Snapshots & Scribbles

Monday, July 30, 2012

Brilliant! Bloody Brilliant!

I have a weird obsession with all things British. This includes everything from British accents, Downton Abbey, and the Spice Girls to Pimm's & Lemonade, big hats, and Wimbledon. What can I say?! It's a thing.

That said, going to Wimbledon is on my bucket list. I HAVE been to London, but not good ol' Wimbledon! Someday. It WILL happen. In the meantime, I will have to satisfy my professional tennis craving with other local tournaments - like the CitiOpen (formerly known as the Legg Mason Tournament), where we ventured yesterday! I woke up bright and early, ready to use my best British accent and pretend I was actually in Londontown. Funny enough, we ended up parking right next to a red Mini Cooper! What's more British than a red Mini Cooper. Not much, well, maybe the Queen, but really - not much.

The tournament was held in Rock Creek Park, a beautiful area in Northeast DC. We had sun, a cool breeze, and low humidity. The day couldn't have been better. Unfortunately, we couldn't stay all day, so we watched the first match on the main court between Serra from France and Farah from Columbia. Bridget & I quickly developed a fondness for Farah as he was the underdog......and maybe a little cuter than Serra. (Is it socially acceptable to admit that?) Sadly, Serra defeated Farah in a nail-biter of a match.

Coincidentally, a former UF Alum took the court following the Serra-Farah match! Jesse Levine, who graduated the same year as I did, has apparently evolved into a pretty great player. It's always so inspiring to see fellow Gators with such success.

A few thoughts...

Bridget & I decided that we would make bloody brilliant match commentators. And by bloody brilliant, I mean ridiculous and weird.
What do you think ball boy/girl training is like? B & I spent the majority of the match contemplating this comical thought.
Why are people going to sit in their assigned seats in the sun when, clearly, there are unguarded shaded sections of seating?
Note to self: Go back to Rock Creek Park in the fall!

Cheerio!

Sunday, July 29, 2012

The "Soul-Soothing" Great Falls

Yesterday, we ventured to Great Falls. Talk about scenic, huh?

We did a bit of hiking, a lot of "overlooking" and believe it or not, some haikuing.

You would never know it, but nature brings out your inner poet!

Ok ok, I'm done with the bad jokes.

It was a perfect summer day, and the waters were raging.

We even saw some daredevil kayakers attempting to resist the current via paddle & probably some serious core strength. It was pretty cool, and I decided that someday I'd like to attempt that.

Do you want to hear our haiku?

Hiking the hot trails

Great Falls soothing our three souls

Having fun - so there.

(one thing you should know - we wrote this in response to a haiku my mom had sent us about her having fun down in Palm Beach, FL with my Dad, and yes, we were jealous)

And then my mom comes up with one in response that blows ours out of the water:

Oh falling water

laced with white, why oh why do

you delight - breathless!

...so she may have better natural poetic ability than us. Whatever.