Thirty-six with Icing

Friday was my birthday. It turned out better than I thought – given the weather forecast.

On the eve of my birthday, Char and I went out and had a nice dinner. It was just the two of us and that started the birthday celebration.

For weeks my neighbor, Nathan and I had planned on taking the day off and playing golf. Nate had made some reservations at a rather exclusive golf course. When he told me what the green fees were I kind of choked but then he added, “Oh, don’t worry you get on free because it’s your birthday.” I still worried a little because Nate and my neighbor didn’t. Plus, it had to be reserved with a credit card and they had a twenty-four cancellation policy.

The problem was the weather. They forecasted heavy rain and/or snow. So, I had Nate cancel the reservation and we decided to go to breakfast instead.

At the restaurant, we ordered breakfast and started talking about how the weather forecast was wrong (again). It was overcast but beside that not to bad. Maybe we could squeeze in nine-holes. I called my neighbor who had gone to go work. Yes, he was up for it and could be home soon. Nate called and made reservations at Willis Case golf course. It is near the house, reasonably priced and one I had never played. Before long, the three of us were out playing golf.

At Willis Case nine turned into eighteen holes because the weather held. Soon there was talk about going to another course and playing nine more holes. Somewhere along the way, the term ‘Birthday Golf’ was created. Birthday Golf - we would play until it rained. Over at Hylands Golf Course we played another eighteen holes, instead of nine. On the 11th hole, DOR (Tiffany – Daughter of Ralph) called and sang me Happy Birthday.

I’ll admit it by the 16th hole on the second round I was getting a little tired. It was also getting a little dark and I was starting to lose some golf balls. But, we finished the second eighteen. As we headed back home, it started to rain. Perfect timing.

We went to my neighbors where dinner was waiting. To my surprise, my good friend Geno (who is eight) had made me a GREAT birthday brownie. He did most the work himself and went to a lot extra trouble with the decorations. It was the perfect birthday brownie. The decorations showed golf, a tree, and a birthday crown. To top it all off, it really tasted good! We ate the whole thing. Thanks Geno!

So, it was the perfect birthday. A nice pre-birthday dinner with Char, breakfast with Nate, hearing from Tiffany, thirty-six holes of golf, a good birthday dinner, and a GREAT birthday cake.

Almost - Part Two

I received an e-mail from a friend this past week containing a similar version of this story. It made me laugh. Hope it does the same for you.

A middle-aged man is at the zoo. He is standing in front of the elephant exhibit along with a huge crowd. Suddenly, one of the creatures turned and walks over to where the man is standing. The elephant stares at the man then lifted its front foot off the ground and puts it down. The elephant did that several times, all the while staring at the man. The elephant trumpeted loudly, turned and walked away.

Everyone was curious so the man explains that years ago while in Africa he came across a young elephant with one leg raised in the air. The man noticed the elephant had a large thorn deeply embedded in the bottom of the foot. As carefully and as he could he worked the thorn out with his knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man and just stood there staring at him. Then the elephant trumpeted loudly and left.

The man couldn't help wondering if this was the same elephant. So, after awhile the man summoned up his courage, he climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure where he walked up to the elephant.

The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around the man's legs and swung him back and forth along the railing. Eventually the elephant let him go and the man crawled up and over the railing where the stunned crowd was.

The man stared at the crowd and said, “Probably wasn't the same elephant.”

Almost. . .

While in Lincoln, I was able to play golf with a lot of the Morrow clan. We played two days on two very different courses. I had the opportunity to play golf with Les, Jon, Ed, Cliff, Tom, Dan, and Justin. Everyone was pretty patient with my “ability”. That really didn’t surprise me mainly because we are talking about the Morrow’s. They are pretty accepting of whatever is going on.

I did stand in awe the first day when I played in a foursome with Les, John, and Ed. More than once I watched them make some spectacular shots and just stood there thinking to myself, “Someday, that is how I want to play golf.” They gave me some pointers but more importantly a whole lot of encouragement to keep playing. I had a lot of fun with that group.

The next day I was teamed up Cliff, Dan, and Justin. Seems like everyone had to do a little penance and be teamed up with me. While in this group, I saw a spectacular shot. It was made by Dan. On the sixth hole at Woodland Hills golf course, Dan missed a hole in one by inches. Three inches to be exact. It was truly a great shot. Although this picture is not the best, if you look real hard you can see a big smile on Dan’s face.

Just another time in Lincoln where I said, “Someday, that is how I want to play golf.”

Back By Popular Demand. . . Peaches

This is a great time to be in Colorado. The Rocky Ford melons are in season and so are Colorado peaches. For the past few years both have really been good. But this year the peaches are exceptional.

I bought a case and we are slowly working our way through them. So far, we have had: peaches right out of the box, cereal and peaches, I made peach breakfast bread, peaches and ice cream, and peaches on grilled pork. Last night I thought about just grilling peaches. Take a peach split it open and remove the pit, put it on aluminum foil skin side down, add a pad of butter, a little cinnamon and sugar, and wait patiently until it is warmed through. Kind of like a peach pie without the crust. I may have to try it.

I am considering going to the western slope to get another case but I’m not sure I wanted to get into all that canning activity this year. I canned a bunch last year but it took the whole day.

Host Couple

Char and I considered it a privilege when Tom and Stephanie asked us to be the host couple at their reception. Cliff made it sound like we worked our tails off but truthfully it was a lot fun. We were able to talk to a lot of nice people. We answered some questions: “Where should I put the gift? (we collected them), “Where are the restrooms? (down the hall), “Where’s the bar?” (at the end of the reception hall).

It was really a lot of fun. We were also able to figure out how people knew Tom and Stephanie.

However, being a host couple is not something to be taken lightly. We had to make sure no wild cats crashed the reception.