Empress Gail's birthday surprise

This afternoon, after a splendid morning of doubles and Canadian doubles ("I'll be the Canadian" said one of the players headed for the singles side in the threesome), the Empresses re-grouped at Morgan's (where else in New Bern do people go for group luncheons?) to surprise one of their number who was celebrating, this very day, her own significant number.  A milestone birthday.  Falling somewhere between the 21st and the 75th.  Although this particular celebrant doesn't seem self-conscious about her age--and well she should not, with her fabulous energy and looks--far be it from This Writer to reveal a lady's age. Especially a Southern lady.

Empress Gail's consort, Sir Bruce, delivered her on schedule, as diabolically arranged with Empress Brenda.  The Birthday Empress appeared surprised and delighted to see the Empresses of the Court assembled and ready to party down in her honor. (We wished Empress Evelyn could have joined us, and sent healing thoughts her way for speedy recovery from eye surgery.)

A highlight of the occasion was a booklet designed and compiled by Empress Judy, with contributions from other Empresses. Illustrated with amusing portrayals of the Birthday Empress amid other impressive participants in her favorite sport, the booklet explains "the rules of tennis"--some genuine, some tongue-in-cheek.

On her ?XXXXX?th birthday, Empress Gail (right) receives a hand-crafted booklet from Empress Judy.

All of the Empresses, as exemplars of health and fitness, resisted dessert, but could not resist a farewell with "the Empress wave."

Empresses Sue, Ruth, Lora, Judy, Pat, Gail, Nancy, Brenda, Jeanne.

Happy birthday, Empress Gail!

Raining on the Empress' Parade

Hurricane Irene did a number on the courts of the Emerald Empire.  We're missing a net on Court 4 due to the weather.  And the net on Court 1 is still jerry-rigged.  So to speak.  "Skip rigged" is more like it.

And now, for the first time in weeks and weeks--hurricane days excluded--we're contending with wet weather.  We did play on Wednesday, the 21st.  Remarkably, three Empresses showed up with matching outfits:  pink tops and black shorts.  Empress Gail thought that this combination could be the official colors of the Empresses. What would The Emerald's management say about that?  Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera--not even an iphone--to capture the miraculous fashion moment.

In the course of play, we came up with two timeless rules.

Rule 36:  Move with your partner.  No, this doesn't mean that if your partner decides to live in Boca Raton, you too have to try to sell your place in Greenbrier. It means that as a shot pulls your partner to one side of the court or the other, it makes sense for you to sashay in that direction too, to cover the middle.  Some players recommend that doubles partners move toward the net and toward the baseline together, also.

Rule 41: Don't celebrate too soon.  One of the Empresses--okay, it was the enthusiastic Empress Gail--turned her back to the net to cheer and congratulate her partner on their team's brilliant performance. Unfortunately, the point wasn't over.  As good as the celebratory team's shot had been, Empress Judy (I believe) managed, against all odds, to return it--and scored.  So, another version of this rule is Yogi Berra's:  "It ain't over til it's over."

I'm not sure whether any Empresses went to mixed doubles on Saturday. It was a soggy morning with bands of rain scooting across the area, so I figured it would be a wash out.  It was so dreary, I couldn't even make myself get to the Farmers Market instead.

Let's hope it's sunny and cool with low humidity all this week.  Oh, wait a minute, I forgot:  we live in North Carolina.  We won't have that kind of weather until February.

Irene, Empress of the Air

Skip says, "Tennis will be temporarily cancelled as hurricane Irene passes through the New Bern area."

Hope that each Empress came through the storm with minimum damage.