Summer Days

Written on 7-9-16.

     As I typed in the date, I realized that Danielle said she wanted to go back to Cruces on the 10th, but she might stay a bit longer now.  She is out on Jackson Lake kayaking while I sit and write in our cherry red GMC truck, still shiny after its recent waxing.  Does this scenario sound familiar?  Danielle is just like her mother.  We are both happy right now just like the time Belinda and I were happy when she went kayaking and I sat and wrote in the truck just like I am today.  

     Today, though, we are just one outlet away from where Belinda launched last time.  The windows are down and random cool breezes run through the truck’s open windows.  I see other breezes wiggle the leaves on nearby trees and bushes, but the leaves hold still more often than they wiggle.  

     We haven’t heard much from James; we know he’s busy.  He texted us, but it was brief.  It said, “Hey day one was good and so is day two!!  I hope youre having an awesome 4th (smiley face emoji).”

We also got to FaceTime with him, and we got to say hello to Nicola during that call as well.  They both looked so...

happy, and that made my heart feel warm.  He is beginning his new life and career, and he has a best friend to help him navigate it all.  Hmmmm, that sounds like a familiar scenario, too, like when Belinda and I started out with our lives and careers just over a quarter of a century ago.  Hmmmmmm. 

     I have worked with the Bisti Writing Project’s newest ILI (Invitational Leadership Institute) this past week as their tech liaison and TIW (Teacher Inquiry Workshop) demonstrator.  It has all gone really well so far.  I set up a Blogger site for their institute, and I presented a successful workshop titled Newbies and Expies yesterday, one I’ve presented once before about the qualities that new teachers and experienced teachers bring to the profession and asking: Why can’t all teachers have all of those qualities?  

     This is a super group, and it reminds me of the institute from five years ago when a brain surgery crashed into my co-directorship smack dab in the middle of it all.  So blessed to be on the other side of that now, to be able to help out and share my expertise once more.  This is another small group with only eight fellows, and it’s a super group of individuals.  I look forward to working with them as this ILI continues throughout the school year.

On to golf…

     I earned one birdie when Bruce, C.J., and I played last.  We played our G.I.R. game, and it was pretty close.  The final points were: Bruce, 25, Pat, 19, and C.J.: 12.  It’s funny how our handicaps can sometimes not only match, but dictate how the match goes.

Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #15-Birdie #30 of 2016

     I attempted to drive this green, too.  My ball flew high and sliced toward the ditch, however.  Bruce was fairly certain that it had landed in there, but after they had made their approach shots and when I was looking for a spot to drop, I spied a ball in the tall grass next to the ditch.  When I got close enough to identify it, I saw my orange markings and some mud on the ball.  C.J. had said earlier that we could lift, clean, and place, but I chose not to.  

    I cuffed my ball out of there with my approach wedge, and it landed on the green and rolled toward the hole, stopping five feet short.  I hardly ever do this, but I stopped and restarted my routine before putting because my playing partners were talking.  It helped.  The putt was straight and a little uphill, and it trickled up to the hole and barely dropped in.  On the very next hole, I had an identical putt that stopped and turned left just before the hole.

     I barely beat C.J. with my stroke play score.  I had three rough holes on the front nine (#2, #3, and #4), so I shot a 46, but I turned it around and played better on the back, shooting a 39 for a total 85.  C.J. shot an 86.  Bruce, why am I not surprised, shot a two over par 74, matching my best 18 hole score ever as if it was nothing.

     I’ve been back at the cabin home for a while now.  Danielle and I are enjoying some quiet time after lunch.  She’s lying down out on the deck reading, and I’m going back and forth between a pre-recorded Greenbrier Classic and the U.S. Women’s Open.  The Greenbrier Classic has been cancelled due to the severe flooding that not only ruined the golf course, but tragically took lives.  So sad.  I don’t know if they are showing last year’s tournament, but it’s footage of the final round and it’s a playoff between Bill Haas, Bob Estes, and Scott Stallings.   Scott has a chance to win, and he just did it, nailing his birdie putt, a putt similar to the one that got him in the playoff.

     I’m mostly caught up now, so I am going to find out where I’m at with the official birdie and eagle count.