picture this:
2 brave friends, nic & zu, locked in an empty room to face a common foe…a fiesty, rubber ball.
the game: racquetball.
the object: scoring? nope. pesky rules? nope. having fun while defending ourselves against a deadly opponent out to kill us both? yep.
backstory: so, i’ve got this vacation coming up…to someplace warm…soon…and i’m doing all i can to get myself into some kinda shape. i mean, physically, i seriously could improve what i’m seeing…but more than that, i just wanna be active enuff in the coming weeks to feel a little better about myself as i depart for some time in the sun with all my girls…minus 1. i play outside a lot during the spring & summer, but it’s a little harder to find something to do inside that keeps my attention long enuff to keep it up during the winter.
this brings me to the one activity that i’ve recently decided to attempt & judging from our 1st time out, i may not survive ’til spring…but i’m perfectly willing to try. just a couple of reasons why this is probably a bad idea:
1…within 5 minutes of strenuous stretching, i decided i was ready to test the strength of my swing. while standing approximately 4.5 feet from the wall i gave the ball a bounce & with a swing of my racket with my left hand, i connected with the ball perfectly…the most beautiful sound followed as the ball smacked against the wall & then quickly exacted its revenge by catching me in the right armpit unexpectedly, knocking me off balance & adding an odd ‘tickle’ factor to the death-defying danger of the whole situation…and thus was the tone for the night.
2…i was astonished each time zu dived during the course of that hour…not to make a shot, mind you, but to dodge the ball altogether, as if it were a bullet, only to scramble after it as she realized she was actually supposed to hit it before it touched the floor again.
3…my favorite scene of the night was of zu running from the nearest side of the room to the far side with so much purpose, focused on something…as the rubber demon enters the scene from the right & tags zu in the ribs as she yelps with total surprise–she never saw it coming…where was she running to with so much determination? and how do you lose complete sight of the ball like that? who knows…but i would pay for the opportunity to see that again.
4…there was actually a bit of a volley going where the choices zu & i were making appeared to make sense when suddenly, in the midst of play, the ball disappeared completely…zu & i stopped & looked at each other…both confused…me the most, because the ball turned up beneath my right heel…a feat that i’m sure has never been accomplished with so much grace & dignity during a game of racquetball EVER…i’m SURE of it!
i laughed so incredibly hard the entire hour we played because the ridiculous moments were SO ridiculous that i really should go ahead & apologize to the people who actually play this game by the rules & look halfway decent doing it…i am sorry…sort of.
my goal is to keep a sort of log of our play though & maybe show a little improvement along the way…but there are NO guarantees. besides, if we didn’t look how we look playing, YOU pros wouldn’t look so good! …you’re freakin’ welcome!!!
