I developed an interest in sports at a relatively early age.  I suspect it may have been spawned from looking though my dad’s college year books and seeing him in the team pictures.  My dad was my hero.  I wanted to do things he had done.

I had a cane pole, and he took me fishing. Then I got a little Zebco rod and reel.  I took the hunter safety course when it was offered as an extra-curricular session in the fifth grade.  Then we went hunting for rabbit.  We ate that rabbit I shot. Not bad. We canoed for my 13th birthday. As a family, we camped.

I think my first organized sports activities came in the fifth grade when I participated in summer league softball. I loved softball, but I didn’t play after we moved to Ohio, because it wasn’t offered there. Volleyball filled that void for three years. In the 8th grade, interscholastic competition opened up for girl’s basketball.  I played that throughout high school and was the leading rebounder my junior year. I decided to leave competitive sports in the middle of my senior year, so I didn’t finish the basketball season, nor did I compete in track that year. In the spring, track season came along.  I wasn’t much of a runner, but I did a fairly good discus toss for my time.  For a few years, I held my high school record.  Thankfully, someone broke that record (because it really needed to be broken).

In hindsight, I wish I’d been more open to cross country (I didn’t become a runner until the summer after high school graduation, and I ran until my late-30s when my knees betrayed me.  Then I trudged for a few years, and now I ride a recumbent stationary bike.) and golf for the fall and spring seasons.

I played a little intramural softball and a little lunchtime basketball in the Air Force. I get most of my exercise from yard work now. My knees, hands, back, and other appendages are giving me increasing hassles.  I’m trying to strike a balance between keeping the joints and muscles moving and reducing pain. If I don’t keep them moving, the pain will get worse.  It hurts to move. Finding balance. That’s the goal.