It’s a Monday morning, and I am riding the 545 into work. I don’t think my body has gotten acquainted with being harangued out of bed at 7:45, but I can tell a change is afoot - I wake up a little after 6am every day; that I go back to bed promptly is but a minor technicality. Oh crap I just realized, I was supposed to be in orientation today, but I am not; o well, it’s going to have to be next week now :-(
The team of three, my parents and I, ventured into North Seattle this weekend. An unexpected consequence of working “again” is my seemingly insatiable appetite; ergo a lot of our activities revolve around “dining”. Nishant shouldn’t have shown me how to whip up pancakes; they are simple to make, simple to digest but very hard to work off. I have decided that if I am going to ingest calories, they had better come from exotic food so that I don’t rue the extra time I spend in the gym :-)
The plan was to venture out of Seattle this weekend, but I hadn’t factored in my participation in the Washington State Games’ squash tournament. My first match was on Saturday morning, and true to my morning record, I lost. It was a close match though, with just one point separating the winner from the loser in every game. Yes, I did make some unforced errors, but all in all, it was an entertaining duel. Losing your 1st match lands you in the consolation draw, so I had to stick around till the afternoon to play another match.
I won my 2nd match without breaking into a sweat, and won the final on Sunday morning too. The score-lines belie the tumult within me, so I deemed it necessary to share my experience. I was calm and relaxed till I stepped out on the court on all 3 occasions, but all hell broke loose once I hit a ball. The adrenaline flowed unabated, my nerves were on edge, and I had a tough time controlling the speed of my shots. I remember the cramps in my hamstrings, the tightness in my wrists, and the lack of confidence I had in one of my best shots. All this in a club level squash tournament; I can only wonder what Nadal and Federer might have experienced during their Wimbledon epic.
After spending a better part of Saturday by the squash courts, we returned home to get some much-needed rest. My mom doesn’t usually nap in the afternoon; that we had to coax her out of bed on Saturday evening was an indicator of our exhaustion level. My parents have been great sports in Seattle, so on my suggestion, they acquiesced to sampling Greek food that first weekend night. Costas Opa in Fremont was where I took them – the food is consistently tasty, and the drive by Lake Union is scenic. We ordered the Souvlaki and a Veggie Combo, which we devoured heartily as we dissected the spices in our food. We would have hung around longer in Fremont had I not had to wake up early again on Sunday.
After wrapping up my commitments at the Squash tournament on Sunday, the three of us drove out to one of Seattle’s local attractions. In the last six years in Seattle, I had heard about the “Locks”, but couldn’t overcome the inertia of driving the 20+ miles. Considering that I had mentally prepared myself to drive to Leavenworth this weekend, the drive to Ballard seemed short and sweet; that I managed to get lost on my way to my destination still rankles. The Botanical Garden and the sight of boats rising with the tide were both spectacular sights. If I was to do this again, I’d head to North Seattle really early to enjoy more of the tourist attractions in the area – the Woodland Park Zoo, Golden Gardens Park, Shilshole, etc. After the "Locks", we walked through parts of Ballard around the Farmer’s Market, and finally headed to Green Lake to feed our appetites. The Indian meal was simple, filling and eating a familiar cuisine was a welcome change for my parents. A perfect weekend was coming to an end, the activities of which had left us all exhausted. A quiet drive home, some televizzle and it was lights off in the Mehta household.
It is 8:45 on Monday morning, and I am on the bus to work…
No comments:
Post a Comment