Time for a Funeral

Written on 11-16-15.

    I just accidentally typed 11-16-16.  Whoa!  Slow down.  Let’s live one year at a time, okay?  This year isn’t over yet.  Although it makes me wonder what we will be doing a year from today.  Good thing I keep this journal.  It’s highly likely I will be writing again one year from now. 
    Belinda and I are headed back home after going to Lakewood for Joe’s step-grandfather’s funeral.  I missed his mother’s and his father’s funerals, so there was no way we weren't going to go to this one, especially now that we are “rewired” and we can take the time.  He truly appreciated our making the trip. 
    Belinda is driving, and we are listening to Alan Parson Project’s Games People Play, a perfect song for us as we are figuring out where we go from here now that all of the children are grown up.  We are figuring out how to live our lives now that nobody lends us a hand…or gives us a damn.  Just kidding.  We have plenty of help if we need it, and plenty who care about us. 
    Personally, I feel we are doing fine, just fine.  Although we went to a funeral, I love road-tripping with my wife.  In eight days, we will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary with our children.  That’ll be fun.  Where did the time go?  When it was my turn to drive about an hour ago, I reminisced about...

My First Two Birdies With My New Cleveland Putter

Written on 11-10-15.

    I have two birdies to recount, so I’ll get right to it.

Aztec Municipal Golf Course-Hole #6-Birdie #42 of 2015

    Belinda and I were having a most enjoyable Sunday together.  No more Sunday blues.  No reason to go to our schools to finish lesson plans, grade papers, or write a weekly newsletter.  After mass, I asked her to go to lunch with me, so we did one of our usual lunch dates: Wendy’s and Riverside Park.  After parking and eating at our usual spot, the road right next to the river and the walking path, we chose to park in an “actual” parking space and walk around the entire park.  It was a gorgeous fall day again, and after we made one loop we talked about going around again, but it was so pleasant outside that I had said I was considering golf, and she told me she wouldn’t mind walking with me out on the golf course, so we spontaneously went home, got my clubs and my shoes, and headed out to Aztec Municipal Golf Course.
    Hardly anyone was out there, so when we walked over to #1, it really felt like we were the only two people on the golf course.  J.P. was disgusted that more people were not taking advantage of the beautiful weather, but it made it better for my shy Belinda.  She walked and talked with me for the first four holes.  I did most of the talking, hoping to...

Bruce's Big Comeback

    Now that I’m back home, I’ve played a couple of times.  My back feels better, but it still has some unpredictable issues.  Just yesterday, it was “catching” while I was standing to do the dishes.  I’ve never had this type of feeling in my back before, and I am considering visiting my friend Dave Rakita again if it persists. 
    C.J., Bruce, and I played this past weekend.  C.J. and I walked while Bruce rode in a cart, and it was my idea for C.J. and I to take on Bruce.  Bruce was riding since he said he also had a cold.  He said everyone in his family had a cold, and he didn’t want to overdo things.  My cold was in its fourth day, and I wasn’t feeling too badly.  I could walk eighteen holes, so I believe it was on its way out, despite a nagging cough.  C.J. and I were playing well, and we were actually 4 up on Bruce after nine holes.  For the first time ever, we all...

Lake Carlsbad Golf Course

    Despite my exhaustion, I gathered a second wind after returning to the hotel.  Belinda was going to settle down for a nap, so I took my opportunity to go play golf in Carlsbad.  I’m so glad I did, because I played one of my best nine hole rounds in a while, and it was on a course that was unfamiliar.  I broke the pattern of having my score go up ten strokes when playing a course that’s new to me.  I played the front nine at Lake Carlsbad Golf Course.  My back was still fragile, but I was able to swing my clubs without causing more damage.  The tender back helped me to swing more consistently and smoothly, not ever trying to kill it.  I played the gold tees because the blues were the farthest ones back, and I didn’t know how hard those would be.  Looking back, I would have been better suited for the blues, but it was still some great scoring from the gold tees.  I earned three birdies total, including one on the back nine. 

Lake Carlsbad Golf Course-Hole #4-Birdie #37 of 2015

    I was +2 after three holes when I came to this one.  This course was the first one I have ever seen where holes #3, #4, and #5, were a par three, a par four, and a par five consecutively.  I thought that was a unique aspect of this course, and it helped me to remember the holes.  If I had played from the blue tees, I would have had to angle my tee shot from...

First Class Carlsbad

Written on 10-27-15.

    Belinda and I were overwhelmed with happiness after visiting the Carlsbad Caverns.  It’s an experience I know I will never forget, and it was so unique that it was well worth the trip way down south.  It started two nights ago when we arrived after our visit with the children.  The timing worked out so perfectly.  We got to the Caverns just before dusk, the time when the bats come out of the main cave’s entrance.  There was a time change issue, too, so we thought we were going to miss it, but after coming out of Texas, we gained back one hour, so we had plenty of time to not only see the bats as they made their exit, but listen to and learn from a knowledgeable park ranger moments before that.
    The ranger stood at the bottom of the auditorium, where the seats were all made from stones.  Belinda and I chose to stand up at the top, glad to have a break from sitting.  Behind the ranger was...