Days of Petanque: Living well

Did you see this shot of Brian and Kristina I posted yesterday? I thought you might like to know a little bit more about them. They are both surgical nurses in SF but because surgeries are way down they are going to Sacramento to help with COVID. It's ok to say hello. They are not too scary.



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"The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well." ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Days of Petanque: Days of Summer

"I know I am but summer to your heart, and not the full four seasons of the year." ― Edna St. Vincent Millay

"Summer will end soon enough, and childhood as well." ― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

"A man says a lot of things in summer he doesn't mean in winter." ― Patricia Briggs, Dragon Blood

"The island is ours. Here, in some way, we are young forever." ― E. Lockhart, We Were Liars

The Mikado: Three little maids from school
Arthur Sullivan, William Schwenck Gilbert

Three little maids from school are we
Pert as a school-girl well can be
Filled to the brim with girlish glee
Three little maids from school
Everything is a source of fun
Nobody's safe, for we care for none
Life is a joke that's just begun
Three little maids from school
Three little maids who, all unwary
Come from a ladies' seminary
Freed from its genius tutelary
Three little maids from school
Three little maids from school

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Days of Petanque: Big

Debbie holds a conversation with two of the smartest people she knows.





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"No matter how tiny you look, you can lead huge men if you have what the huge men don't have." ― Michael Bassey Johnson
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Days of Petanque: Competition

I've never been that good at anything I've ever tried, so I have nothing to back up my opinions. That said, I think when Peter and Wolfie play singles on a typical afternoon, I don't think they are competing against each other in the same way most of the rest of us do. It's not really about winning or losing. I think it's more like exercising. I think they are sharpening their skills so that when they play in tournaments they are each closer to their best. Beneath the rhetoric it's a subtle, dynamic and interesting relationship to watch. 

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"To collaborative team members, completing one another is more important than competing with one another." ― John Maxwell
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I've been playing for two years and these guys are already better than I will ever be. Keep an eye on them.

Days of Petanque: Who showed up today

Some days just being able to show up is reason to celebrate.

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"I am not a Sunday morning inside four walls
with clean blood
and organized drawers.
I am the hurricane setting fire to the forests
at night when no one else is alive
or awake
however you choose to see it
and I live in my own flames
sometimes burning too bright and too wild
to make things last
or handle
myself or anyone else
and so I run.
run run run
far and wide
until my bones ache and lungs split
and it feels good.
Hear that people? It feels good
because I am the slave and ruler of my own body
and I wish to do with it exactly as I please"
― Charlotte Eriksson, You're Doing Just Fine

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Days of Petanque: Blast from the past

Bastille Day 2018 Depot Park

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"It's being here now that's important. There's no past and there's no future. Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever, is the now. We can gain experience from the past, but we can't relive it; and we can hope for the future, but we don't know if there is one."
― George Harrison

Days of Petanque:

Bill, there is no crying in petanque. If the Wookie says I can sing, I will sing at 5 o'clock.



It's today. 3-6pm. Informal Bastille Day gathering at the park. If you are up for it please bring snacks or drink to share. If the Wookie says it's a go, Jean-Michel will sing La Marseillaise at 5 in his traditional attire.
Usually it's a club tournament with all the bells and whistles and a lot of fun. But with the semi-lockdown in place this is just a casual get together that may pick your spirits up a bit. Hope you can make it.

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What do people say on Bastille Day?
That roughly translates as The National French holiday – or 14 July holiday. In fact if you ask some French people if they know what Bastille Day is they will be slightly confused and not have a clue what you are on about. So, if you want to greet someone, it's best to simply say 'Bonne Fete Nationale!

"But if you close your eyes,does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?" ― Bastille Pompeii
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Notes. While playing pétanque, you should drink pastis or cheap white wine.

Days of Petanque: Seeing is Believing

It's so easy to see what we want to see and be blind to what we wish were not true.

In general, the way you see others is a projection of how you see yourself. We tend to love in others what we love in ourselves, and hate in others what we can't see in ourselves. In fact, other people's behavior is a great litmus test for our own self-awareness. —Brianna Wiest, Writer, poet.

Everything, absolutely everything, will reflect upon you as a person. Treating people well and being respectful will make others see you in a positive light. It's normal for you to have bad days sometimes, we're all human. But how we treat other people is how they are going to view us. —Grupo MContigo

"We don't see things the way they are, but how we are" —Jiddu Krishnamurti

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Days of Petanque: Little Peopl

Another day, another match. This time Peter Wellington and Casey Franklin came out on top winning the first two games.

I think that losing with grace and dignity is a sign of good breeding and strong character. An even more rare trait is the ability to win with humility and generosity.



"Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor." ― Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games



"I was going to thank all the little people, and then I remembered I am the little people." — Barbara Streisand 
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One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small
And the ones that mother gives you, don't do anything at all
—Jefferson Airplane, White Rabbit

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Days of Petanque: Rear View

Face recognition software: Who needs it?



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"Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself; but talent instantly recognizes genius."
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

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Hey! Wait a minute. Why didn't I get included on the rear view image?
Too big.You know; "It's the pictures that got small."

Days of Petanque: Size matters

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"A great man is always willing to be little." ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Men and women are not limited by the place of their birth, not by color of their skin, but by the size of their hope." ― John Johnson

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Days of Petanque: Doubles Match

It was a nail-biter of a game in which the win could have gone either way. But Porto and Delio pulled out the win in the third game. Tough loss for Joe and Ted but the series is just getting started.




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"You're not obligated to win. You're obligated to keep trying. To the best you can do everyday." ― Jason Mraz

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Days of Petanque: Don't Get Mad—Get Even

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"If you spend your time hoping someone will suffer the consequences for what they did to your heart, then you're allowing them to hurt you a second time in your mind." ― Shannon L. Alder

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Days of Petanque: Simple / Not so Simple

Ted stopped by just to say hello.

Parent/offspring relationships are always complex. It's nice when they are also supportive (except when they are on opposite teams of course). 

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Days of Petanque: Lazy

It was a warm lazy day. A let down after the non-celebration. First match of season. I think Damien's team won. 13 to something and 3 to something else. I hear Ed was in the zone.

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Too tired to unsubscribe? I hear you.

Days of Petanque: Petanque the 4th

Who played on the Pro-Court.



And on the Shady Court.



All in all a nice, easy-going, holiday afternoon of petanque at Depot Park in Sonoma.

The only way it could have been any better would have been to have you there.

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"A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in."—Robert Orben.

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Days of Petanque: Happy 4th

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"If we don't take responsibility of what happens to our society, then no amount of Independence can improve human condition." ― Abhijit Naskar, Citizens of Peace: Beyond the Savagery of Sovereignty
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Days of Petanque: The Novato Shirkeys

In case you haven't played in a game with her, Sandra Shirkey (of the Novato Shirkeys), is a demon pointer.

Oh oh. This doesn't look good. Sandra, just kidding about the demon thing. Everyone knows what a wonderful and FORGIVING human being you are.

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"The world is run by those who show up."

"If you can't be happy at the prospect of lunch, you are unlikely to be happy about anything"

"Don't ever knock a bottle out of my hand."

—Robert Johnson

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Days of Petanque: The marvel of the everyday

The truly remarkable thing about this photo is the unremarkable nature of the scene. This could be any day of the week here in Sonoma. To be able to walk onto the court and play petanque with some combination of expert/beginner, shooter/pointer, serious/joker, young/old/even older, in our prime or just holding on, local/visitor, on any given afternoon is, I am told, a rarity in this country. And every single time I park in the lot and wander down the path, I am struck by the wonder of it all.



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"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

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Unsubscribing is less like quitting and more like moving on to other adventures.

Days of Petanque: One more thing

Maggie and Casey played an awesome game today. Here he is on his way home to alert the media.

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And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance

—"I Hope You Dance" by Lee Ann Womack