Written on 6-6-21.
I am in Gallup tonight, and I am staying at the Hilton Garden Inn this time in room #418. This will be my last visit to Twin Lakes for this school year, and it’s a bonus visit, because our contract was extended. I go to Newcomb this Friday, and I plan on going to McCoy later this month.
B and I had a successful trip to Dallas, but we ended up taking our truck, though not by choice. On the Friday before we left, we were driving home from the Edgerton’s, when we were cut off unexpectedly at the intersection of Main Street and the highway by a small red truck. That truck was being driven by a Bloomfield graduate named Adam. We know he had just graduated, because it BHS and 2021 were written all over his windows. There was no possible way we could avoid the crash by stopping, and I couldn’t steer around it either. It was a rough feeling knowing...
we were going to have an impact, and I don’t know what I said just before it happened, but I may have said, “Here we go!” or simply “Hang on.”The damage to the front end of our Escape would cost too much to be “economically repaired,” so we will be receiving $10,400.00 to help us purchase a replacement. I don’t believe it would be worth that much at any other time, but it’s because of the market right now due to Covid. The afternoon before the accident, we had bought new highway tires for a quieter ride. They were quieter, we thought, in the short amount of time we drove with them.
Poor Adam. He was so contrite right after the accident, and his hands were noticeably shaking. Mine were, too, but his trembling hands were the kind that come after a first accident, so I did my best to remain calm for him. I’ve been a teenager once before (a short time ago), so I know what it’s like. I told him he didn’t need to apologize, and the important thing was that nobody was hurt. Heck, our son has been in that same position when he was in high school.
Now that it’s been longer than a week since it happened, we wonder what he was thinking. What was he doing when he turned in front of us? Who knows? It really doesn’t matter.
B and I had a super time in Dallas with Matt and Becca. They appreciated that we made the trip, especially after the accident. They were great hosts, and we enjoyed two delicious meals in, one with Becca’s first garden tomato, and the other with chicken curry. Yummy!
We had a walk around White Rock Lake on the first rainy night, and we saw homeless people a short ten-minute drive from some obviously affluent family homes on the lake.
Matt and I played golf, and I will write about that during the golf part, but the four of us also went to the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center. It was about an hour and a half away, so we enjoyed our time together in Becca’s Subaru, too. We enjoy being in small vehicles with family. It forces conversation. It reminded me of the time we had James rent a car in New Zealand, and our little Swope family drove from Aukland to Wellington. It was not as far as that, of course, but it was the same idea when we drove to the wildlife park with Becca and Matt.
We enjoyed getting more quality time with Matt on this trips, and we got to know him a little better. Becca has chosen well for her mate for life.
Some quirky things happened. First, they didn’t have napkins, paper towels, or even tissue. Biddy threw up in their bedroom on their rug, and Becca tried using toilet paper to wipe it up. Of course, that didn’t work too well.
Also, I lost a gold crown when we ate out at Dodie’s Rockwall Cajun Diner after the wildlife park. I took a bite from Becca and Matt’s appetizer, and I felt something in my mouth that felt like a broken marble. At first, I thought it was something the chef had lost, but I quickly discovered it came from my mouth. I am going to the dentist on Tuesday this week to have it repaired, and then I go back the next day for an overdue cleaning.
Let’s see. What else? We saw the fireflies in their back yard, and we watched the movie, The Greatest Game Ever Played, using their projector. That was super, not quirky, and it had a great summer feel to it. We went to Aldi’s Grocery Store twice. That was quirky, super, and new with the carts that required a refundable quarter, and all of the identical packaging for the products they have there. For example, they had a beer that looked like Blue Moon, but it was called Monterey, or something similar to that. At Aldi’s, they expect you to bag your own groceries, too, to save on cost. All in all, we had a marvelous time.
Written on 6-13-21.
On to golf…
I have two birdies to recount, and I want to write about my round with Matt, too.
It’s very encouraging to get birdies during this swing change; they keep me going. I had my first one of the year on Hole #12 at Pinon Hills and another when I played with Matt. Here they are…
Pinon Hills-Hole #12-Birdie #1 of 2021
I used my 5-iron, and once again, I am happy to report that I was struggling with the 5-iron and the 6-iron for quite a while before this, especially with topping the ball. Not this time, though, and not with this swing either. It was smooth, and it had great impact. My golf ball flew toward the hole dead straight with a penetrating trajectory, landed, rolled onto the green on the right side of the flag, and it then rolled a bit more and stopped on the left side. The flag was on the front of the green this time. I had six feet for my birdie putt, and I put a good pop on the ball to get it to the hole. It turned a little to the right just before it dropped in! Yeah! My first birdie of the new year!
Stevens Park-Hole #6-Birdie #2 of 2021
I played nine holes with Matt Frings in Dallas, and I will write a little more after this, but I was glad I could model a birdie for Matt.
My drive was not so great. I scuffed it a bit, and it didn’t go very far at all. My next shot, though, made up for it. My 5-iron (again) helped get my golf ball farther up the fairway, and it landed right near the target I was aiming for, some sign that was in the middle of the fairway at around 120 yards. The green was rather small, but my gap wedge landed my ball just past the flag where it stopped immediately. The putt was from four feet above the hole, and it was mostly straight. I put it right on the line I chose for birdie #2 of this year.
I didn’t know that Matt had never played golf before. This was his first nine holes! I knew he wanted to play golf when I first met him, and I felt privileged to play with him for his first outing. We putted a little bit before our tee time, but that was our only warm-up. We had ten minutes before our tee time. It was probably best that way for Matt, to go off without thinking about it too much.
Matt did well for his virgin outing. What stood out to me were his shots from off the green with his putter. He had great instincts and distance control with many of those shots. He got his very first par on Hole #4, a par three. He used his pitching wedge, and he made a great motion to get his golf ball onto the green, and then he used two putts to get his par. Hooray! I was glad to witness it, and he was thrilled. He nearly did it again two holes later when his tee shot landed just off the green. He got his first true bogey on that hole, so now he appears to be hooked.
He said he learned many things, but one of the best lessons was how to play from a green side bunker. He didn’t know any of those tips, like opening the club face and hitting the sand to carry the ball out.
He was still enthused immediately after we had finished and the next day before dinner, too. We talked while he took practice swings in their back yard before we ate. I know what it feels like to tee off on the first hole only to putt out on the last hole what seems like a few minutes later. He was shocked, too, at how fast it went. Because of his work as a fitness trainer and rugby player, we enjoyed talking about the mechanics of the golf swing in their back yard before we ate. I was a golf nerd telling him about what I had learned about the single plane swing.
Another quirky, funny thing that happened happened on Hole #8, the par three with a river running through it. Matt shanked his tee shot, and it stopped just before the river, so he jumped out of the cart to go play his second. I watched from the cart, and I saw his ball dive into the river and the rocks where it disappeared. I motioned to have him run back to the cart, but he hesitated. I thought he was thinking there was another way around to get to the green, but he was contemplating his third shot. That ball had actually hit a rock down near the river and ricocheted back over his head and ended up on Hole #2. He was wondering if he should go play it, but when I motioned to him, he decided to let it go. I wish I had known that, but didn’t see it fly back over his head.
One other thing I’d like to add is that I cleaned up and organized his clubs the night before we played, and then I recommended which clubs he should keep. I got a little obsessive-compulsive with what was in his bag. He took out a driver and a wedge that he really didn’t need. All in all, I enjoyed playing with him and helping him out, and he was very generous to pay for our round as a way of saying thank you. I hope we get to do it again someday.
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