Flannel Quarantine Diaries: Log Day 6

#COVID19 Social (Physical) Distancing Log 03212020:

Mood: Thoughtful

I decided in my 30s that when I turned 40 I would start playing golf. I thought it was a good sport to play in your 40s. After I turned 41, I decided it was time to start playing golf. I found out that my friend Amy M. played golf and I asked if she could teach me how to play. I never played in my life besides putt putt golf and the driving range once. I was terrible. That was the extent of my golf history. I played multiple sports in high school, tennis, basketball, track & field, and, I also, played on a women's inter-mural softball team in my 20s. So, I'm a fairly athletic person, even though I don't look like it. I can certainly hit a tiny ball with a stick. The game of golf is way more complicated than hitting a little ball with a stick and getting it into a little hole without going into the woods, pound, or sand trap.

I went and bought a cheap set of clubs because I wasn't even sure if I'd like it or not. I met up with Amy at the Lewiston Golf & Country Club, it's actually a very farm country, 9-hole golf course, surrounded by corn fields. It was a perfect place to play my first round of golf. Which I was surprised to find out we were going to do after Amy showed me the basics of swinging a club and keeping my eye on the ball. I guess the best way to learn how to play is to play. I was awful, but I was hooked. I loved it. and Amy was very patient and kind with me. I truly appreciated her teaching and guidance. It was the best day, hanging out with a good friend, searching for my ball in the cornfields, drinking some beers, and eating a chicken sandwich in the clubhouse. What more could one ask for on their day off? Being quarantined in my home makes me long for the day I get to be on a golf course.

I always thought golf was an old white man elitist game and it didn't seem very accessible to folks like me. I was even surprised at how much I loved the game of golf. No, not everyone has 4 hours to spend playing 18-holes, but if you do it's the best thing to walk a golf course on a warm, clear sunny day taking in the view and fresh air. Most of the time there's no one else out there. I play with friends, but I've realized I enjoy playing by myself. It's the only time that I don't think about anything else except hitting that little ball into that little hole and making sure it doesn't fly into the pond, again. I now own a very nice set of clubs that are not very cheap. It was I'm single and I can buy whatever I want gift for myself after L (two exes ago) and I broke up almost three and half years ago.

Golf is a lot like life. You can make a spectacularly awful shot at one moment, but the next shot you take can be spectacularly beautiful. Persistence. Patients. Practice. Three things that can help us all get better at something especially golf. I'm good at a lot of things because I enjoy learning and I have a tenacious personality. I'm never going to go pro, but every golf season I get a little bit better. Also, golf helped rehabilitate my back after my back injury in 2018. It took two years, but my back has never felt better. And, if you've herniated a disk it sucks. How about three. It triple sucked. C'est la vie. That's life.

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