Golf Balls on Ice

Civitan Lake borders hole #5 on our home course.  It has a light sheet of ice on its surface this week.


As we strolled along the fairway and gazed out at the frozen seascape, we couldn’t help but notice the little round white bumps dotting the surface of the ice at various places on top of the lake. Closer inspection revealed lots of golf balls just underneath the surface of the thin ice as well.

Who says golf is only for the summer months?

Put on your polar fleece, your ear muffs, and come on out. Meet you at the first tee.

Merry Christmas to and from the Western New Mexico Lunatic Fringe Golf League.

Fore!!!!

Tiger Burning Bright

We admire in Tiger the way he walks onto the golf course as if he owns it, the natural graceful swing, and his self-assurance on the putting green.

The rest is white noise/static. The rest is sad.

One of our favorite poets is William Blake (1757-1827). Did he look ahead and see the 21st century Tiger?

“The Tyger” by William Blake

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright,
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire in thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, and what art?
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand, and what dread feet?

What the hammer? What the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb, make thee?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright,
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Golf Discourse Community

“Ooh-hoo,” we said when a new sleeve of Titleist golf balls arrived in our hands, packaged in a lovely little Santa gift bag.


“Titleist Pro SIX,” we continued, knowing mostly that many big shot golfers will hit Titleist golf balls and nothing else.

“Vicki,” said our colleague Mike from down the hall, (Mike who happens to be a gentleman, a scholar, and an actual golfer), “those are Titleist Pro V 1 balls. You’re supposed to say ‘Titleist ProVee One.’”

Oh—and so our initiation into yet another part of the golf world continues. On a day when the temps are flirting with freezing, the wind is blowing cold, and there may still be patches of snow out there on the course, we are working on language lessons.

In the more academic side of our brain, we call this entering a new discourse community.

Thanks to our friend Margaret, we have a new sleeve of fancy golf balls that we know to call “Titleist Pro V 1.” Thanks to our friend Mike, we know how to say it right.

The next challenge will be to hit these balls and not lose them to the rocks, hill, lake, bush, and trees--the forces that eat golf balls and probably don't care at all about how to pronounce their names.