WARMER DAYS... on to Florida (Part 156j)

WARMER DAYS… on to Florida (Part 156j)

Arriving at the tennis center I was amazed. From the four courts I remembered it had grown to twelve plus a building that housed a lounge, changing rooms (including showers and toilets) and a snack bar. The only thing I saw that I remembered were the small grandstands that lined both sides of the two courts closest to the building. We checked in and were helped by an incredibly tanned woman. She provided rental racquets, a can of balls and pointed us to the court at the far end of the complex. That puzzled me as there were only two courts in use. It had been at least seven months since I’d had my hands on a racquet. I’d played very little during the Summer so I didn’t know what to expect. Elle hadn’t said much since the 'incident' and I knew better than to say anything. We opened the can of balls and made a feeble attempt at hitting them over the net. After about ten minutes of futility a tall, balding man wearing a white long pants and a white wool sweater approached us. He told us his name was Colin and it was obvious he was British.  After he introduced himself as the Pro he took the balls from me and walked to the net at center court. He had Elle go to the baseline and proceeded to hit balls for Elle to try to return to him. After a few tries he called out to her to turn her body toward the oncoming ball, step in, swing and follow through with the racquet ending up over her left shoulder. It took a few times for her to get the procedure down but I could see the results almost immediately. I waited patiently for my turn with him but he seemed enamored with Elle. I’d been the ‘ball boy’, retrieving the balls that Elle mishit. After about 20 minutes I finally asked him when it was to be my turn. I could hardly believe it when he, in his ‘clipped’ British accent, asked me if I hadn’t been watching. I told him I had and he said that all I had to do was the same that Elle had been doing. Then he just turned and walked away.

His brusqueness towards me upset Elle and she joined me at the net to express her displeasure. In a way I was glad that it happened as it took her mind completely off the earlier incident with Diane, the owners daughter. Elle offered to do with me the same thing that the Pro had been doing with her. She'd remind me with each ball she hit towards me to “turn, step in, swing, follow through”. I’d seen a positive change with Elle and I saw pretty much the same result when I hit the balls. I found that I’d been pretty much been punching the ball and doing it the new way provided much more control as well as power.

We didn’t stay the whole two hours as Elle hadn’t done much of anything in the way of exercise since back in the Fall and my ankle, which had held up fairly well with all the walking we’d done since leaving home, was telling me “enough”. I wanted some pictures so we took a little time for that As Elle was putting her things away I managed to get a 'butt shot' which pleased me to no end.
                     

Our plan was to then walk across the road to the pool and cabana area, get in some swimming and also a bite for lunch. We had guest passes so didn’t need my parents to get in (thank goodness!). We’d only been there for a short time the previous day and hadn’t had enough time to take it all in. In the Winters that I’d spent there as a teen it wasn’t nearly as big and the only thing that was recognizable was the Olympic size pool and, just as it had been back then, it was still unheated. Also recognizable was the high diving board. I’d always wanted to use it but my mother wouldn’t let me fearing that I’d hurt myself.

Maybe it was because I was upset with my mother for having told Diane about Elle’s incontinence that when I saw it I wanted to dive off it. When I told Elle she called me “crazy” but I was determined. We changed into our bathing suits but, with Elle leading the way, we ended up at the heated pool. I remember telling her that I was still going to go off the high board after we ate. She was not happy about that but the discussion kept her mind off the earlier embarrassing incident.

The heated pool was a lot smaller than the other one. It was a really nice area with plenty of chairs and chaises and did provide some shelter from the sun. We swam and sunned ourselves for a while before heading for the food and bar area. I’d told Elle, many times, about the fun I’d had visiting Jax Beach and the boardwalk and amusements that were there. I suggested that the afternoon might be a good time for a visit. Right from the time I knew we were headed for Florida I had it in mind to find the time for a visit. The problem was we only had our tennis clothes and no car to get us there.

Since I was set on diving off the high board I figured I’d have time to come up with a solution. Elle tried to persuade me not to do it but it was no use. I won’t swear to it but I think it was 30 feet high. All I can tell you is that 30 feet, when looking at it on level ground, is a LOT different than from 30 feet in the air. I walked out to the end of the board and I’ll admit that I had second thoughts. But I couldn’t back down. I took a deep breath and dove off, head first. I knew enough about diving to have my hands out in front of me to break the water before my head hit. Unfortunately, it didn’t work that way for me. I still remember when my head hit the water… smack!... and it hurt… a lot. But, that wasn’t the worst part. As I mentioned above, my ankle had started to hurt while playing tennis… and that was with the brace on. To swim I’d removed it. When my body slid into the water and it got as far as my foot… that was when I felt pain like never before.

I’m sure you’ve experienced sudden and severe pain and reacted by crying out. The only thing was that when I did I was six feet or more under water. I have no idea how much water I ingested but when I surfaced I was gagging and gasping for breath. Fortunately, Elle had been watching and she jumped into the pool and helped me to the side.

To be continued...