Best Lineup Yet!

My trip to Mexico is but a few weeks away, and the lineup this year for the Abierto Mexicano de Tenis is phenomenal.  At least on the men's side:

Milos Raonic

Marin Cilic

Dominic Thiem

David Goffin

Nick Kyrgios

Jack Sock

Alexander Sverev

These are all top 20 players.  Amazing.

On the women's side it's quite a bit weaker:

Top ranked player is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.  My two other faves will be there though: Monica Puig, and ... yes, Christina McHale!  Genie Bouchard will be there too, but probably not for the tennis...

Bought my suitcase for the trip today.

Trip's less than 3 weeks away now...

Winter City

Today I walked downtown in the snow to do some writing at a coffee shop.  Here are the scenes I caught along the way.  Just gorgeous...

In the evening I went to church:

They said a few months ago that the winter would be long and cold.  So far it hasn't been that cold, and I'm hoping that won't change!

Sport Pains And Aches

My goodness...my body aches everywhere, after playing tennis Friday night and going skiing yesterday.

My calves and ankles are killing me.

And my knees, I feel every step I take, all day long.

And I'm "only" 47.

Fleeting Confidence

People have told me in the past that I'm very competitive.  When I play board games, for example, my competitive juices (apparently) get the best of me sometimes.  I never believed it.

A few days before Christmas I played a tennis match and lost, and it affected me for days.  It was a match that I "should have" won, but didn't.  I was up 4-1 in the first set, and lost 5-7, 1-6.  It made me so angry I could barely concentrate for the rest of the weekend.

Then in early January I played a match that I should have lost, but won: 2-6, 6-1, 10-7 (tiebreaker).  I won it by sheer willpower. I psyched myself into thinking that I was back on track.  

The mind is so easily deceived...

Today my world came crashing down on me again.  I lost 6-3, 4-6, 8-10.  It was a monumental choke.

And now I'll be miserable again for another week.

Snow And That Magical Feeling

A few pictures of winter, both on the west coast...

...and in the prairies.

I've lived in Canada for close to 35 years, and I never get sick of the white stuff floating downward from the ski.  It's still magical - it makes me feel like a young boy, free from all trouble, full of joy and laughter.