Improving with Age

I got curious today about a family club we used to frequent in Brazil.

It was called the Clube de Campo Do Castelo, or the Country Club of the Castle.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er-a0JkRf0c

The club looks like it's still going strong, changing very little of the landscape, tennis courts, pool, gymnasium, restaurant and meeting areas. I see a new gym and the boats on the lake are up to date.

It was so much fun to go out there on Thursday afternoons. Our mothers shared carpooling, and would come out to get us after school in a big group to take us to the clube. Some of us would play tennis with our fathers, who had been out there most of the day already.

Some of the mothers played tennis as well. The other mothers in our mission group hung out under the canopy of trees. There was always conversation, some women crafted and others relaxed!

We kids could rent hammocks, ride paddle boats, play on the play sets, run around the large acreage playing all kinds of games, swim, play clay court tennis, or play on the tennis backboard to get some practice.

The clube was a place of respite, where we could catch our breath and look forward to the weekend.

I recall my Uncle Allen and Aunt Lucia joining us. They were always in the pool with us kids, and Allen taught me how to do the side crawl, on both sides! We loved throwing coins into the pool and racing to grab them! We would race as well, among so many other aquatic games; many of which were made up.

There was also a walkway over the pool, dividing the shallow end of the pool from the deep end. There was something magical about that bridge. It could be anything we wanted it to be, from a bridge over a mote, to water washing under a cave.

During American Holidays, we'd have cookouts on the grills and our mothers would spread a feast on the picnic tables! We'd sing the US National Anthem, America the Beautiful, and other folk songs. If it was World Cup season, we might throw in a song to celebrate our beloved Brazil!

I am imagining all the fun the country club is still having with a newer generation of families! May you be around a long time dear clube!

Sail the Small Before Sailing the Squall

My father-in-law taught me to sail. I never became a full-fledged sailor for he was always at my side coaching. But what a dream it was to sail that 19-footer across beautiful Willoughby Lake in Vermont.



Some years later John and I boarded a bigger sailboat with two sets of couple friends for a fun day on Galveston Bay in Texas. The waters were choppy and at times it took two men to hold the wheel steady.



What a difference in the two experiences! But without learning on the calms of a lake, our friend Rick could not have navigated our vessel on those choppy waters.



Learn to traverse the lake you are on before attempting to traverse an ocean. And remember not to be too hard on yourself; after all, you left the dock!