"I'm...I'm...Shot." Quellek from Galaxy Quest

Written on 3-17-16.

     Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  Since I’m not teaching anymore, I actually forgot to wear green today.  That would have never happened as a full-time teacher.  No way!  I admit it’s nice to not have to deal with stuff like that anymore.  No more Halloween parties either.  Christmas parties.  Gee, I sound like a Scrooge.  Although during the second half of my career, I actually looked forward to parties…and parent-teacher conferences.  They were a pleasant distraction from the daily grind of test-prep. 

     The girls arrived at their apartment home a bit ago.  I’m thankful they made it all the way to southern Texas and back again.  Whoa!  I just had a deja vu.  I put on a Donna Summer song, and I remembered thinking about their long trip and making it back safely.  Weird.

     I have two new birdies to report, so here goes. 

Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #18-Birdie #8 of 2016

     I was playing alone like I had mentioned above, and this was C.J.’s birthday round, but he had left already.  I played well, shooting a 38.  After C.J. left, I managed the last four holes at even par with a bogey on #15 (my only triple-putt), one par each on #16 and #17, and then this birdie.

     I aimed for #3’s fairway and missed gloriously with a towering slice that landed squarely on #18’s fairway instead.  I was 15 yards back from the 150 yard marker, so I chose my 7-iron to go for the green.  My ball stubbornly went...

If Tomorrow It All Fell to Pieces...

Written on 3-11-16.

    It’s 7:16 PM, and Belinda is driving toward Walsenburg.  We are heading to Colorado Springs to hang with the Lamberts tonight and tomorrow morning.  Emily is flying back to Prescott after brunch, but their entire family will be together for a short time.  Then we will head to Mom and Dad’s for the rest of the weekend, because…we can.  Dad is having digestive issues, and he had two procedures this past week to figure it all out.  Hopefully, we can help out in some ways while we are there.  We will also get to see Joe, and as a special bonus, my high school English teacher, Becky Porter, on Monday before heading home.  She was the one who put me on my path to becoming a teacher.  I am so looking forward to seeing her and having Belinda meet her, too.

    In other news, it’s highly likely I have...

Sometimes It's Hard to Get a Par

     I made one more birdie on the last hole, and it was great to have Terry there to witness these.  He appeared impressed, especially with my approach on this hole.

Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #18-Birdie #6 of 2016

     This was one of those drives where I aimed for #3, but it faded and headed for #18 instead.  It didn’t make it to the fairway, though, instead nestling at the very end of the last fairway bunker on the left side.  This was the shot of the day, in my opinion.  With my 5-iron, I clipped the ball crisply out of the sand causing it to fly high in the air and land just short of the green and the flag that was on the front right side.  It didn’t take much to putt my ball onto the green and then finish up my less than two foot birdie putt.  We shook hands, commented on how wonderful it was to play together for the first time, and went our separate ways.  I doubt I will play with him again since he prefers Pinon Hills and Hillcrest, but it’s possible.

     My rough start really hurt my score, but my big takeaway will be that I can start with some lousy scores and still turn things around.

     I earned one more birdie yesterday after playing with Tink and C.J.  They left after the front nine, but I continued to play a full eighteen holes.  On the front, C.J. and Tink took me on in best ball match play.  I beat them handily 4 and 3, so we started over for the last three holes.  Tink played really well on the last three holes finishing par, bogey, par to help them beat me handily right back.  I had some out of bounds problems on both #7 and #8, and my drive was glorious again on #9, but we never found it.  This one sailed over all the trees that line #11’s fairway again, but it was a bit more to the left this time.  Instead of starting with some really poor golf on the first three holes this time, I ended with some ugly golf instead.

     After they left, I continued my ugly golf, but in my defense the wind was really whipping while I played the back.  I couldn’t score a single par, so I...

Slow Beginning, Happy Ending

Written on 3-3-16.

     I have a bit of time here before B and I head to Farmington to meet with an accountant.  With our recent “rewiring,” consulting with an accountant on all of our changes seems not only appropriate, but necessary.

     I have four new birdies, and I want to record them before I forget how they happened.  I also had on excellent round (less three holes) where I had three of those birdies.  I shot an 81, but it could have been much better.  I’ll explain as I write.

     I should have done it in reverse, but that’s not how I always work.  Instead of work first, play later I chose to do the opposite.  C.J. was out of town hiking the Grand Canyon with his buddy, Hart, who was testing out his new hip.  Bruce texted me on Saturday morning, but since I had just walked 18 holes the day before, and I had plenty of planning left to do for my Santa Fe training, I declined.  Bummer!  I should have...