One of the best things about playing pickleball up at the university is that we then find ourselves with a couple of outdoor table tennis tables just begging us for a brief game. It’s always rude not to.
After a two-hour session playing pickleball inside, we headed to the Great Outdoors for a knock-up on the university table of dreams.
Although these look identical to our table of choice back in Weird Wiv, it actually plays a lot harder. There is a definite louder clanking of the ball when it hits the surface. It makes for a very speedy game.
Some of these shots get a little hit and miss. It helped on Monday that campus was deserted, with no students around to witness some of the wiff waff shots gone wrong.
I was experimenting a little when I then heard some shrieks of laughter. I turned around to see a whole coach load of secondary school kids being offered a tour of the campus. Taking in table tennis probably wasn’t on their agenda for the day.
The wind picked up a little. We felt for the nearby trees that have recently been felled down to around 10 m or so. It looks like the idea was to try and encourage growth. The lack of greenery and the rotting bark suggests this experiment has failed.
My belief in Mother Nature was restored slightly when a butterfly joined us for one final game. The little fella almost went back and forth with the ball, tracking it from one end of the table to the other.
If Mr. Butterfly was keeping score, he would have clocked up another 3-2 defeat for me.
