Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day!

These birdie accounts have me all caught up for the month of May.  C.J., Bruce, and I played yesterday, but I played so terribly that all birdies eluded me.  

Written on 5-22-16.

Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #6-Birdie #22 of 2016

     This is Eric’s sponsorship hole for Big-O, so this is a fun hole to get a birdie.  The flag was on the right side on the upper tier, a very tough location because it’s difficult to get a ball to stop on that thin strip up there.  The wind was blowing in our faces, so I clubbed up to my 8-iron.  If there wasn’t any wind, I would have chosen my 9-iron.  I haven’t birdied this hole in a while, just like the previous two, and these were all par threes, too, which makes these three birdies even more special.  

     My ball landed just short of the hole and stopped around six feet away.  This putt surprised me because I thought I was going to miss it on the left side, but for the last five inches it suddenly turned right and dropped in.  C.J. had given me a read with his putt for bogey just moments before, but I thought I was going to miss on that left side.

Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #14-Birdie #23 of 2016

     C.J. and I were playing the G.I.R. Game, one of our recent favorites.  This hole helped me take a bigger lead.  When we were done on the front nine, I was only up by...

Mancos Musings

Written on 5-22-16.

     I’m sitting on the couch up at the cabin home in Mancos.  Belinda, Danielle, and I came up for one night on a Sunday.  The fire is going (thanks to B), CBS is broadcasting golf, and we are settling in.  This week is busy with Danielle and I going back to Las Cruces and Belinda gearing up for the end of her one school year at Florida Mesa Elementary as the computer lab/research teacher; they are getting rid of her position after this school year ends.  I have my second ever training at Loma Heights this Thursday and Friday.  I’ve been spending hours getting my presentation just the way I want it.  

     My settling in involves writing, of course.  I have five new birdies to write about.  I got another one when playing with C.J. and Tom, his buddy, one day, and then yesterday I earned three more.  Let the birdie count continue…

Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #12-Birdie #20 of 2016

     Yep, that’s right.  I earned a birdie on hole #12, a rare thing indeed.  C.J. and I were playing together.  I used my utility club because the tees were back.  It was not pretty, but it was functional.  My ball shot out medium low.  I wish I could have seen it bouncing; I would want to know how many times it bounced before it jumped or rolled and ended up just four feet left of the hole that was near the middle of the green.  I saw the putt in my mind instantly.  It would move to the right slightly at the very end, so I aimed just to the left of the hole.  My ball caught the left edge and fell in!  C.J. was impressed; he knows how rare birdies are on this hole, slightly rarer than getting a green in regulations there.

Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #10-Birdie #21 of 2016

    Before we teed off, I discovered that C.J.’s buddy, Tom, and I had northeastern Colorado in common.  He lived and worked in Wray for years as an attorney.  I told him that my Uncle Ray, who died recently (sniff, sniff), was born there.  After our initial small talk, I chose my 9-iron and made an effortless swing to put my ball just past the hole and only five feet away.  The putt was mostly straight with only a tad of left to right in it.  Sadly, this birdie did not help me enough in my match against my two competitors.  C.J. wanted Tom as his partner to take me on in match play.  I held my own until holes #15, #16, and #17.  I didn’t do too badly on that three-hole stretch, going bogey, par, bogey.  Unfortunately for me, they went par, birdie, par with Tom chipping in for his only birdie of the round on #16.  I went from even to three down in a snap!  I did my best to come back, but the match ended on hole #2 after we had decided to hole #4 would be our closing hole.  Age and treachery beat my youth and beauty for this round (wink, wink).

Birdies Officially Entered Now

Let’s get these birdies in here officially.

Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #18-Birdie #17 of 2016

     I had to get an eagle to tie Rob (still not his real name) for our G.I.R. game.  We have been perfecting this game as we’ve gone along, making slight but necessary changes.  C.J. and I had a misunderstanding about what happens when one of us hits a green in regulation.  I thought that if we triple-putted (or worse), we would subtract a point from out total score.  That would really punish us for not using up one or two points.  He thought that hitting a green should guarantee a point, and that the only point that would be “lost” would be for not finishing up with one or two putts.  We are now on the same page, and I agree with C.J.  

     My eagle attempt came really close to...

Remembering Ray

Ray With My Best Friend Joe at James's HS Graduation 2012

Written on 4-29-16.

    I’m devastated.  My Uncle Ray died last weekend.  He was doing something he loved, dancing, so that’s a good thing, but…oh, what a loss for his family, for our family, for the world.  

     Ray was a ray of red-headed sunshine.  Ray was kindhearted, giving, funny, and hardworking.  He was close enough in age to be considered more like a cousin, just nine years older than me.  Instead, because of this closeness in age, he was this really cool uncle that I always looked forward to seeing and visiting.  I always felt right at home in Ray’s presence; I could be me.

     I remember Ray playing the organ at the old schoolhouse that was converted into their home in Eckley.  I can see him showing us what all the dials do, and I remember “air playing” a pretend keyboard to imitate (poorly) what he did so effortlessly.

     I remember how he designed and redesigned his bedroom, giving it a uniqueness none of the other bedrooms had.  When we would stay at Grandma’s for a week in the summer, and it was nap/quiet time, randomly getting Ray’s room was only second best to getting the big family room where the organ was.  He stretched out his living space to a large wooden spool thing that was a makeshift deck just outside his window.  

     I remember his patience and his love for...