Written on 6-11-15.
I’m sitting in the CTX at San Juan College, here for the purpose of drafting a proposal for how our Bisti Writing Project could help surrounding districts, their teachers, and therefore their students, too. It’s lunchtime, but I have some time to do some writing before we reconvene.
On to golf…
Guy and I had a blast at the Herndon Centennial Golf Course. Like always, we teed off on #1 and then we were putting out on #18 a few seconds later. That’s how it always goes, it seems. I told him after our round that I wish we could play again tomorrow, and then play again on the weekend, but Belinda and I flew away from the east coast on Tuesday instead, and I will be playing this Saturday at Riverview. That will be fun, of course, but it won’t be a round of golf with my brother. I titled my last post, A Rare Treat, and that’s how it is when I play with Guy and we are all alone; it just doesn’t happen very often.
We chose to work cooperatively. I thought we could shoot an 85 or better with our best ball score. Par was 71, so I thought we could keep it from going over +14.
We didn’t get to play...
alone for very long either. At hole #3, we were slowed by the two ladies in front of us, so the twosome that was behind us came up with plenty of time to join us on that tee box. Even though they were walking and we were riding, they still caught us easily. They were pleasant to play with, though. He was retired from a homeland security job “on the Hill.” She continues to do IT work. She said she had a business call that morning, but since it was done it freed her up to play. She is not a member there, but he is. He would cuss and get upset over flubbed chips, and then she would get embarrassed by his behavior, so she would also get flustered and play worse. Other than that, they were terrific company, and neither Guy nor I were bothered by his rare and not so over-the-top fits of anger.
6-14-15
After a lunch of Progresso soup with chicken and wild rice, some Triscuit crackers with Garden Herb seasoning, and a Dr. Pepper, I am set to write. Belinda is napping on the couch. The fire is going. The FedEx St. Jude Classic is on TV. A steady rain is coming down outside.
We are up at the cabin home, and life is great! I slept in until 11:08 this morning. I can’t remember the last time I’ve done that. I slept so soundly during that time, I dreamt. Fittingly, I dreamt of teaching golf for The First Tee. It starts this week. I am holding my first parent meeting on Wednesday evening at 5:30. After that meeting, I drive straight away to Santa Fe for the first of three technology trainings this summer on Thursday. The focus this time is Google Apps for educators and training trainers who will, in turn, train other teachers.
Although I have retired from teaching, like most “retirees,” I am already busier than ever. Mostly, it’s been for The First Tee. My first session begins a week from tomorrow, and now that my first training is over, I have the real work ahead of me. I need to go online to complete some post training forms, including a survey about the training I just received in Baltimore in order to fully complete my training. At least that sounds less ominous than facing Darth Vader one final time. I also need to prepare for the parent meeting, of course, and I must get all of my lesson plans written, my equipment ready, and all my communication with Hidden Valley taken care of. Then I must get my three volunteers ready to go by getting their forms turned in, their online trainings completed, and their scheduled times set. Since it’s all new to me, the learning curve is steep, but I am confident it will all work out because I am going to do my best to make The First Tee in Aztec a hugely successful program.
In golf, I wanted to write a bit more about playing with Guy. Then I can recount the Robbie Ward Tournament that took place yesterday. Guy and I found and used some leftover range balls to warm up before we teed off, and that was fun. Guy asked if I could help him during the round with swing tips, so I said I would. My driver swing felt great that day, and I was picking out targets and swinging right at them. That feeling continued to the first tee where I started off with a smooth swing that went right up the left side and stopped on the fairway. We almost reached our goal of +14. It occurred to me that we knew our own games well. He thought he would shoot around 103, and I guessed that I would shoot just over 90. We picked +14 as our goal, and we ended up shooting +15. It would be better for both of us if we could free ourselves and escape our minds, allowing us to shoot better scores. Many times when I play, I am unintentionally captive to my own low expectations.
After being off pace with our goal after the front nine (we were +9 already), we readjusted and set a new goal to simply improve our score on the back, which we did by shooting a +6. We talked about how we should have walked the entire round to save some money and gain some valuable exercise, especially since play was slow, but I noted that it was better that we rode in the cart to have more time to be together and talk some more. I was right. Being in the cart always brought us together between holes to talk and catch up on our lives.
Despite the east coast altitude and humidity, I had some of my best and most satisfying drives with the new Bridgestone golf balls Bruce had given me for our “rewirement.” On one hole, the guy who played with us said he had never seen anyone drive it as far as I had. I joked that he must not have played there enough, or that he must have played with the wrong people.
Coming to the green on #6, I could not help but hear and notice children playfully screaming and laughing behind the trees and the fence. I asked if it was a swimming pool because it felt like summer to me, but it was actually a school playground. That was surreal! After just having playground duty myself, here I was with my brother playing golf during my first summer as a retired teacher. Instead of feeling happy or relieved, though, I actually felt guilt. Good grief! Aren’t 25.5 years of service to Aztec’s children not enough to relieve my guilt? Despite the guilt, and with a good read from Guy, I made a difficult putt for par.
On the final hole, Guy and I both had two of our best drives of the round, and we both ended with pars. My final drive ended up being around 320 yards, but Guy said that despite the altitude, the wind can still greatly affect our shots. Well, the wind really helped me on that one! When we were on the range, we were teeing off into the wind, and I could barely get my drives to go near the 250 yard marker. On #18, the wind was at our backs.
As mentioned above, yesterday, Bruce, Reilly, Shawn, and I played in the Robbie Ward Memorial Tournament at Riverview. Normally played at Hidden Valley, the venue changed this year due to the city’s takeover and the possibility that it might or might not have worked out in Aztec. Riverview was gorgeous. With all the rain we’ve had in our area, everything is green and lush. When we returned home from Baltimore and Reston, we noticed that the difference between how green everything was out there was not too different with how everything is green here.
With 16 teams and many hole sponsors, it was another successful tournament. We ended up shooting a 68 together in a straight scramble format. The winning team shot a 60, and the next two lowest scores were 61s, so we were nowhere near placing this time, but it was still fun and it was a beautiful day on a well designed golf course with greens in the best condition we have ever seen out there.
It was also a day where I got to know Shawn, a UPS driver of 29 years and C.J.’s next door neighbor. He was frustrated with his play, but he also works nights, and he had just driven back from Albuquerque the night before. I know my golf game would be a wreck with such a lack of sleep. He was great company, despite his lack of sleep.
I’m sitting in the CTX at San Juan College, here for the purpose of drafting a proposal for how our Bisti Writing Project could help surrounding districts, their teachers, and therefore their students, too. It’s lunchtime, but I have some time to do some writing before we reconvene.
On to golf…
Guy and I had a blast at the Herndon Centennial Golf Course. Like always, we teed off on #1 and then we were putting out on #18 a few seconds later. That’s how it always goes, it seems. I told him after our round that I wish we could play again tomorrow, and then play again on the weekend, but Belinda and I flew away from the east coast on Tuesday instead, and I will be playing this Saturday at Riverview. That will be fun, of course, but it won’t be a round of golf with my brother. I titled my last post, A Rare Treat, and that’s how it is when I play with Guy and we are all alone; it just doesn’t happen very often.
We chose to work cooperatively. I thought we could shoot an 85 or better with our best ball score. Par was 71, so I thought we could keep it from going over +14.
We didn’t get to play...
alone for very long either. At hole #3, we were slowed by the two ladies in front of us, so the twosome that was behind us came up with plenty of time to join us on that tee box. Even though they were walking and we were riding, they still caught us easily. They were pleasant to play with, though. He was retired from a homeland security job “on the Hill.” She continues to do IT work. She said she had a business call that morning, but since it was done it freed her up to play. She is not a member there, but he is. He would cuss and get upset over flubbed chips, and then she would get embarrassed by his behavior, so she would also get flustered and play worse. Other than that, they were terrific company, and neither Guy nor I were bothered by his rare and not so over-the-top fits of anger.
6-14-15
After a lunch of Progresso soup with chicken and wild rice, some Triscuit crackers with Garden Herb seasoning, and a Dr. Pepper, I am set to write. Belinda is napping on the couch. The fire is going. The FedEx St. Jude Classic is on TV. A steady rain is coming down outside.
We are up at the cabin home, and life is great! I slept in until 11:08 this morning. I can’t remember the last time I’ve done that. I slept so soundly during that time, I dreamt. Fittingly, I dreamt of teaching golf for The First Tee. It starts this week. I am holding my first parent meeting on Wednesday evening at 5:30. After that meeting, I drive straight away to Santa Fe for the first of three technology trainings this summer on Thursday. The focus this time is Google Apps for educators and training trainers who will, in turn, train other teachers.
Although I have retired from teaching, like most “retirees,” I am already busier than ever. Mostly, it’s been for The First Tee. My first session begins a week from tomorrow, and now that my first training is over, I have the real work ahead of me. I need to go online to complete some post training forms, including a survey about the training I just received in Baltimore in order to fully complete my training. At least that sounds less ominous than facing Darth Vader one final time. I also need to prepare for the parent meeting, of course, and I must get all of my lesson plans written, my equipment ready, and all my communication with Hidden Valley taken care of. Then I must get my three volunteers ready to go by getting their forms turned in, their online trainings completed, and their scheduled times set. Since it’s all new to me, the learning curve is steep, but I am confident it will all work out because I am going to do my best to make The First Tee in Aztec a hugely successful program.
In golf, I wanted to write a bit more about playing with Guy. Then I can recount the Robbie Ward Tournament that took place yesterday. Guy and I found and used some leftover range balls to warm up before we teed off, and that was fun. Guy asked if I could help him during the round with swing tips, so I said I would. My driver swing felt great that day, and I was picking out targets and swinging right at them. That feeling continued to the first tee where I started off with a smooth swing that went right up the left side and stopped on the fairway. We almost reached our goal of +14. It occurred to me that we knew our own games well. He thought he would shoot around 103, and I guessed that I would shoot just over 90. We picked +14 as our goal, and we ended up shooting +15. It would be better for both of us if we could free ourselves and escape our minds, allowing us to shoot better scores. Many times when I play, I am unintentionally captive to my own low expectations.
After being off pace with our goal after the front nine (we were +9 already), we readjusted and set a new goal to simply improve our score on the back, which we did by shooting a +6. We talked about how we should have walked the entire round to save some money and gain some valuable exercise, especially since play was slow, but I noted that it was better that we rode in the cart to have more time to be together and talk some more. I was right. Being in the cart always brought us together between holes to talk and catch up on our lives.
Despite the east coast altitude and humidity, I had some of my best and most satisfying drives with the new Bridgestone golf balls Bruce had given me for our “rewirement.” On one hole, the guy who played with us said he had never seen anyone drive it as far as I had. I joked that he must not have played there enough, or that he must have played with the wrong people.
Coming to the green on #6, I could not help but hear and notice children playfully screaming and laughing behind the trees and the fence. I asked if it was a swimming pool because it felt like summer to me, but it was actually a school playground. That was surreal! After just having playground duty myself, here I was with my brother playing golf during my first summer as a retired teacher. Instead of feeling happy or relieved, though, I actually felt guilt. Good grief! Aren’t 25.5 years of service to Aztec’s children not enough to relieve my guilt? Despite the guilt, and with a good read from Guy, I made a difficult putt for par.
On the final hole, Guy and I both had two of our best drives of the round, and we both ended with pars. My final drive ended up being around 320 yards, but Guy said that despite the altitude, the wind can still greatly affect our shots. Well, the wind really helped me on that one! When we were on the range, we were teeing off into the wind, and I could barely get my drives to go near the 250 yard marker. On #18, the wind was at our backs.
As mentioned above, yesterday, Bruce, Reilly, Shawn, and I played in the Robbie Ward Memorial Tournament at Riverview. Normally played at Hidden Valley, the venue changed this year due to the city’s takeover and the possibility that it might or might not have worked out in Aztec. Riverview was gorgeous. With all the rain we’ve had in our area, everything is green and lush. When we returned home from Baltimore and Reston, we noticed that the difference between how green everything was out there was not too different with how everything is green here.
With 16 teams and many hole sponsors, it was another successful tournament. We ended up shooting a 68 together in a straight scramble format. The winning team shot a 60, and the next two lowest scores were 61s, so we were nowhere near placing this time, but it was still fun and it was a beautiful day on a well designed golf course with greens in the best condition we have ever seen out there.
It was also a day where I got to know Shawn, a UPS driver of 29 years and C.J.’s next door neighbor. He was frustrated with his play, but he also works nights, and he had just driven back from Albuquerque the night before. I know my golf game would be a wreck with such a lack of sleep. He was great company, despite his lack of sleep.
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