Wet Summer Nights

Wimbledon is played in the summer in London. It's more proper name is the All England Lawn Tennis Championships and Wimbledon is merely an area of London where it's played. Summer in London usually means rain, and therefore Wimbledon is often associated with rain. This year, it was remarkably rain-free, but quite windy.

David wanted to get out of the apartment. It was probably too late to reserve a racquetball court, and the game's intense, so he asked me if I wanted to play tennis, something he doesn't enjoy nearly as much as racquetball. He said he heard thunder, but I thought the storm front was moving away, so I agreed to play.

As I was driving, I noticed it was still drizzling, and pondered whether the courts, which were further north were somehow spared the rain. As I got closer, I had still received no call letting me know it was raining and we should call this off. I figured if it was drizzling a little, it would be fine to play. Hard courts, for the most part, aren't that slippery. I've only ever played on one court that was so slippery that I couldn't deal with it, and even then I just slipped and slid as it rained.

So David was nowhere near his car. He had made his way to the courts and was practicing his serve. The weather was warm enough, so we weren't likely to catch a cold or anything. It wasn't the kind of miserable cold of fall, but the mild warm of summer.

So we decided to play, despite the rain, as it came down heavier. We were both a bit lucky. David had recently shed his glasses, and was wearing contacts. I brought out a cap, that shaded me from the rain, so my glasses wouldn't get drenched and we started to hit around.

Of course, I thought we were crazy to be out hitting in the rain, but if David didn't mind, then I didn't mind.

Then, the oddest thing happened. Two girls rushed onto the courts that were next to our courts and situated a little lower. Somehow, they got it into their heads that they wanted to play tennis in the rain too. Odd thoughts of wet t-shirt contests ran through my head.

We decided to play a set. I was putting my new serve into action. The water had a deadening effect on the water, but it was nice to see the water spray off as I spun a serve. I won the set, 6-1, my thought was to finish the set quickly so we could get out. The girls apparently decided to hang around.

We left for a drink at a nearby McDonald's, some women were mopping the floor down. It would be amusing for pro tennis players to play in the rain, but I suspect, as children or teens, they must have done it a few times.

So Wimbledon, US Open, you can have your rain delays. As long as it's not a torrential downpour, I don't mind a few drops if I can get a few shots in.