Fun Abounds in Midsummer

Written on 7-7-24.

     I didn’t play better.  I shot a 99.  Eric left after the first nine holes, but Herman (not his real name) and I played all 18.  I did one stroke better on the back, but it was an unmemorable round.  Herman and I both got two birdies on the same hole, though.  That was one memorable piece.  

Pinon Hills Golf Course-Hole #11-Birdie #6 of 2024  

Herman didn’t use his driver.  I did.  We ended up on the fairway with similar distances.  I chose a 7-iron.  He didn’t.  It was something with more loft.  Typical.  I know I am much taller than he is, but he usually outdrives me.  He just has great mechanics.

Then we both...

The Rest of the Pagosa Springs Round

Continued from 6-30-24. 

        On the next hole, I got up and down again with my gap wedge and a confident putt from farther away than the previous hole.

        For the third hole, hole #6, I missed the fairway out to the right (we all did), and then I hit the green with my 6-iron from just outside of 150 yards.

      For the final par, I did it the boring way.  I hit the fairway, hit the green, and I used only two putts.  It was fantastic!

Eric, wanting to keep the game going, asked Tommy if we could make up the holes we missed due to the rain yesterday.  Tommy let us go play holes #1 and #9 on Pinon again.  Sweet!  Thanks, Eric and Tommy!

Grant and I hit the fairway for one more point on hole #1.  Eric and I tied the hole with bogeys, so the points pushed again.  Eric and I had also tied hole #18 on Ponderosa with bogeys.  Eric asked for every possible bonus on the last hole to be able to come back and win it all.  Long drive.  Closest to the pin on approaches, etc.  We agreed.  

I won the long drive for three more points, which secured second place.  My approach with my 5-iron, however, was pulled left and sailed over a hill and out of bounds.  I ended with a seven.  Eric won the last hole with a double, but because the points were pushed for the last three holes, he earned nine points.  The final score was Eric: 24, Pat: 22, and Grant: 19.  

I was so focused on catching Grant that Eric passed me at the finish line.  The funny thing is he didn’t think he had won.  He thought he only got six more points for the final two holes, which would have landed his score at 21.  Back at the campground, I told him that I thought he had won, because of the three extra points we had pushed from the final hole on Ponderosa.  He was thrilled when he heard that.  He said something like, “Did you hear that?  I am the champion of the 2024 Pagosa trip.”

Driving home, I asked Belinda who would have won the entire weekend of golf considering we had both won twice.  Would you look at the lowest score?  Or, would you look at who had earned the most points?  She said either one of those would determine the tie-breaker.  I had the lowest combined score for both rounds.  I also earned 75 total points to Eric’s 60, so I think we all know who the champion of the 2024 Pagosa camping trip is.

What a child I am.  I’m just like Trump or Biden talking about their handicaps in the recent debate.  It doesn’t matter.  We all had a great time.  Like I said, what is better than playing golf on a mountain course with buddies?

But, I won (wink, wink).

I played nine holes on my birthday (the anniversary of my brain surgery birthday).  I could have replicated my four pars in a row, but I triple-putted #4, and I missed another similar par putt on #6.  I missed two three-footers!  Ugh.

Next, I will play on Wednesday, July 3rd, with Eric and Herman (not his real name).  Hopefully, I will play better.  

Until next time…

A Peek Into June This Past Summer

Written on 6-30-24.

      Here I am at the end of June, and I am a bit anxious.  It’s because I know that when July is over, Belinda will begin to act differently.  It’s at that time when she begins to gear up for another school year, so I/we will enjoy July as much as I/we can.  I prefer June Belinda to September Belinda, but I love them both, of course.

We are talking about visiting Mom and Dad soon after July 4th.  Dad’s recent bloodwork revealed that his kidney function went down to a record low: 16%.  I’m no doctor, but I know that’s bad.  He can’t tell a difference, though.  He feels the same, so that’s a good thing.  Either way, it will be great to go visit while we have the time this summer.  Hurry, August is coming!

On to golf…

I have been putting this off, but today is the day.  I am going to write about the Pagosa Springs trip…finally.  

Eric proposed to go play an extra nine holes on Friday, the bad weather day.  Grant said why not go play 18 holes, and who was I to argue with either of them?  We ended up playing...

This is No Fun-My Father's Death

Written on 9-17-24.

        This is no fun, but it’s a fact of life.  My father, Robert Gerard Swope, died on September 6th, 2024.  Since that time, it’s been a whirlwind of dealing with funeral arrangements, notifying friends and family, and, of course, having moments of utter sadness and loss.

Like my buddy Troy said, “You only have one father.”         

        I was blessed to be in the room when he breathed his last.  Belinda, Mom, and I were all there, and it was peaceful.  Honestly, it took us by surprise.  He was breathing in a raspy way, so it was obvious when he stopped.  I had just finished praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy with Mom, and we were visiting as I was eating some oatmeal.  I looked over at the time right after he died, and I was hoping it would be something I could remember.  It was.  It read 12:34.  I can remember that.  The date will be easy to remember, too.  It was on 9-06.  Our address is 906 Anasazi Drive.

Some fateful, serendipitous things happened following his death, too.  I will start with my iMissal app.  Every day, I read the Daily Bread bible verse in that app.  On the day he died, it was Matthew 5:6-Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.  

A day or so later, Bev shared what Dad had wanted for his service.  At the top of the paper were the readings.  The first one was…Matthew 5-12, the Beatitudes.

Then while getting lunch in the Springs at Jimmy John’s, I stayed in the car with Weston and Andrew while Bev went inside.  Grandpa Swope, during what Belinda and I call the “summer of the grandparents,” told me he enjoyed Tsing Tao beer.  I believe he said it was his favorite, so we enjoyed a couple of bottles together.  I remember he was just beginning to lose his memory that summer, too.  He would become frustrated and angry at forgetting certain words he knew he should have remembered.  I also remember it was a great tasting beer.

When I noticed the restaurant next door to Jimmy John’s, I was shocked when I saw the name.  It is called Tsing Tao House.  That is something very specific to what I would remember about my grandpa.  Sigh.

As I drove over Wolf Creek on the day after we had made arrangements with the funeral home, I played music I had bought on iTunes.  There is really only one song that would make me think explicitly of Dad.  Seriously.  What are the odds?  I have many songs, and it was just shuffling through.  We bought some of songs for Mom and Dad’s 50th anniversary celebration, and this was one of those songs.  One song stands out as a song for both of them: My Girl.  They also had a song similar to that one, and that’s the one that came on: My Guy.  I listen to my own music quite a bit, and that one rarely, if ever, comes on.  As I type this, these all seem a little less sensational, but at those moments, there was no mistaking what was going on.  I felt Dad was speaking to me.  Or, Grandpa.  Or, probably God.  It was comforting, and I also had the reaction of, “Really!?” each time.

The visitation is this Thursday at the Swan Law Funeral Home from 5:00-8:00.  The funeral will be at Corpus Christi Parish, where Carter and Emily were married, on Friday at noon.  His burial will be on Saturday at the Eckley Cemetery at 1:00.  It’s going to be a long, exhausting weekend.  Kyle texted me to share his sympathy, and I replied that it was rough...but beautiful.  That’s what I think this weekend will be like.  Rough, but also beautiful.