A Golfing Memory

Years ago, Dad made a golf club out of scraps found in Grandpa's junk pile.  He used a piece of steel rod for the shaft and a piece of flat iron for the head.  It had a slightly larger piece of iron pipe on the end of the shaft to act as the grip so it would be easier to hold.  The head was probably at about the correct angle for a 2-iron.

I couldn't have been very old when he did that, but I remember him building it just outside the door on Grandpa's old barn.  The welder sat in the corner of the shop and had long leads which would reach outside the barn where it was unlikely that a spark could get back to the hay which was stored in the back of the barn.  The acetylene torch was also inside the shop, right beside the welder, and the hoses on it would also reach outside.  It wasn't the ideal workspace, but it was workable.

Dad had a handful of golf balls which were probably someone's "driving range" balls which he had acquired somewhere.  He took that club and golf balls and went out in the backyard of Grandma and Grandpa's house there on the hill and proceeded to hit golf balls across the dirt road and off down the hill into the Wylie pasture.  He was a natural at it.

A couple of my uncles who were still at home also tried hitting balls with the club.  It was probably their incentive to go off into the pasture and "shag" the balls Dad had hit.  I was hardly big enough to pick up the club, let alone to swing it.

That was the first time I recall "golfing."  It was primitive, but it was a start.  It wasn't long after that Dad took up the game in earnest and became an excellent golfer.  He loved the game and it was one of the few things he would "splurge" on over the years.

I tried taking up the game while in High School.  I could "knock the snot" out of the ball, but just like with a baseball, I had little control.  I seemed to always be playing from the wrong fairway, trying to find my way to the correct green.  It's pretty sad when you have to hit over another green to get to the correct one.

It was probably a good thing that I at least learned the fundamentals of the game while young, because as I became older, there were times it was useful in a business setting.  One company that I worked for would frequently have "customer appreciation" golf tournaments in which I was expected to participate.

It has been a lot of years since I attempted to golf.  I have a set of clubs out in the garage that are probably antiques by now.  I noticed them standing against a wall the other day, collecting dust.  I probably should sell them.

One thing is for certain; any time I think of golf, I will think of Dad and his love for the game.  He loved to play it and he loved to watch it on television.  If they golf in heaven, I suspect he has a foursome together, headed down the fairway....

Daylight Savings Swing Time

Each Spring with Daylight Savings time
We set our clocks ahead

Then gripe and moan of that lost hour

Of sleep we missed in bed.

We wish to leave well enough alone

And forego the seasonal fix

Until we readjust internal clocks

To 5 o'clock being six!

Once again the sun is rising

As to work we drive.

And though for a day or two it's hard

We know that we'll survive

Especially as the days grow warm

And we see the blooming of the spring.

Then we dig out that bag of clubs

And get back in the swing!

Cow Pasture Golf

The family golf outing is complete with no injuries! Really it wasn't bad. The course was beautiful and the weather moderated somewhat from the last few days. In fact, we are experiencing thunderstorms right now. They were NOT in the forecast.

The course that we played sits in one of the upper arms of Palo Duro Canyon. It is not deep, but a creek winds through the course and there are many, many wild turkey that wander the course. There are also deer in the canyon but we didn't see any today. Several of the turkeys had chicks (I don't know if that is the proper name) following them. The babies were from very small -- maybe 4 inches tall -- up to slightly larger than a pheasant. I believe that it was a bumper crop of young turkeys.

I will warn all of you investor types if I decide to get serious about golf. I'm sure that it would be a good time to invest in golf ball manufacturing companies. I lost several today and I'm sure that if I played regularly at this particular course that I would lose many more! I don't think any landed in the water, they instead went flying into the brushy creek bottom that looked like something out of Georgia or Louisiana. Those crews up north that have been looking for Sasquatch need to check out this golf course. He may be hiding there and no one would ever know it.

I always thought it was humorous that when I was young -- probably in elementary school, my Dad took up golf. That wasn't the funny part, it was when he made a golf club for my grandfather out of some old scrap metal in Grandpa's barn. They took it and a bucket of golf balls out to the pasture and hit balls off down the hill. I think a couple of my uncles had the chore of shagging the balls and bringing them back. When you talk about cow-pasture golf, I've seen it. I think they also used good clubs to practice hitting balls out in the pasture too, but I always remember that home made club. I think it ended up back in the scrap pile. Grandpa never could see the sense of "chasing those little white balls around the pasture." Needless to say, he didn't take up golf.

My parents are both good golfers. My father shot his age when he was 67 (I think). My mother always consistently knocks it straight down the fairway -- never extremely far, but she always took the shortest distance to the hole. When she played regularly she was a dead-shot with a putter. I can knock the ball a "pretty far piece" but you never know which direction. My short game suffers from lack of practice. I will probably take up golfing someday if I ever decide to retire.

Retiring brings up a whole different subject. The comments on my post a couple of days ago in which I mentioned retirement were somewhat humorous. I appreciate all of them. Ranando, if you read this, I don't think you can retire. What would you do that is different from the lifestyle that you lead now? I don't envy you though, I think God puts each of us in the place that we are in for a purpose. We each have unique challenges that are suited to shaping us into what God would have us to be if we allow Him to do so. For those who are His children, He works daily to mold us as a potter molds the clay. We each are designed by Him to fulfill specific purposes in the places that He puts us. Whatever that place and purpose are, it is an honor to be of service to Him. I wonder if God invented golf or if it was the devil???

Ahh, Friday!

Stress accumulates
In the confines of
The office until
Escape becomes
A matter of survival.
That's when the
Springtime weather is
Especially dangerous
Because an avenue
Will be created where
One may not exist
In which to answer
The Siren's song of
Swinging clubs
Upon the links
Or swinging rackets
Upon the courts
Or churning legs
Upon the pedals
Or anything else
Which calls out
"Come to me,
Come to me...."
That is when
The creative side
Flashes its brilliance
With excuses
To answer the call.

Friday

In almost every business
There are those who can't wait
For Friday.
They haunt the break room
And their neighbor's cubicle
Talking.
By mid-afternoon
Their productivity goes to zero
And they try to bring
Everyone else
To their level.
How they get by with it
Is anyone's guess.
It could be because
The boss is at
The golf course.