Priorities

One of the best things about golf, is the social aspect. These days we are all so busy that it's hard to get together for drinks or dinner or whatever... The cool thing about golf, is that it's an excuse to make plans with people and what golfer doesn't have a time allotment budgeted into the weekly schedule?

Sixteen years ago, my twinster and brother in law moved about an hour away from me. To most people this probably isn't a big deal, but I was devastated. The thing is, even though an hour isn't that long of a drive (ok, it's an hour without traffic and there is pretty much always traffic covering that route)... but you can't be in each other's every day life. Meaning, we can't just pop by one another's house to borrow this or that, I can't drive my neices to or fro school or dance when my sis has scheduling issues, and we don't meet for coffee on Saturday mornings. This... makes me sad.

Whenever I get to pick what I want to do for the day (birthdays, etc.) well duh.. I pick golf! I don't have many golf chums, since neither my family nor my friends play. However, several months back, my twinster and I went to the driving range and hit a bucket of balls. She had never swung a club and with my incessant blathering about how fun it is, she wanted to give it a whirl. Although I am a fledgling, my guru has taught me well, and in terms of mechanics I am well versed in what you are supposed to do. Although each time I swing a club, it's anyone's guess as to whethere or not I actually pull all the elements together. The good news, I guess, is that I usually know exactly what I've done wrong and try to focus on a correction.

Since we are twins, my sis and I really "get" each other and speak the same language. I started her as my sweetie started me, with her 9-iron and a half swing. The only tricky thing is that although we are both left handed, I golf righty and she golfs lefty. We persevered and she was able to make some good ball contact and did well.

For Mother's Day I decided that my sis and brother in law should come down to my house early and that the four of us could play 9 before the rest of the fam arrived at my house for lunch. Since it was Mother's Day, we figured it was ok to do whatever we wanted. Once that was decided I set about the process of nudging (stalking, bullying) my brother in law to buy my sis a new set of clubs. It was a mildly painful process but we got it done!

Much to my neices chagrin, my sis and bro in law arrived at my house Sunday morning, ready to play. My sweetie's dad was still in town so we had a perfect 5-some. We got to the course and I was soooo excited! My sister was a little nervous but my bro in law was the one with the real jitters. Thankfully we got off the first tee without incident, and my sis played from the forward tees using her 9-iron and half swing. She wasn't going to get to the green in one, but this process helped her to get through the round without feeling frustrated and giving up. They both did well and now they have been officially bitten with the golf bug.

The thing about golf is... it is an excuse to get together with people. I was able to spend a lovely Sunday morning with my sister, sans kids. On the golf course, there is no room for serious conversation and the everyday stresses of life are forgotten. The golf course often feels to me, like a safe place to "get away". Spending time with the important people in your life, without the kids needing something, without the phone ringing or the television interrupting, is a forgotten concept. A round of golf is the grown up equivalent to "playing outside". When we were kids, that's all we did and all we wanted to do. As adults, we forget to unplug from the Matrix and enjoy the simple pleasures of life. When we play golf, we have the opportunity to forget about work, the bills, and the bathroom that needs to be cleaned. In this world of technology driven overstimulation, we have forgotten the importance of peacefulness. The golf course allows us to find it again, and gives us an excuse to nurture the little kid we all have buried inside...

Golf: it does a body good