Written on 8-11-18.
We are close to halfway through August already? That’s cuckoo. Belinda and I just drove back from Durango, and we are sitting in the Edgerton’s living room. No, change that. I just moved outside to get some fresh air. It’s just beginning to get cool enough here to be outside, and the shady spots are very comfortable. I’m sitting in the same kind of chair the kids bought for Belinda for Mother’s Day years ago, but this one belongs to Amanda, of course. B is about to join me. It’s just too beautiful to be inside right now.
We drove to Durango in two vehicles, our new truck and Peggy. We returned Peggy to Danielle, because Eric let her borrow his Land Cruiser to show off to her firefighting friends for a couple of weeks. It worked; they were impressed, especially her buddy, Scott. He even asked Danielle to drive him to Walmart in the thing. She could not get the door shut one time, though, despite slamming it and messing with the handle and the locking mechanism, so she drove home while holding the door shut. Not an easy feat considering it’s a standard. When she got back, Scott closed it in minutes. She left the Land Cruiser with Eric at their family reunion at the O-Bar-O today. Kyle or Matt can drive it home tomorrow, and this way Eric can have some fun with it while they are there, too. It all worked out.
We got very little time with Danielle, but we were grateful for every moment. She met us at...
the reunion, too, and we had lunch together there at the outdoor dining area behind the cabin where Eric’s family was sleeping. We talked about her new assignment that starts tomorrow (helicopter duty?), Kyle’s new golf project for a movie, Becca and Matt’s wedding, and the date that Kyle almost had with Dr. Lavengood’s daughter, Emily.
After lunch, we drove to Durango and stopped at three different outdoorsy stores to watch and help Danielle buy a $220 coat and a $140 waterproof sleeping bag cover. Good grief. I’ve never seen our daughter spend so much money in such a short amount of time. She can afford it with all of the hazard pay she’s been earning. After a coffee at Durango Joe’s, she drove off with Peggy, and Belinda told me she just texted to let us know she was back “home” in Pagosa.
On to golf…
C.J. and I played yesterday, and it wasn’t pretty. I chose a game where we competed by combining our net scores with a pro of our choice. This is the e-mail I sent to him earlier today…
C.J.,
Well, it certainly wasn’t pretty, was it? We both shot a 94.
Your score with a 20 handicap was a 74. Paired with Spieth, who shot a 66 yesterday, your team score was 140.
My score with an 11 handicap was an 83. Ugh. Paired with DeChambeau, who shot a 70, our team score was 153.
Even if we gave you a handicap of 18 and me a handicap of 14, you still would have won. It would have been 142 to 150.
When do you want to play again? I leave for Colorado on Friday morning.
It was not pretty. It was my worst round so far this season, and the most incredibly horrible front nine by far, also. I know why. As I was yanking out my push cart and clubs from the truck, a familiar voice said hello. It was Paula, and she was there to help out with the Special Olympics kids. Of course, it was a Friday morning, and it was nearly 9:00. I know I had excused myself from helping out for the remainder of the season, but I felt guilty.
C.J. and I took off on #1, but then they showed up in carts as we got closer to the green. They had been given permission to play, so she asked where they should start. I should have said hole #6, but I gave them a hole’s head start ahead of us by telling them to start on #3. It wasn’t enough. When we were teeing off on #2, and they were starting on #3, I gave them the golf balls from my bag that I had found out on the course to help alleviate some guilt, but it didn’t help.
After we played #2, we chose to avoid them completely by skipping over to #6 ourselves. We played #6, #7, and #8, and then we headed back to #3 again. That still was not enough time, however, to let them get ahead of us, and it was even worse at that point. Redelia had shown up, and so had Deuce, so it was a larger…and even slower group. We finished #3, and they were swarming all over #4. C.J. headed their way, thinking they would let us play through, which they probably would, but I hollered at him to head back my way. I wanted to avoid them altogether for the rest of the morning by going to the back nine, if I could. I must’ve looked pretty funny yelling at C.J., who has difficulty hearing from farther distances, while hiding behind a hill, but not shouting loud enough to get their attention, too. He heard me and walked my direction, and when I told him why I wanted to go anywhere but there, he understood.
The round was miserable, but I did get a birdie on #8.
Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #8-Birdie #32 of 2018
This was the one bright spot on the front nine. I had doubles, triples, and a handicap seven thrown in just to make the misery complete. My drive flew up the right side of the fairway and settled just before the 150-yard marker. My 7-iron was smooth, and my ball ended up on the green down in the bowl. The pin was on the top left side again, a popular spot this season. C.J. had a longer putt from the bowl than I did, and his ball went past the hole before rolling back down (nearly 10 feet) and stopping within three feet above the hole. My putt stopped just outside of his putt and on the exact same line. He moved his mark for me, and then I made my putt. He put his mark back and made his putt, but he was very frustrated with his play on this hole. It’s been a while since he’s had a decent score on #8, and it started with trouble off the tee.
We are going to play again on Monday.
Until next time…
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