What's Your Buzz?

[Koolau]

Hee, I was self-taught in tennis, recruited in 10th grade to fill out the team in a small town in Oklahama and always 5th or 6th on my tennis team in Western Oklahoma.Everyone above me had had lessons for 5 or 6 years. But there was the immortal day we went to play (at Woodward--maybe Edmond?), it was cancelled because of wind and then the conditions eased, so we just played each other, since we had driven for an hour to two to get there. I beat everyone in single sets, including the guy who won state the previous year.

Two days later I was back to my norm, which was a really good backhand, intermittant forehand, decent serve, and terrible overhead. For a day, though, I crushed EVERYTHING--the ball looked like a watermelon and I was crunching everything in the middle of my racket.
Had runner's highs multiple times at the end of undergrad and beginning of grad school. A couple times hikers highs but not so much.

But even I can be great for a single day.

BFF was about 50. He'd never played racket ball (nor tennis - though he was a killer at table tennis.) Plant site (of my Megacorp) had a racket ball league. His first opponent was a "girl" about 25 who had been playing since HS. He just lost the first game and beat her at the second game. I think he finished 2nd or 3rd in the league at the end of the season. (He said it was too rough on his knees and dropped out after that season.) Some folks just have athletic ability in their genes. I am not such a person.

 

[ls99]

Sitting behind a rock at 2000' elevation of a flat hill a few hundred miles west of Anchorage in the ALeutians. Where I took refuge in a nick of time hearing a loud rumble coming closer. Then a a huge herd of Caribou came trotting past and listening to the thunder of hooves. Hoping none would jump over the rock and trample me.
The stink of them was unbeleivable, worse than any stock yard I was ever near. It was maybe 10 minutes before the last of them got past.
A few hours later got my work done, radioed the pilot, got picked up by helicopter, then the pilot, mechanic and I flew to a hot spring near the coast and soaked, with occasional dash to the Bering Sea for skinny dipping then dash back to the hot spring for re-heat.

Another event to remind how insignificant humans are, was a few hundred miles south east of Cape Town in a 202 foot long research ship taking many 45 degree rolls and pitching up and down, for days, while Albatrosses lazily soared around in the gale force winds. Naturally the cookie would make spaghetti and sauce.
So had to excercise the skill of matching the roll of ship by lifting the plate's edge with one hand while rolling the spaghetti with the other hand holding fork, and when ship came to neutral switchig the hand tilting the plate and fork into the other.
Also practicising handy skill to spill coffee onto table stick napkin into it then sticking coffe cup onto coffe soaked napkin to keep the damn thing from sliding around.


Yep, them were the days of adventure.

 

[RunningBum]

Ah yes, the buzz of a different kind.
No, I realize my background puts me in the extreme minority, I welcome the encounter with a rattlesnake. Cool!
And…….., I have read enough trail journals to know that RunningBum’s reaction is the common one.
I trust he did the right thing for his situation.
After all, the prime rule when dealing with venomous snakes is, don’t get bit.

I don't trust my jumping skills, and both were on somewhat rocky trails. It also seems to me that pounding feet getting closer will put a rattler on high alert.

I did appreciate the warning both rattlers gave me.

 

[MC Rider]

Not sure why I did not mention motorcycles before.
Dancing along the twisty canyon roads.
Blasting along the not so windy.
Surprised those Harley guys are riding that fast in the canyon.
Oh well, it's good, I can hang. Let's go!

 

[PointBreeze]

I started taking piano lessons for the first time 4 months ago. When I learn to play a beautiful new song well, it is such a rush! And the rush is multiplied by the gratitude I feel that after 50+ years of wanting to take piano lessons, I finally have the time to do so.

I also get a big rush when one of my elderly parents smiles because I did something kind for them.


Simple pleasures are the best!