Defeated

Brad beat me in tennis today 7-5, 6-2, 7-6. He was playing exceptionally well. He kept me off balance all day with a powerful serve, aggressiveness at the net, and hitting winners on all but two overheads, most of which were difficult to return. He also played with patience and then used powerful ground strokes to throw off my timing. His drop shot had me on the defensive. Yet, I had my chances and used the most abominable strategy of playing not to lose instead of playing to win. This defensive approach was forced by Brad's aggressiveness and my poor serving day. Nonetheless, Brad won fairly and squarely dominating me more than the score would indicate. The alarming question that arises with each new day is this: Will I ever beat Brad again. He is strong, fast, quick, and physically fit. Biology indicates that I can expect to lose strength, quickness, and speed with each passing day. I hope that for a few more months, I can at least keep our matches competitive.

In the afternoon made a few phone calls regarding land in Virginia. I also called a home builder to get some ideas on square footage cost.