Days sans Petanque: Love the Boule!

Subject: Days sans Petanque: Love the Boule!

Date: April 11, 2020 at 9:50:39 AM PDT

Which do you prefer, Grey or pink? It's the old "Six of one, half a dozen of the other," or "Heads I win, tails you lose," thing. A distinction without a difference. What choice does the future have in store for us? Sheltering in place? Hiding down our personal spider hole. Or venturing out swaddled in face masks and gloves, no closer than six feet or behind a plastic barrier. We are a social being. This is cutting us off from a vital part of our humanity. I'm not saying it isn't necessary, only that it is more than an inconvenience. More than a financial burden or shopping restriction. When we would arrive and greet one another on the petanque courts we were participating in a ritualized form of what allowed us to survive as a species. Cooperation. The act of doing things in a way that we could never achieve solo. While the creative spark resides in the individual, it is the safety of numbers that nurtures and ultimately allows the emergence of innovation. As a lone individual, the struggle is for survival, as a member of society, art, poetry, wine and even petanque, are all possible. If there is any silver lining to this infection, maybe it is that it has opened our eyes to what a privilege we have enjoyed in each other's company.

My brothers and sisters in petanque, I miss you and live in anticipation of the days when we can once again stand in the circle, post a score and even kiss the fanny on a summer afternoon. Together.

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"Think where man's glory most begins and ends and say my glory was that I had such friends." ― William Butler Yeats

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