Reverb 11 Writing Prompt: Describe an unexpected moment, activity, sighting or conversation that touched you during July.

July was a super interesting month and I should have come to expect nothing less than that from this city of New York City. There is always something going on — true of most cities — but here there is always something going on. In my short time here in fact, I have been lucky enough to be able to enjoy some great food. Not as much as I would like, but I have now found two of the best burgers in the city. Of course, I am sure that will change, but the first is Tom’s Restaurant (from Seinfeld) and one I recently went to, Paul’s Burgers. Both were delicious, fresh and well worth their diner-like price.

But that is not the moment I would like to mention. When this happened, it was not unexpected as my friend Joel and I had planned it for about a week, but the chance and the invite itself was. You see, I have been a tennis player for as long as I can remember. When I quit playing Little League back around the age of 13, I had no other athletic outlet. But then I found a tennis racquet hanging in my parents’ garage and I feel in love. It was a wooden racquet (yes, that is how I got started) and I quickly learned about the game.

Fast forward a few years and I was working for the United States Tennis Association and had the opportunity to play on a real grass court. This court was not at the famed SW19 (Wimbledon), but rather a single grass court in a farm near Charles City, Iowa. I hit for an hour against one of my best friends Tylor (I wrote about him in my book Anything is Possible) and we both had a tremendous time. We both grew up in the Midwest, and in the Midwest we have hard courts. Lots of them. But that is all we have. So to have the chance to play on grass was a complete thrill.

And now to July. Up around 96th Street on the Hudson River are 12 secluded red clay tennis courts. Off to the west is the river and to the North, East and South are trees. It definitely does not feel like you are in a city of 8 million at these courts. In fact, we almost couldn’t find them!

But as I walked onto the courts (I have no idea how Joel was feeling), I had a nervous feeling. I’ve played tons of matches and been to and ran countless practices, but this felt like my first match, or a championship match. I had never played on any clay, let alone red clay! Once the court was dragged and the lines cleaned, Joel and I went to work. When he and I hit around, we like to hit the ball, hard. In a matter of minutes I had worked up quite the sweat, but it was a good one.

We were hitting, slicing and sliding our way to the Coupe des Mousquetaires. Because of rain the night before, sliding was a bit tricky, but I slowly got the hang of it. My shots weren’t perfect, but I can’t wait to get back on the surface. Now that I have played on four surfaces, hard, grass, carpet and clay, I can honestly say my two favorites are clay and grass. They are just more fun and honestly, safer for my body.

I’m so glad I had the chance to play on clay with a friend, have a good time, and secured a fall at the end. I went to slide and I think my shoe got stuck on the line and I took a mild tumble. But it was nothing compared to our last point. Joel and I exchanged a few shots and I eventually hit a ball long. As it sailed over the baseline, Joel dropped his racquet and fell to his back. He stood up, we shook hands and the red clay clung to his shirt. Classic clay.