I Help My Friend

Written on 7-31-26.

        It’s the last day of what has been a very busy July.  It all started with the death of our dear friend and dog, Kody.  We still miss him very much, and we still see reminders, although they have become fewer.

We had our "summer camp" with Rowan and Benny near the end, and that was fabulous.  I told Belinda to soak it in.  He would climb up on her lap, and he would cry sometimes when she would leave the room.  When he would find her in another room, he would cry louder and hold his little, chubby arms above his head.  Adorable.  He is in the “crawl up on our laps” phase, and we will miss it like we miss Kody when it’s gone.  

Belinda and I are up at A’s and E’s cabin.  They are coming here tonight, so we will have some overlap.  I didn’t have to go to work yesterday, and I had already planned to play golf with Herman (not his real name) and Greg after work.  It was swell to have the whole day, and I was able to get to the course earlier to warm up a bit.  It’s so beautiful and relaxing here.  B took a picture of two bright orange butterflies on some of A’s flowers this morning.

I want to continue writing about...

helping Herman's granddaughter, so I will do that before I write about golf.  

Last time, I wrote about how we ended by playing the pepper game.  A young lady came up and asked if she could join us, and I didn’t hesitate.  We bumped it around a bit to help her warm up, and then the three of us played the pepper game with points.  She said her name was Katie, and she was a volleyball player for Haskell in Oklahoma.  

She had great ball control, so I asked her what position she played.  She said she was a setter, so I asked her to give Ashley (not her real name either) one tip to help improve her setting.  She told her to get to the ball as fast as you can.  I told her that was an excellent tip!  I could see Ashley amping up her concentration.  She and I didn’t expect this, and it was cool to have her “bumping it around” with a college player.  

Herman showed up with his wife, and they watched for a bit.  On the way out, I thought he asked what my skill level was.  I started to tell him about how I had worked my way up playing doubles with Guy from B to BB to A and finally AA.  

The problem was he wasn’t asking about my skill level; he was asking how Ashley's skill level was.  Oops again!  I thought he was asking about me since he had never seen me play volleyball before, and I had somehow impressed him.  No, he wasn’t.  Ha.

I told him she was slightly advanced for an 8th grader.  Later, he texted me to tell me how grateful he was.  She was super excited about volleyball and had never been so excited.  She is normally very shy.  He said I was an awesome dude for doing that.  It felt good knowing I had helped a friend.

On to golf…

Greg got Mike (last name) to play with us, and that was ironic, since I had just seen him at the mailboxes.  He said we should play sometime soon, and then, lo and behold, we did.  

The golf was memorable this time, because Herman had three birdies on the front and one on the last hole, too.  He was one over for the day, and it was so obvious that he needed more of a challenge.  He was a giant among mere mortals.  Just like Bruce when he used to play.  What he does is amazing, and I don’t ever take it for granted that I am able to witness it.  He is so ho-hum about it, but that’s just the way he is.  When he gets a par, he says it’s just a par.  For him, that is true, but for Greg, Mike, and me, par is something special and very hard to achieve.

I played okay.  Greg had some great drives.  We talked about his new clubs again.  He confided that he had spent $4000.00 for this new set when it was all said and done.  The driver had cost nearly one-tenth of that.  I know Hillcrest gave him decent discounts, because of what happened, but geesh!

I putted well.  I made three one-putts on the first three holes, but Herman stole that away from me on hole #4 where he made his second birdie.  

I thought Herman was going to pay for my round after helping Ashley.  Before the round, I texted I would pay for the cart.  He wanted to walk, but I thought it would be too hot.  It was, but it was also overcast.  We could have walked, though.  I found out that he didn’t pay for me when I checked in.  No big deal.

After the round, Herman and I were the only ones who wanted to go grab a beer.  His wife was there to pick him up.  He said to meet at Steamworks, but that was where the staff from Hillcrest was meeting for their staff party, so then he said Chimayo.

I spoke to Greg a bit before I left, because we didn’t get to ride together.  He was doing well, but he hasn’t played much golf either.  He and Nan are going on cruises, and he has his pickleball and woodworking, too.

When I arrived at the restaurant, Herman called me over to a booth with high walls.  I was surprised when I got to the booth to see Ashley there with her parents.  These were the parents who got married recently, and they live in Bayfield.  Herman has talked about them before.  I didn’t know Ashley belonged to them, though.

We had a lovely dinner, and they paid for everything.  I think that was their way of saying thank you for helping her.

Until next time...