bleeding. It hurts today, but not as much as yesterday. It should feel much better by tomorrow, which is good because I am volunteering at the Michelob Ultra Pickleball Tournament in the morning. It was supposed to be outside at Forest Park, but because rain from the hurricane is headed our way, it has been moved indoors. Unfortunately that means a 45 minute drive for me in the morning, and I have to be there by 7:00 a.m. It is the first sanctioned tournament to be held in St. Louis, so I am eager to see the 4.0 and 5.0 players in action once my volunteer work is finished.

On a more fun note, last weekend was Paint Louis 2018. This was an organized event allowing graffiti artists to legally spray paint the flood wall that runs along the Mississippi River in downtown St. Louis. Hundreds of artists came from mostly around the Midwest, with live hip hop music adding to the party atmosphere. By the time we got down there Monday morning, most of the artists had packed up and left. But there were a few remaining, and it was interesting to talk to them about their work and the process they use in creating art to cover such a large space. Sadly, it won't last for long as other graffiti artists will come along and paint over what is already there. It is a constantly evolving work of art.

Paint Louis 2018

Spring Beauty

Tuesday I played in a pickleball tournament at a local recreation center. My partner Tish and I had never played in a tournament together and, in fact, don't even play at the same locations very often. It is a huge benefit to have the same partner in tournaments as you get used to how the other person plays and can get in sync with each other. Nevertheless, we decided to give it a shot. I did at least meet her Sunday afternoon at the center where the tournament was being held so that I could get a feel for the playing surface. They have a sport court as their gym floor, and it is quite different from the wooden floors I am used to playing on. I really liked it as there is no glare and with a softer surface, it is easier on the feet and legs. But the ball definitely plays different on that kind of surface.

Tish & me

On Tuesday we arrived early at the center to warm up. It was not a huge tournament, and we ended up playing six games. One was against a team ranked lower than us, and two were against teams ranked higher than us, so those three games did not end up counting in the standings. We beat all three teams that were at our level, so we ended up getting gold medals. One of these other teams had taken gold at the last two tournaments held at this center, so that made us feel particularly good about our play. It was a fun time!

Though my legs were quite tired from all the pickleball the day before, yesterday I went to the Missouri Botanical Garden to see what was in bloom. Things change so rapidly there this time of year that you almost need to go once a week to check it out. I took my crystal ball along as I wanted to play around with it. I hadn't been in the garden more than 15 minutes when a couple of Asian women stopped to see what I was doing. They asked if they could take some shots through the ball, and they had a blast working with it.

crystal ball photography

Along the way several children came over to see what I was doing, and it was fun to show them how the thing you are looking at appears upside down in the ball. But then another strange thing happened. Two Mideastern women dressed in traditional abayas and hijabs stopped me along one of the paths. They did not speak English, and one was gesturing with her phone. Assuming that she was wanting me to take their picture together, I reached for the phone. The woman quickly pulled it back, and they both began to speak and move their hands. I finally realized that one of the women wanted a picture of herself with me, which the other woman took with the phone. That reminded me of the time Jim and I went to Redwoods National Forest with Andy when he was about 11 months old. A huge bus filled with Asian tourists pulled into the parking lot where we were standing. One of them ran over, snatched Andy out of my arms, and proceeded to hold him in their group photo. It happened so fast that we were stunned, and he was screaming his head off!

Missouri Botanical Garden

The garden was quite busy, especially as I counted three school groups wandering through. It was a pretty day, party cloudy with the temperature around 70. I think everyone was so tired of winter that they welcomed a day outside with the beautiful flowers, trees and shrubs. Before I go next time, maybe I should consult my crystal ball to see how crowded it will be. Ha!

Skin Cancer Strikes Again!

When I saw my dermatologist (Dr. S.) in late July for my normal (if anything about my skin can be considered normal) six month check-up, I mention that a spot on my upper right chest had not responded well to the cryosurgery he had been doing on it each time I came in. He said it was time for me to see the plastic surgeon again. I would say it was past time, actually. I rely on him to tell me when it is time to get things surgically removed, but in light of recent developments I can see that I will have to be more assertive. Dr. S. then proceeded to burn about 13 spots on my head, chest (including two above the spot I believed to be skin cancer), back, shoulders and arms, and I booked an appointment with the plastic surgeon (Dr. R.) Between his schedule and the trip we had planned to Seattle, I could not get the surgery done until September 16th.

When I arrived at Dr. R.'s office, I also asked him about a tiny spot on my shoulder that had also not responded to the liquid nitrogen. Typically, a benign area will crust over and peel following treatment, whereas skin cancer spots essentially stick their tongues out at the doctor and do nothing. Dr. R. agreed that the small spot looked like a basal cell to him. But he was also concerned about two other spots above the growth on my chest that he was going to remove. He referred to it as a multi focal cancer, meaning the additional two had popped out as a result of the first one. He did not use the word "metastasis", which was somewhat comforting. But this was certainly a first for me. He decided to take all three of the spots in one incision. Needless to say, that was a little more involved than I was expecting, and will result in a longer scar. After that procedure, removing the one on my shoulder was a piece of cake. That made me realize I need to get into the plastic surgeon much sooner than my dermatologist is referring me. Dr. R. also suggested that I might need to go see Dr. S. more often than every six months. Yippee...

There was some pain that afternoon and a little on Saturday, but nothing like when I had the two removed from my forehead earlier this year. In fact, I felt good enough to go and photograph migrating pelicans with my friend Sunday morning.

Unlike any incisions Dr. R. makes on my forehead, these two incisions were covered with bandages so I didn't need to worry about clothes rubbing on them or dirt blowing in them. I have to wait for the bandages to come off on their own, and am not supposed to be doing any exercise or movement that may stretch the incisions. The biopsy reports came back that the ones on my chest were basal cells, but the small one on my shoulder was just a mole. That surprised me, as I have many moles and none of them look like that one did. But I would rather err on the side of caution at this point.

Silver Games pickleball

In light of the exercise restrictions, it was a good thing that I scheduled my surgery for after the Silver Games in Washington, MO. I played in my first pickleball tournament on September 14th, playing ladies doubles with my friend Audrey and mixed doubles with my friend Leon. In both cases we only won one game out of three, but we had a lot of fun despite the disorganization of the tournament. We arrived at the sports center at 12:00, and games were supposed to begin at 12:30. In fact, they did not begin until 1:00, and Leon and I did not finish our last game until 10:00 that night. Frankly, by then we did not really care if we won or loss. But it was still pretty fun to hang out with many of my pickleball friends for the day.

me & Leon

Audrey & me