New Year of Smiles

Briskly arising at the sound of Leda's (little Fox Terrier/Chihuahua mix) rustling and throwing on some discarded clothes from the night before, it's out into the tundra, aka the front yard. Zelda, larger, with a coat to rival a polar bear, skips around in the snow looking to terrorize a squirrel. Leda, usually a turbo pooper, is as pokey on the pot as a man reading his favorite sports page. With feels like 9 degrees, a sweater is marginally more useful than a bikini. It reminds me of my first visit to North Dakota, in January. Fresh from the UK, used to its largely temperate climate, I sported a sweet, tailored leather jacket. My North Dakotan husband eyed my outfit with skepticism. With his toggled duffle coat and ridiculous Russian hat, what on earth did he know about fashion?! Fashion, I learned swiftly, was a poor second to survival.

A cliche, notwithstanding, there is something refreshing about a new year. Many of us have a renewed enthusiasm, an energized resolve. We are all gung ho on the 1st, big smiles on the 2nd, then we have to go back to the routine and those ages old slings and arrows skewer us in the back. Which is why we need tennis!!

Now, here's where the real resolve comes in!

For those who don't play tennis, it is an agonizingly mental game. Imagine the biggest love/hate relationship that ever existed; possibly Tom and Jerry? Imagine a case of poison ivy spreading inexorably to an area that can't be scratched in public. Imagine your in-laws moving in indefinitely! This is how infuriating the game of tennis can be.

To succeed in tennis us players know we have to combat the voices. Those voices that tell us we suck; we are losers; we'll never win against those guys; we're just not good enough; give it all up and join the water aerobics class! There is one special lady who I am proud to call my friend, who has mastered this mental game. She knows she is good, knows she can beat anyone on any given day. Master Dude, you've got this!

My tennis friends keep me sane, they are, on the whole beautiful people. They are the ones that nod and listen when a friend has had a bad day. They are all ages, from all spheres. They know things I don't. My daughter asked me if I knew what polyamorous meant. I am expecting my tennis friends to fill me in!