Early Golf, Tree House, Buckeyes, & House Warming

Photo: Thorn covered tree at Split Rock.

I woke briefly around 515a happy to realize that it wasn’t a work day. Hooray! I did, however, want to be up by 6am in order to complete my routine and still make our 9am tee-time at Split Rock. I allowed myself to fall back asleep but got up for good at 555a. I felt terrific after almost 8 hours of sleep and no beer the night before. I completed my exercise routine then took Frankie out back for her morning romp. It was chilly, but also gorgeous – clear skies and a bright ¾ moon. Back inside I enjoyed coffee and internet ahead of a stretch and run. I chose to leave Frankie roaming the house when heading out for my run. It was way too early to take her to Mindy. It was only 7am. I wore shorts and a thin, long-sleeved wicking shirt. I definitely could’ve used a thicker running shirt or perhaps even a jacket. I didn’t warm up until a mile or two into my run. I ran just three miles. I was back home by 730a and promptly headed off to the shower. Mindy woke despite my efforts to keep quiet. Frankie was crying at the foot of the stairs. Mindy asked me to go ahead and bring her up. OK. I wasn’t long in the shower. I dressed in shorts and two (a long and a short sleeved) wicking shirts. I figured I could peel one or the other off if I got too warm later. Mindy got up and followed me downstairs. She fetched her own coffee while I made a breakfast sandwich and prepared for golf. I planned to take/use my new clubs, but as it was, they were still in the box. I fetched my golf bag from the Trooper and replaced my irons with the new set. Still not sure what I’ll do with the old ones. I was ready to go by 815a. I called Kenny to see if he was ready. Yep, ready and waiting. Mindy advised that she and the kids might be grocery shopping when I got home later. Kenny & I hit the road at 820a after making a quick stop at Circle K for gas. Making excellent time, we arrived at Split Rock around 845a. Bob B. was already there, as expected. The course didn’t appear to be too busy at all. Excellent! As we headed to the 1st tee box, I made a quick stop at the practice green to gauge the putting speed. I probably took 6-8 practice putts. Meanwhile, it was absolutely beautiful – clear blue skies and I’m guessing around 56 degrees. As is often the case, my drive was right down the center of the fairway and just 150yds off the green. I hit my new 7-iron for the first time, pulling it just left of the green and right beside the cart path. I took a two club length move further away to avoid hitting off the rocky golf path. I double-bogeyed the hole. Number two is a 165 yd par 3 down a hill and over a pond. I hit a 6-iron landing over the pond but just short of the green. I ended up with a bogey. I expect it to take a while to get a feel for my new irons, determining their optimal distance and what not. They’re lighter than my older clubs and seem to have a bigger sweet spot. I put my second shot on the green 6 or 7 times, which for me is a good golf day. The day’s Achilles heel was my putting. I three putted more often than not. I wasn’t driving that well either, but by no means was it hurting me as much as the poor putting. As is often the case at Split Rock, there was little to no waiting. We finished our round in about 3.75 hours, or just ahead of 1pm. Kenny golfed rather well carding an 86. He finally straightened out what was ailing his driver. Bob B., on the other hand, had a horrible go of it. Yet despite his poor play, he kept his cool – always does. I carded a 97 after too many three putts. But I was happy, number one, just to be out golfing with friends on such a lovely day. And number two, to get a feel for my new irons. We headed towards home going west on Scioto-Darby Rd. I’ve always wanted to go that way to see where it dumps out. I knew Split Rock was fairly close to my mom’s old place on Ridgewway Rd but not sure how exactly to get there. After a lovely winding drive we ended up dumping out on Rt 62 by the Darby Tavern. From there, we hopped on I-71N and then I-270W towards home. I dropped Kenny at home around 130pm. After a few chunks of cheese and some ice water, I changed clothes and headed out to the tree house to finish the shingling. I took Frankie out with me and tethered her to the red lead. I cut another 21 hip caps then headed up to the roof to get the job done. Mindy & the kids returned home after an hour or so. Can’t recall where she said they had been, although I know not the grocery. She begged off for there while the kids stayed home with me. Jacob shared that he bought a paintball gun. I, in turn, felt it necessary to share that he couldn’t shoot it until we had a talk about the many do’s and don’ts. Apparently Mindy had given him a similar message. For the time being, I had him help me finish the shingling. I’m guessing it was near 3pm when we finished the roof. Without missing a beat, and still full of energy, I decided to get out my chain saw and cut the dead wood from two of the walnut trees along pond, something I’ve been planning for this autumn since early summer. To accomplish this, I needed my light extension ladder, too. I haven’t used my chain saw since the hurricane in September of ’08. It felt liberating to remove all that dead wood that had been on my list for so long. Probably not the brightest move, I didn't wear goggles and subsequently got saw dust in my eyes. I went inside and doused my eyes with drops. That did the trick, at least temporarily. Mindy returned home form the grocery at some point while I was busy sawing or carrying away all the debris. Meanwhile, I had the OSU game piped out into the back yard through the exterior speakers. The Buckeyes built a huge lead in no time flat, but I only caught bits and pieces of the action due in part to the noise from the chain saw. We planned to make Ben & Ryan’s house warming party, which as I understood, started at 630pm. I went in for a much needed shower around 530p. We planned to follow Kenny and Chrissy to their new house, somewhere near New Rome. While showering/dressing, I caught more of the OSU game. Meanwhile, the Buckeyes offense was pouring it on. I was surprised, however, to see that we’d given up 20 points to a decidedly weaker opponent. We walked down to the neighbors around 6pm to see if everyone was ready. We were still waiting on Mike, Julie’s husband, to arrive. He showed around 630p. We walked back home to load a cooler and get the Honda. We pulled down to Kenny & Chrissy’s but Mindy thought they had already left. Hmmm? Mindy had the invite in hand and used her Droid to find the street via mapquest. We found Ben & Ryan's new house with relative ease, but when we arrived there was no K & C. I called Kenny’s cell while we greeted everyone. Turns out, they were still at home. It didn’t take long for them to get there. We were perhaps half way through the home tour when they pulled up. Nice, well built older home. Lots of interesting features and little extras. Especially nice media room/bar in the basement, complete with a built in keg and tap. The appetizer spread was right up my alley. Lots of cheese, salsa, veggies, hummus (4 types) and pita. We sat by the food for the duration. They had a house full – guessing around 30 guests. Very few kids. Jacob, Bella and one other. We decided to call it a night around 930pm. At the same time, Kenny & Chrissy were spatting, and as we understood it, over kid issues from earlier. Chrissy ended up heading for home without Kenny. He said he was gonna stay and party. Mindy, as she often does, interceded and went back inside to talk with Kenny convincing him that he’d be much better off coming home with us and not making a mountain out of a mole hill. I am paraphrasing, of course. Surprisingly, he listened. We made room in the Honda and headed for home. Kenny headed off towards his house while we headed inside ours. We planned to head down to their place in short order, or after tending to some business. All of us, Mindy, me, the kids and Frankie walked down around 10p. We sat on the deck with Mike and Julie while Kenny & Chrissy “talked” inside. However, finding myself with a beer but n opener, I headed in to get one. It was really chilly. After about 20 minutes on the deck, we decided to head back to our house inviting Mike & Julie to come along. Julie tried her damnedest to kill or lizard. She knocked his terrarium over spilling him and its contents onto the floor. Mindy, or one of the kids captured the panicked lizard and quickly tossed his home back together, albeit haphazardly. We hung out for an hour or so joking, laughing, & snacking. Mike & Julie headed back down to Kenny & Chrissy’s, where they planned to stay the night. We offered our spare room should they have needed it. We headed to bed directly after they departed. We were all getting very sleepy.