Best Ball With Myself

Written on 3-22-2020.

It’s a Sunday afternoon at the Swope house, but it’s different.  We both went to our “church” this morning, but B and Jess chose to walk Jess’s neighborhood and then sit outside on her deck afterward.  I went to my church, but it was on Facebook Live, and I was grateful to have it.  Matt and Danielle are back from Durango where they went for a weighted hike on the Stairway to Heaven Trail.  

I’m writing this in our computer room (now that is mostly normal), but I’ve been putting it off.  Normally, I look forward to doing some writing, but we are all in a little funk.  It feels like a vacation, because we are banned from going physically to work, but how can we enjoy ourselves when all we hear about is the continuing spread of the coronavirus and the resulting deaths.  Scary.  B asked for me to come up with a word that reflects our feeling of feeling grateful and depressed at the same time.  Gratadepressitude?

So, that’s where we are.  I hope to take Belinda and the Alto out for some boondocking, but I have to convince her first.  I so want to go the Bisti, but B doesn’t like the appearance of us going off to a campground or having fun right now.  I get it.  We will...

Leaving Dead Horse Point and Is There Such a Thing as a Good Bogey?

Written on 3-14-2020.

Back again, and it’s almost time to check out of here.  The twins are restless, but I have about a half-hour to write.  This Alto is a real gift, a blessing.  I am so thankful that I survived the trip home, so I can enjoy every outing beyond that one.  Thank you, God.

Back to golf…

I am bummed that I haven’t had any birdies recently, but I can write about some good pars.  The last time I played at Pinon, I wanted to get six pars and the rest bogeys.  I ended up really close to that goal.  I got my six pars, but the rest weren’t bogeys.  I know I had two blow-up holes.

Yesterday, I wanted to do the same, but I blew up right away like I had written about above.  Then I settled in and got two pars in a row.  The first came on one of the easiest holes on the course, #3.  It’s a short par four, and I finally straightened out a drive with my “3-wood” that flew all the way uphill and settled in the rough to the right of the green.  I pitched on and used up two putts to finish the hole, and the first putt was from all the way across the green.

The next hole was a short par downhill par three, but the green was very small.  Actually, all of the greens were generally tiny.  I used my new swing, which mostly relies on my turning through the ball and not manipulated the club face with my hands at all, and it worked out pretty well.  My golf ball hit the green, but then it rolled out to a spot near a brick wall.  I used the chipping stroke that I have been practicing down at the park next to neighbor John’s house, and it popped up close to the hole.  The putt was downhill, but I lined it up right and put a smooth stroke on it.  That was more like it.  Two pars in a row.

I made a seven bogeys, and one of those was on the toughest holes, the long and narrow par five #15.  I was still pulling my tee shots, so I lined up more to the right, and I pull my left foot back, and I hit it hard.  All of those things resulted in a beautiful fade that hit the fairway.  I used my 5-iron for my lay-up, and with the ball above my feet a little, I swung a low pull that hit the fairway again.  From there, it was a 7-iron that just missed the green on the right side, a chip that went past the hole, and two putts.  Phew.  

Okay, I have to go.  I will continue this at home.  

Until next time…

Coronovirus, Moab, and the Beginning of the Alto Dream

Written on 3-13-2020.

Donald Trump is speaking on Eric’s iPhone, and he is addressing the nation about the coronovirus and what actions he and other agencies are doing, and have done, to protect the public.  We learned last night that all schools in New Mexico are closed from Monday, March 16th, through Monday, April 6th, a full three weeks.  This has been the first time that this virus has directly affected Belinda and me.  With schools closed, we are unable to work.  And, since we are unable to work, we can’t get paid either.  

We are at Dead Horse Point State Park for the first time, though, and this is also the first trip with our Alto for this season.  What a great choice; it is beautiful here!  We took a morning hike in the rain, and we stopped by the gift shop immediately after.  Then we drove to the lookout for the park here, and it was very windy, but we took in the most incredible views there.

We just had a super lunch in the most wonderful of settings (our dining table in the Alto with a view), and everybody’s relaxing now.  Eric and Amanda joined us for this trip.  A and I came up yesterday early, and the B and Eric drove up after B got off work.  Despite the carbon monoxide monitor going off at around 4:15 in the morning, we survived our first night of sleep with all four of us in the camper.  

This was part of the dream with this Alto, to have all four of us go together on a trip…somewhere.  This trip started with Danielle’s plan to run in the half-marathon here in Moab, but it didn’t take long, and it didn’t surprise me, that it was cancelled due to the coronavirus.  Bummer.  She was scheduled to run tomorrow morning, but instead she and Matt are staying home with Kody.  Her run being cancelled did not cancel our plans or our trip.  I even got to play golf yesterday.

On to golf…

After I made sure Amanda was all set up with "Baker Street," I made the trip to the Moab Golf Course to play 18 holes.  I hoped I would be able to walk 18 before dusk, and I was just able to get that done.  I actually finished up just as Eric and Belinda came into town, so we were able to meet up and have Belinda come out to the camp site with me.

The golf was okay.  I hoped to get off to a good start and continue the momentum of my improvement from my work with Matt and my rounds a Pinon Hills.  I mostly did, but I really didn’t get off to the best of beginnings.  The range runs along #1, so that is out of bounds for most of the left side of that hole.  I immediately hit my first two tee shots into the driving range.  Ugh.  I pulled my tee shot left on the very next hole, too, and that was the beginning of my round.  Two consecutive blow-up numbers, because I didn’t warm up my full swings.  It’s frustrating to go play near the end of the day, because I feel I am in such a rush, so I have to get going ASAP.

Raincheck at Civitan

Written on 3-1-2020.

I have my iPad and my wireless keyboard going again, and I am watching the Honda Classic on a Sunday.  I chose not to go to church once more, because I am still getting over the remnants of that cold.  Don’t want to spread it around with the church crowd.  B is away with the “girls” on a vacation, but they are on their way home now.  They stopped in Phoenix to visit with and then gather Kyle, and then they motored down to Ajo to visit Char and Ed.  I am not using the laptop, because Danielle has been borrowing it to do her paperwork for her new job.  It is fun to write using the iPad.  I rarely do that.

On to golf...

I played at Civitan on Friday.  I had a raincheck to use, and the weather was beautiful.  Looking back I should have played at Piñon Hills on Friday with my membership, and then played at Civitan yesterday.  Considering my health, that would have been too much, though.  I was wiped out after playing Civitan, and that was after I played 18 holes there.  Not a real strenuous round.

I played consistently on both nines, and I got better on the second round.  Mostly bogey on the first go-around and mostly pars on the second.  I was figuring out yardages and the full swings on the first nine, and it really showed.  If I missed the green, which was often, I could get it up and in in three shots after that.  

On the second time around, I had six pars and only three bogeys, so I must have figured those full swings and yardages better.  I won’t do a play by play of every hole, but I got those bogeys on holes #1, #5, and #7.  I only hit one green during that round, so my chipping was really consistent.  Often, if I missed a green, though, I was just on the fringe, which made it really easy to get up and in with only two shots.  

On #6, I left my full shot short and my chip shot short, too, but I made the long putt for par from 15 feet.  My new S7K putter worked really well on this second round.  I know it is because I have practiced so much with it.  It also was not windy, so I could use the standing up feature on every hole.  If I lined it up well, I had every confidence it would go in the hole if I put my best stroke on it.