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| Our sunset on Richmond Hill last night. |
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| Playing number 10 at TRGC on Sunday morning with a smidge of sun peeking through. |
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| Armando Bacot Becomes UNC's All-Time Rebound and Double-Doubles Record Holder. |
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| Sometimes going back to analog is the better way to create! |
Good Friday, girls. It's cold in England! I'm enjoying a bachelor weekend while mom and Sally are off to a design conference in Paris. Taylor is on a 'business' trip in the French Alps skiing. See the photo below he sends from Morzine, France.
Emily got her share of snow recently at Lake Tahoe. This crowd remains on the move!
We have a new stretching area at BARCH, including the opportunity to jump into compression therapy boots. I tried them out recently, and they work!
Benefits include:
Stay fit as a fiddle, peeps,
Dad
Walking back from the gym this morning, this new release caught my eye in the window of Waterstones.
Stolen Focus, by Johann Hari - Why You Can't Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari. Check out the recommendations and comments here.
Who else feels like it might be a timely read?
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| Helicoptoring in the Himalayas |
Hello daughters,
Uncle Ricky making more memories in parts unknown. Ricky exemplifies a quote from one of my favorite motivational speakers and sales trainers, Jim Rohn:
"Life is not just the passing of time. Life is the collection of experiences and their intensity."
Here's a summary of Ricky's 'soft-adventure' travel since retiring, copied from his LinkedIn profile.
"What have I been up to since I stopped working?"
"I've been exploring the world, especially the road less traveled. I've been to Antarctica on a small ship, watched (Carolina) blue footed boobies feed their chick in the Galapagos, helicoptered to the face of the Ilulissat glacier in Greenland, snorkeled the Silfra fissure in Iceland, Sipadan Island in Malaysia and Sharm El Sheikh on the Red Sea, rafted Okere Falls and kayaked Doubtful Sound in New Zealand, hiked in Patagonia and to Iguazu Falls in Argentina, volunteered on a game reserve in South Africa, slept in tents in the Moroccan Sahara desert, rafted the Grand Canyon with some friends, lived on a boat in the Peruvian jungle monitoring animal populations, trekked in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda to see gorillas, hiked into the back side of Petra in Jordan, snorkeled in Belize and Oman, photographed tigers and a black leopard in India, jaguars in Brazil, polar bears in Manitoba, orang utans in Borneo and leopards in Sri Lanka, viewed Dubai from the top of the Burj Khalifa, ferried the islands off Chile's coast and across the Strait of Gibraltar to Cueta, hiked to Erta Ale volcano in Ethiopia, mini submarined to 1013 ft below the surface in Curacao, cruised the Irrawaddy in Myanmar, made it to the Pyramids in Egypt and have made it to all 7 continents. If "soft adventure" travel interests you, let me know if I can help."
Check out @carolinabluetraveler for more pictures.
Make it a Great Monday,
Dad
P.S. Ricky is currently in Nepal. The above photo was from a trek to the Annapurna Sanctuary. Today he is in Chitwan National Park looking for rhinos, where his first text indicates he might have made a wrong turn:
"5:30a alarm ring. 6:15 taxi pickup. 6:40 arrival at airport. Had to wait for it to open at 7. 8a flight delayed by fog. Airport didn’t open until 2p. 25 minute flight to Kathmandu. Last flight to wherever I flew to delayed or I would have been stuck in Kathmandu. Guy in airport helped me get on the flight by leading me into the cargo area. Arrived at BHR airport at 5p. Driver was there as planned. 2 hour drive on the worst roads imaginable. Immediately sat down to eat for first time today. Food was ok. Got to sit thru a slide show and then get shown to my room. Nowhere to go but up from here!"
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| Hanging out with Fred Perry |
What was the longest match ever played at Wimbledon? This plaque commemorates the famous John Isner vs. Nick Mahut match that lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes, spread over three days! That match is one of the reasons the majors recently got together and decided to have the same tie-break rules.
The Grand Slam Board announced in March: "On behalf of the Australian Open, Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open, the Grand Slam Board are pleased to announce the joint decision to play a 10-point tie-break at all Grand Slams, to be played when the score reaches six games all in the final set." [The Sporting News]
How did week 2 go for my 2023 fitness goals? Answer:
Girls, it's MAKE anything Thursday and another rainy, cold day in London. That means the grass is growing down the street at Wimbledon, where we took in The Championships last July.
This past weekend, Sally, Mom, and I did the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum and Tour. One of the more fascinating parts of the tour is learning how the famous grass is made. The grass is surgically removed from each court as soon as the tournament finishes, though the soil underneath stays in place. The ground is then treated to remove any unwanted pests and aerated and tilled before the new seed goes down. Wimbledon has its own unique mix of perennial ryegrass, which is used with a controlled-release fertilizer to speed up the development of the grass.
Some courts need more natural sun in the maritime climate of the British Isles. The solution? Artificial lights are rolled across courts by the grounds crew.
As you would expect, the tour and museum are incredibly well done. You learn about the tournament's history, the uniqueness of the All England Club, and how the broadcast is served worldwide.
We also chuckled as our guide showed us the gate where Roger Federer recently had trouble getting into the club because he did not have his membership card!
Check out this video for a good laugh:
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| Talking to the press after our match! Other Nuggets about life in The Kingdom: |
