Summer's Front Door

I was up sometime before 7am to yet another sunny, warm start to the morning. Expecting a high in the 90s. Golf was on the agenda. Kenny & I planned to leave the house near 850am. To that end, I started some coffee then played around on the internet for a few minutes before eventually setting out on a three mile holiday run.

It was humid and already 73 degrees. I thought about skipping a shirt completely but threw one on last second. Nobody wants to see an old man running without a shirt these days. Just ask Chris Spielman. I survived but soaked the short sleeved wicking shirt by the time I completed the run.

It was something like 810am when I got back from my run. Mindy was already up, which surprised me. I’d forgotten that the boys were expected to be there by 9am. While Mindy enjoyed coffee, I headed up for a quick shower. Because it was expected to be hot & steamy, I wore a white golf polo. Downstairs by 830am, I put the weeks running clothes in the washer then gathered up my golf gear, Gatorade, and water. I made a hot dog too. I was hungry but didn’t’ have a lot of time.

Mindy figured to leave for Guy & Missy’s place around noon. We’d meet them there soon after golf.
I walked down to Kenny’s much like I did on Thursday. I sat outside again waiting for the overhead garage to open. With little to-do, we headed off for Johnstown around 855am. We passed Lindsey pulling out of her apartment complex, presumably heading to our house with the boys.

Our tee time was slated for 950am. We made good time out 670 to 270 to 161 and to route 62. I hadn’t played Kyber Run before. I wasn’t sure how to get there. Turned out it really close to New Albany Links and Royal American, but just a little further north then east. We arrived around 930am. As we headed in to pay our green fees I met Bob, Julie’s dad. Guy invited him to golf with us as well. The starter, meanwhile, shared that the tee box was opened if we wanted to get started. The only problem with that was that we were still waiting for Guy. He showed a few minutes late. No biggie. We weren’t holding anyone up.

My golf:
I started out like I usually do, hitting some good drives, some so-so 2nd shots and then some decent putting. But after about the 7th hole my game seemed to fall completely apart. I did manage to birdie a short par five, but that was the lone highlight. On the back nine I couldn’t even get off the tee with any consistency, which is more often than not my ace in the hole. I’ll bet I lost about 6 balls on the back and carded a handful of 7s and 8s. To sum it up, I wasn’t even having fun by the end of the round.

The course:
The course was nicer than I expected, and there’s water in play on almost every hole. The rough was thick and grabby, often gulping all but the top of the ball. Staying in play was paramount to a low golf score. The greens got really fast as the day wore on. I want to go back and tame that beast!

We finished near 2pm, or just short of 4 hours. Guy struggled to find his keys in his golf bag even after checking all the pockets at least twice. He went inside to ask if anyone found keys. He checked his bag one more time but this time they turned up. Crisis averted!

Kenny & I headed to Guy’s where we were supposed to meet our wives and kids. He lives about 5-10 minutes north of the course, not too far at all. We arrived around 230pm but are families weren’t yet there. Missy and the kids were, though. Missy greeted us on the deck about the same time that Guy pulled up after stopping for ice. I heard another car too. It was Mindy, Chrissy and all seven kids. Nine folks all piled into the Pilot. They got lost trying to find Mike & Julie’s new drive-thru in eastern Delaware. They blamed Julie’s directions.

Kenny wanted to head up and see Mike’s new drive-thru too. I did too. I rode up with him. Took a lot longer to get there than I guessed. I’ll bet it was a good 15 miles away. We made our way through Johnstown, Sunbury and finally to east Delaware off Route 36 to M&Js Drive-Thru. Opened on Friday. It’s big. They sell drinks, snacks, and feed. Nice place. Still not up to full inventory thanks in part to problems with local distributors. Mike invited us out back where they had a canopy and grill fired up. Kenny drank a beer. I passed on a beer but enjoyed a hot dog. We visited for about an hour. I knew the girls wouldn’t be happy that we were gone so long. Sure enough, Mindy rang my blackberry. I left my Droid back at Guy & Missy’s. Assured her that we’d be heading home soon. We left about 10 minutes later and got back around 430pm. Most everyone else had already eaten. I had another hot dog and some sides. Everything was good. I enjoyed one of the White Rajah’s Mindy brought out for me too. Actually shared it with Mindy.

After eating Mindy and I walked out back to the pond, complete with a fountain and a dock where all the kids swam and rode around in a paddle boat. Rocky was afraid to jump. Jacob teased him repeatedly until we asked that he stop. Landon couldn’t get wet due to his bandaged hand. Kenny was nice enough to drive him around in the paddle boat.

The kids had a blast cooling off in the pond. I’m thinking they swam for about an hour. Mindy wanted to go in short order, this being a work and school night. I’m thinking it was close to 6pm when we organized our stuff and headed for home. Took a while for the kids to get changed and then gather all their wet gear into grocery bags. Chrissy & Kenny’s kids elected to ride home with us. We thanked Missy & Guy for their hospitality then departed.

We made good time getting home. Traffic wasn’t an issue at all. Must’ve taken about 30 minutes. We dropped the boys at home first. Mindy walked them up. Upon her return to the car, Mindy commented on how tidy Lindsey’s apartment was. Neither of us has been over for a while, so we weren’t quite sure what to expect. Mindy called her about an hour later and complimented for keeping the place looking nice. Positive affirmation, it’s something I have to keep harping on Mindy about. 

The kids dashed out to play as soon as we were home. Kenny stopped by about 20 minutes later while I was busy digging into a work issue. Happens. Kenny dropped off my golf clubs, which rode home with him. A few minutes later Mindy and I walked the pug down past Kenny’s who was already out weeding a flower bed. The man never stops working. While chatting, we met some new neighbors that just moved in to David & Tessa’s rental from Arizona. They’re a family of four, a two year old daughter and few months old boy. The only name I can readily recall is the three month old boy, Luke. The daughter was very cute. She was her new bike helmet. The parents said they just bought it for her and she doesn’t want to take it off. Even wanted to nap with it on. Kenny pulled several volunteer petunias from his front bed. Said he knew they were volunteer petunias but didn’t want to mess up his read, white & blue color scheme. I picked up three of the baby volunteers and sunk them in our front beds. 

At 8pm I turned on the TV to the History Channel 2. I was intrigued to see a show titled The Vietnam War – HD just about to start. I ended up watching for the next 165 minutes. And Jacob watched most of it with me. It was very graphic and had lots and lots of real video clips from the war taken by soldiers and news reporters. Both of us learned a lot. As you might expect, Jacob had more than a few question. It was a good experience for us to share together. I did my best to help him understand what was going on. He’s mature beyond his years in that regard.

Mindy and Bella had peeled off for bed much earlier, or around 915pm. Mindy asked that Jacob be in bed by 10pm. He headed up at 1020pm. I think the program ran until 11pm, but I started falling asleep around 1030p. I shut down the house at 1045 and headed for bed.