Pollyrafa ...

Hehe ... excuse my little play on words.

But you know what I mean ... Pollyanna. Or maybe you don't. But I'm talking about the children's book where it's central character always has a positive outlook on life, even though she's had a lot of adversities to overcome.

Sound familiar?

But in more recent times,"Pollyanna" has become a disparaging word ... something to describe someone who is too idealistic and outside the realms of reality; someone who is too overtly positive. I'm normally cautious about many things, and usually it's me who is the "glass half empty" kind of person. But not today, and not regarding Rafa's re-appearance on the court. Because for once I'm going to find my inner Pollyanna. I'm going to don those ringlets and put ribbons in them.  I'm going to put on my bonnet and wear it at a jaunty angle.  The reason being is that I always thought that Rafa would surely have to return to the court in private and test his knees away from the full glare of media attention. And only when he felt confident and pain-free would he then wish to announce to the world that he was back. Of course he must have been mindful of the Australian Open and how the countdown is beginning, but I sincerely trust Rafa this time. This man had given up on the Olympic Games, the US Open, the World Tour Finals and the Davis Cup. And if he didn't feel right and ready to play again, I have no doubts whatsoever that he would have given up on the Australian Open too.

So I was immensely pleased to read via David Nadal from IB3 that Rafa had been secretly practising because I do believe that if he'd had any issues whatsoever, if he'd had a bad reaction, or if he still felt the pain ... then he would have continued with his rehabilitation. But the best quote today was this ...

"Every day is better otherwise I wouldn't be on the court."

Ab-so-lutely.

Pollyanna played a game to maintain her famous optimism and to see good in every situation ... the "Glad Game". And do you know what? I want to play one of my own ...

I'm glad to see Rafa on the court again.

I'm glad to see that smile once more.

I'm glad to hear the Rafagrunt.

I'm glad that however bad it was at the time, that his Wimbledon defeat provoked a time out for diagnosis, prognosis, assessment and recovery.

I'm just so glad to have him back. *wipes tear*

But most of all ...

I'm glad to have so many friends in the real and cyber world to share this joyous news with.

I'm glad we all stuck together through this difficult time.

I'm glad you kept coming by to share this blog.

I'm glad we were still able to raise a smile about superarses and Dianne having five squirrels in her bush (you sooooooo have to get on Twitter, people ;) )

And most of all ...

I'm glad to be a Rafa fan.

VAMOSSSSSSS!!!

picture via @RafaelNadalFC