Monday, May 30, 2011

Back at the Cabin and 5th Birdie This Season!

5-16-11
    I am sitting in our truck at the Vanilla Moose waiting for family.  We are celebrating James getting a job with the YCC (Youth Conservation Corps) this summer.  It’s a big deal; this will be his first real job.
A group of teenagers just showed up with James.  They are a busy bunch, moving around, talking, laughing, acting “cool.”  James asked me where Belinda was.  I said I didn’t know.

5-29-11 Memorial Day Weekend
    We are back at the cabin for the first time in a long time.  It’s a big group.  Char, Dale, Anna, and our regular two families came this time.  We are mostly here for... Dale’s 70th birthday celebration, but it’s also an end of school celebration.  The children all spent the night in a tent, but they are all in the cabin now.  It’s 10:41, but here they are.  The idea (Belinda’s I believe) was to keep them out of the cabin in the morning so we could all have room and some peace and quiet for breakfast.  It worked!  Now, no more peace and quiet.  We are getting the story of last night’s adventure in the tent.  Sounds like Danielle got the worst of it.  Becca sleep-talking, Tara the dog sleeping on top of her, and all the bodies not positioned the right way for the blowing wind. 
    It’s a couple of hours later now.  Everyone is off doing his/her own thing.  The kids are taking turns playing with the two paintball guns that Kyle owns and brought.  Eric is messing with the water pump, trying to get the hot water heater working for the shower and other uses. 
    I helped with that a little bit earlier.  B held the ladder while I climbed up to push the venting tube as vertical as I could get it.  It didn’t work, though.  Eric needs to buy an elbow thing to make it work properly.   The girls (A, B, and C) went for a walk.  We don’t know where, but Char mentioned something about walking uphill.  Eric tried to find them on a 4-wheeler, but could not.
    I think Dale and Anna are in their Airstream reading books.  Don’t really know for sure.
    I worked really hard to find my green shave kit.  I wanted to wash my face, shave, brush my teeth, and wake up a little bit before I sat down to write or read some more.  I can’t find it, though.  Maybe B knows where it is.
    I wonder if Bruce and C.J. are playing today.  It’s Memorial Day weekend, so Bruce might have gone somewhere with his family.  The last time I played with them I played terribly.  I shot a 101 that adjusted to a 98.  Way too many double bogeys or worse.  I did have one birdie, though.

Hidden Valley-Hole # 8-Birdie #5 of 2011
          
    I used my utility club to tee off.  I pushed it.  It landed over by the teeing ground on hole #13.  The flag was on the lower tier this time.  I used my sand wedge for my approach.  My ball was in some thick grass.  I worked very hard to keep my head still and it worked.  I had great contact, and my ball shot out high and toward the green.  It looked good, but it landed short and off the green.  I used my putter from off the green, left the stick in and it hit the stick and fell in.  It helped my score a little bit, but certainly not enough.

    We played the handicap game, but not the reverse handicap game.  That is what Bruce thought I meant when I said it. 
    I was the one who chose the game.  I thought I would need all the help I could get (not feeling confident at all), so I wanted my strokes to lend a hand.  It did not matter in the least when we were done.  I was the odd man out when it was all over.  Bruce and C.J. ended up tying with their handicaps.  Bruce said he gives C.J. nine strokes at the end of their rounds.  With Bruce being a 9 or a 10 and C.J. being an 18, Bruce said it actually gives him an advantage when the play the handicap game.
    I think they tied with a 78, meaning Bruce shot a 78 and C.J. shot an 87, so he got a 78 also.  I think.
    Anyway, I played terribly.  I also walked slowly, and Bruce noticed.  Part of that, though, was that they were teeing off before I did due to honors, so I would tee off last on almost every hole, and then I was slow to pick up my bag and catch up.  It was really obvious on the fairway on #14.  I think he asked me if I was going to make it.   I mentioned something like since we only had four more holes to go, I thought I would.
    The Bisti Writing Project summer institute that I will be the co-director of this time around begins this Thursday.  I am so excited to be a big part of it!  Last year, I was only a tech helper, but this time, I am almost in charge! 
    I am also hoping that it will help me get into a routine of working out and eating better again, especially for golf.  The plan is to get up and work out every morning before I go.  After the institute, it would be great if two times/week I could go practice some short game or go to the range at Pinon Hills.
    If I want to break 80 this season, I must play better!
    Everyone has left the cabin now except Char, Belinda, Amanda and me.  That’s a combo we have never had here before.  I think Dale had a great birthday.  Last night we had steak, potatoes, salad, and Dale had a gin and tonic (or two or three) with Eric and Anna and Char. 
    The girls and I just got back from an hour long walk through Ground Hog Vista.  It was a nice walk with cool breezes and conversations about teaching and students who misbehave.  Char, although not a teacher, does a fine job with all this teacher talk.  The twins have now washed their hair and they both feel like new women because of it. 
    We have a fire going.  I am writing and the girls are chatting by the fire.  I just texted James and Danielle to see where they are at and what they are doing.  James is the first to reply so far.
    It’s almost 9:00.  I am tired after our walk, and I am having a beer.  It’s making me even more sleepy.  I should proofread Tom’s book some more, but I feel like veggin‘ out and watching a movie.  I might do that instead.  Not in the mood to work or even write right now.

Until next time...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey,
I enjoyed reading your posts. I hope the Bisti is going well. Looking forward to playing again. Bruce