Greetings from Christchurch

Hello from Christchurch, NZ. The American teams arrived here, seven in all (two are playing in Ashburton). Opening ceremonies are tonight. Many of the teams were out twice practicing (Mary Boswell had the 75 women on a 2 a day schedule and I heard no complaints; the men’s 60s, with Brian Cheney were also out practicing twice). Brenda Carter instead had the 60s up early for a single three hour session (on the hard courts).

Brian said that while he was waiting for his plane in Arizona, he asked a senior lady to watch his racquets for a minute and when he came back he explained why he was traveling with so many racquets and she made the comment that it must be something that was for men, that women wouldn’t be competitive enough to do this. She embellished that comment and Brian said nothing for a minute, just thinking that she made that comment to the wrong guy! (Brian’s mother of course is Dodo Cheney who is extremely competitive and has won about 350 national titles and is a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame.)

Driving here is on the left side of the road. The driver’s seat is on the right. The turn signal is on the right. The window shield wipers are on the left side of the steering wheel. They work very well. It hasn’t rained here. I gave someone a ride back from the airport yesterday. I think she thought it was more of an adventure than she wanted, but I’m only turning on the windshield wipers now occasionally. The venues are quite a ways apart, a car is very convenient.

After the captains’ meetings this afternoon there will be more to report.