As much as I don’t want to admit it the summer is really, really over. I guess you could possibily make an argument that we almost have only three seasons now. The fall seems to have extended itself later and later every year. It’s just about December and I’m still riding my e-bike most places (it’s cold though). The plan is to keep riding till it snows.

I did manage to arrange for the snow tires to be put on my car which is hibernating down in London, Ontario with Ms. Sarah.

I had been feeling more anxious than I want to be about the change in seasons. I have managed to keep myself fairly occupied this past summer with my new career as a pickleball star (joking). I have written about this a bit in previous posts - as I found myself quite busy playing at Ramsden Park and East Toronto Pickleball Association. I do spend a lot of time on my own so keeping busy is important both for physical and mental well-being. In choosing to have shoulder surgery a year ago, I don’t think I fully realized the impact on my day-to-day life. I know I clearly underestimated what I would have to go through and now that I’m probably at the best I can be, I’m not sure I would have done it again.

Thats for another day though…..

When you are retired or not working you still need to have some sort of structure. The stress of emails, phone calls and needless meetings are a distant memory, however you still need a sense of purpose to what your going to do that day, or that week. I don’t think spending a lot of time on the couch streaming the current shows from Netflix is a good choice of time. The long re-hab of the shoulder certainly prevented me from playing tennis and taking part in most other physical activities, so finding an activity like pickleball and it’s similarities to tennis has been immeasurable.

Below is a screenshot of my November calendar. The items in the bright colour are all pickleball.

I think one might say it’s a bit excessive and they would be probably correct. Part of my anxiety or obsessiveness was relating back to keeping busy and making sure I have structure. (Maybe that’s a problem).

I am enjoying playing PB and as I’ve improved, I knew that I wanted to find better games along with having a more permanent place to place in the winter months. I have always been a club guy and going all over the city to play is interesting but I do prefer to have a home.

Pickleball is lagging behind the United States in regards to having proper facilities to play at. Here in Toronto our selections have been much more limited. Up to recently you were likely going to play in a community centre on a gym floor. While we’ve seen the emergence of places such as Fairgrounds at Cloverdale Mall and the introduction of new courts at the Mayfair Clubs there have not been a lot of choices. That seems to be changing as my social media feed is constantly being updated with news of new clubs in surrounding area’s outside of the city.

As the weather started to change I asked other people - where are you going to play and most people were like me - looking for suitable places. Some people are being driven by cost, or location.

My list of places included Mayfair, Glendon College, Fairgrounds and a new place called the Jar. I have to be selective because I don’t have a car for the winter so getting to places that are far away is simply not an option. I thought Mayfair would be a good choice because they have made physical changes to their clubs by replacing tennis courts with new pickleball courts.

Clearly the math works because you could put a lot more people on pickleball courts.

I actually have not seen the new pickleball courts but the reports are positive. I did enquire about membership and unfortunately, I would have to pay an initiation fee and selfishly I didn’t want to do that again. I had been a member of Mayfair many years ago and was hoping that might count for something but to no avail. I admit it - I’m looking out for myself.

There is a new club west of Toronto called Rally and from the information they have provided it looks promising. They are going to have 17 courts which makes it one of the larger places to play. In the northwest part of Toronto a joint tennis/pickleball club has opened called ACE. In the New Year there supposedly is another club called Hisports opening in Vaughan. They already have clubs in Oshawa and in Stouffville. And word is they do a very good job. So…it seems they are coming. But these clubs are too far for me.

Earlier in the summer I rode my bike up to the Jar to check it out. As soon as I went in I felt comfortable and that this would a good place for me. The ride took approximately 25 minutes and getting there via public transit is also an option. I met the owner and he explained to me the vision that he and his brother had. They opened in January and it didn’t take too long for them to sell out. The membership is small (200+) and they have recently announced they will be opening 4 more courts in February and 4 more in April to bring the total to twelve. More courts allows for more members and to offer other interesting opportunties such as programming, tournaments etc. All things to make the club a great place to be and hang out.

I learned on my visit that there was a waiting list and that the club was full so I had to add my name to the waitlist. I wasn’t optimistic that I would get in very quickly but surprise, I got the email in October inviting me to join. The membership system is similar to other indoor tennis clubs. You pay a monthly fee along with a rental court fee. The court fee differs from daytime to night-time and of course you divide it by usually four players. I’ve been off to the races joining various events and meeting new people. All of that takes a bit of time but so far, so good.

The lighting is very good and I have no issues seeing the ball. That is a bonus as indoors especially for me can be challenging. I will need to slow down a bit and not try to play so much. When the VISA bill comes in that will be the test :)

So…what about tennis? I have played a few times and I actually surprised myself recently. I didn’t play that bad. I expected to be terrible but my timing was okay and I even attempted to hit a few serves. The bad part is I don’t miss tennis which is very surprising for me to say. I miss some of the people but much like work when you go away….you go away and the contact with tennis people has faded. Not to say it won’t come back but to continue on as a member of an expensive private club is a consideration open for discussion. I think I will hang in for another year and then decide. I have no interest in having to serve underhand.

I’m feeling optimistic now that I have some things to do that I enjoy. Lots of other stuff to talk about but will do that another time. Sorry for taking so long to sit down and put words on a paper.

See you soon….