Thursday, June 25, 2015

Starts and Stops




I’m leaving in an hour for my first real golf game of the season – although I’ll be surprised if my friends and I make it past nines holes. The course we play closely resembles a stroll up Lombard Street in San Francisco. We arrive at a couple of the holes (after climbing rises so steep that we must push our carts ahead of us with arms practically over our heads)  so winded that there’s actually a pause in the conversation.



          Two years ago I decided that as a new retiree the next logical step was to take up golf. My game is pretty much unchanged from the first time I ever put a tee in the ground but I’ve gained two new friends and adventures that included New York’s Russian Tea Room; Boynton Beach, Florida; and a road trip to Venice, Florida.



          Yesterday I “graduated” from a writing workshop I’ve been attending for the past two years. I began unsure of what I was doing there other than scouting for something else to fill my new-found retirement freedom. I met some more new friends there and I’ve now settled comfortably into the blog world, not to mention starting my third book. I’d say that venture was a success.

         

          The latest news is that my first book, Earthly Needs is now available at Amazon in paperback. If War and Peace seems a bit too heavy to manage at the beach, this may be just the thing


26 comments:

  1. Congratulations! What a thing!
    I want to take up golf as well, as soon as I have some time... Maybe in twenty years.

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    1. Thanks, Mwa. And good to know that someone is still out there in the working world.

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  2. I've added your book to my Amazon wish list.

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  3. I tried golfing, but my boobs kept getting in the way. LOL (gosh, that would be an awesome blog name. hahaha!)

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    1. Ah, if only I could use that as an excuse.
      Actually, one of the best tips I ever received from a veteran (i.e. anyone better than me - a very large field) golfer was as you swing, to "squeeze the boobs".

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  4. Congrats on your book being available on Amazon! That's awesome! It sounds like your writing workshop definitely paid off. I guess blogging is kind of my writing workshop. :)

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    1. Haven't gone near book #3 today, but the new blog post gave me a real sense of accomplishment. Probably not a good thing.

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  5. Well, congratulations! I aspire to none of the above, especially writing a book, and am very impressed. Golf would be next down my list of avoidables and bypassables. So, double good for you.

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    1. For my friend and me, conversation trumps everything. I pity the people behind us as we pause at the tee to finish whatever topic we're on at that moment.

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  6. All ready got and enjoyed it on Kindle. As for golf, I never broke 90 and had to keep letting people "play through." End of golf career.

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    1. And thank you, Patti, for your kind comments.
      Just to give you an idea, today we played at a par 3, and my score card for each hole was consistently 6 strokes, that being the highest you're allowed to list at a par 3. The reality at some holes was definitely higher than 6.

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  7. Oh how wonderful that you are now published on Amazon. I hope it sells well. I never was interested in golf, but my SIL is crazy about it

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    1. Once a week is enough golf for me, and on hot days that's stretching my tolerance.

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  8. Earthly Needs is part of my unread tower.
    Golf? I am with Mark Twain on the good walk ruined front, but love that you have found friends and adventure through it.

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    1. Who knew that golf - something I'm really pretty bad at with no signs of improvement - could change my life?

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    2. PS
      Do you read Catbird Scout's blog? She is s retiring teacher and a thoughtful writer and I think you would enjoy her. http://catbirdscout.blogspot.com

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  9. Congatulations on your new book. It's quite a thrill to have your story published.

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    1. Thanks, Red. It wasn't doing anyone any good just sitting as a file on my hard drive.

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  10. Golf? That game where you hit the ball away, go to find it, then hit it away again?
    Crazy game.

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    1. Well, when you put it like that I just feel silly! :o)

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  11. Congratulations on your book! I'm about to take up golf also; in fact, we're off to buy a bag today. I'm doing it to be a good egg--and make the rest of our friends feel good about their scores.

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    1. Hey, enjoy. The best part of golf is the conversation on the course and the lunch after. (With more conversation,)

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  12. sounds like retirement is going well for you.

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    1. Yes, I think I'm getting pretty good at it.

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  13. Congratulations! I am ordering your book today. Both my Mom and my Dad were golfers. As it turns out mama was better at golf than daddy. That bothered daddy so much that he sold both sets of clubs and they never played again. They used to go to Pinehurst on Sunday afternoons, buy a basket of practice balls and practice hitting. If you were good enough to hit a ball and break out a light bulb set up far out on the course, you would win a prize. Mama came home with a new percolator. All this was in the mid to late 1950's.

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