Both Cam and I had the day off from work today … so without question we galloped down to Megansett Beach to play in the daily paddle-ball battles that happen, well, every day. They are officially known as the “Cape Cod All-Terrain Paddle Ball Games” (CCATPBG), but we usually just call it paddle-ball. The games vary from day to day; sometimes you can find an opponent over 7 years old, and sometimes you can’t. What’s important is that no matter what, you’ll find some hearty competition.  How it works is like this:

• Buy some paddles and a ball from the convenience store on the way to the beach
• Challenge an opponent formally buy kicking sand in their face
• Draw lines in the sand
• Paddle the ball

Today, we found some fierce paddle-balling with a couple 4th-graders. We played doubles; Cam up front and myself on the serve. My specialty is a waffle-serve where I put enough spin on the ball to put a rock tumbler to shame. Cam stays up front for the overhead slams and trash-talking.

We had the edge for pretty much the whole game except for a small run by our miniature opponents just before half time. Otherwise we beat them soundly. My favorite part of these matches is that often they draw a crowd. Today there were at least a baker’s-dozen fans … not counting the 4th grader’s parents … they sort of grew sour when Cam threw a handful of shells at the kids during one of my serves.

The win today puts us in good standing to clinch the wildcard playoff spot!