Grouchy

Midwinter and the greens and fairways are still snow-covered. We find that we are feeling a bit grouchy lately.

Could it be the lack of golf? It has been over a month since we played a round at our frosty but pre-snowpacked Civitan Golf Club.


Garrison Keillor reported yesterday on Prairie Home Companion that the residents of Lake Woebegone have been grouchy this week—starting with the waitress at the Chatterbox Café who is threatening patrons with alarming ways of warming up their coffee cups.

They, too, have been covered with snow and gray days for quite some time now.

We all await the news from Punxsutawney Phil.

Come on, Phil, send us some springtime. We need to get out there and play some GOLF.

Western Wallop

The Weather Channel calls the pattern that we currently in the “Western Wallop.”

To us, it looks like a lot of SNOW.

It might be global warming, an El Nino year, the advent of another Ice Age, or the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius.

It might be just a lot of snow.

What we do know is that our ability to play golf is severely limited right now. When our golf courses are sitting under a few feet of snow, we just can’t get out there, mostly because the courses are closed.

Our golf clubs sit in the garage, patiently waiting for the fairways and greens to reappear. We sit by the fire and dream of warmer days and greener golf courses.

The People's Golf

It has come to our attention that many consider golf to be the sport of wealthy men. Our faithful readers will note that WNMLF golfers do not fit that demographic.

This past weekend, we attended an institute in Scottsdale in a beautiful hotel that bordered an upscale golf course. The subject of the institute was decidedly not golf, and so the only opportunity we had to experience the course was to wander out to the patio with ice tea in hand during breaks and gaze longingly at the par 3 hole next to the hotel grounds.

We were surprised to find ourselves not doing too much longing.

Maybe it was the online investigation that revealed greens fees of $276 for eighteen holes.

Maybe it was the golf shop at the Phoenix airport that charged $9.99 for one golf ball.

Maybe it was the tee shots we observed that didn’t look too much better than tee shots at our beloved Civitan golf course (greens fees $8 for eighteen holes).

What we love about golf is not located in our investment portfolios or the price tags on our equipment.

For us, golf is about the friendly chat, the occasional miracle shot that seems to happen against all odds, the iced coffee at our own 10th hole. Golf is about companionship, a walk in beautiful place, surprise, and mystery.

Falling Iguanas

We are disturbed to learn that it has been so cold in south Florida that iguanas are falling from the trees.


We have heard two explanations for this—one, that their bodies go into hibernation mode at low temperatures and they are out for the count until the temperature rises; or two, they lose their lizard muscle control at the low temperatures and they simply can’t hang on to the tree limbs.

You can decide for yourself as it is our editorial policy not to engage in any controversial scientific theory.

We can only imagine how distressing it must be to stroll down a fairway or wander into the trees to retrieve an errant golf ball and be surprised by one of these dropping lizards.

It must be even more distressing for the iguanas.

And so we send our sympathies to golfers and iguanas on the golf courses of Florida with warm wishes for better days ahead.