I'm Going to Camp!

Camp is not just for kids. It is for us tennis aficionados as well. Otherwise known as the overly ambitious, overly confident, ready for sunburns, exhaustion, and probably a good dose of tennis humility.

The Whitman College tennis team coaches run three-weekend tennis and wine camps in the spring and another three in the fall. I will be a returning camper and plan on attending all of them as I am a glutton for punishment.

The Tennis and Wine Camp is for adults and offers a full day of tennis drills, coaching, games, competitions, and a lunch break, followed by wine dinners. This year, I am forgoing the wine dinners. I'm afraid I'll stare at the walls and fall asleep face down in the dinner.

Since I have access to the wineries and restaurants that cater the dinners all year round, I pass on that part of camp. Of course, there's always the excuse that I want to be fresh for the early morning torture of running around on the tennis court, chasing that little yellow ball, and trying to hit the felt off it while constantly smearing the highest SPF sunscreen available all over!

The first camp, which starts Thursday, has the theme "Wellness." After four to five hours of tennis, with a short bathroom break and lunch, we can join Yoga, go on a guided walk, or get a massage. Needless to say, it's massage for me on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Yoga has never been something I can do gracefully or easily. Walking, I can do anytime, with anyone or by myself. But massages are a luxury I will never pass up.

I'm reasonably sure these massages will be in a chair, working mostly just shoulders and neck. Still, I am in. Massage wins every time; even if I don't win at tennis, I have a massage to look forward to at least. Then again, I may be too sunburned to relax, heaven forbid.

I've been trying to get inspired and ready for the marathon of tennis camps by religiously showing up for my usual Monday, Wednesday, and Friday tennis games that now start at 8:00 a.m. and go through to 1:30. Tuesday and Thursday, I have started hitting with a young man from the Whitman tennis team. I'm sure he is slowing down his game for me, but it's a negligible slowdown for my skill level. Challenges are always good, as long as I don't break bones!

The Country Club has recently started a free, open-to-the-public cardio tennis clinic on Saturday mornings at 8 a.m. After which, I occasionally add a private lesson, followed by two hours of tennis on Sunday morning.

Thankfully, our garden is practically on autopilot since tennis is stealing my attention. I am proud to say that Daniel cooked us a veggie frittata today with broccoli, sugar snaps, spinach, and various herbs from our garden. He even served it with a fresh garden salad using our lettuce. Soon, if all goes well, the tomatoes and cucumbers will be from our garden and salads, too.

Right now, I see lacy bug-eaten leaves on the squash or melon plants (they look the same to me). Sometime between my tennis games, I need to make an emergency run for some marigolds. I wasn't a believer until planting them last year, and we did not have one squash (melon?) bug. I hope I'm not too late to rescue whatever I planted there.

The abundance of tennis and our garden should make for a great summer!