It’s a sure sign of spring: the arrival of the purple martins down at the marina on the riverfront where I keep my boat. I first noticed them the morning of March 21: that day there were just two, and I think they were “scouts” getting the house ready for their flock. By this past Friday morning there were at least a half dozen of them here. (The two visible in the photo were the only ones bold enough to stick around when I approached with my camera.)
The purple martins are one of those simple pleasures I enjoy when I go down to the dock, and I think that's an important part of being an athlete, to savor the little things about the places you go to train. To like those places. I genuinely like the environs of the harbor and the entire Memphis riverfront, and I think that helps motivate me to get my paddling in on a regular basis. Similarly, when I had my little dry-land routine going this past winter, I chose a spot in the Greenbelt Park overlooking the Mississippi River to do it. The routine felt hard and tedious at times, but I enjoyed being down there and I almost always came away feeling better than I'd felt beforehand.
I think this identification with a place is something accomplished athletes in all sports share. A dedicated basketball player will probably tell you that he enjoys being in the gym each day, with the echoes of the ball bouncing and sneakers squeaking against the hardwood floor, the popping sound he hears when he takes a shot and hits nothing but net, even the sweaty smell in the locker room.
The more you like the place where you do your sport, the more eager you'll be to get to work each day and make yourself accomplished in that sport.
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