First Golf Game of 2007

My personal golf season started at noon today when Andy, Rich and I tee'd off at the first hole of The Rookery, just east of Milton, Delaware.

It was windy and cold and I had one of those sinus headaches that make you sort-of hope a miss-hit golf ball might hit you in the head. Not to kill or permanently maim you, just to try to knock something lose in your sinus cavity.

But I was pleased with my game. I was unable to putt at all (I pushed almost every putt well past the hole), but my drives and irons were much better than they had been. My score was 116; nowhere near my best, but not bad given the day and the fact that it was the fist game after a long lay-off. There's hope.

I was uncertain about playing this spring. After my sciatic episode in January, I have been worried about the state of my back.

Would I be able to swing and twist?

On Tuesday I hit a bucket of balls at a driving range near Dover. I wanted to try things out and see if a more gentle swing would work with my iffy lower back.

That turns out to be the right thing to do. I have long been guilty of trying to whale on the ball, particularly off the tee. As a result I slice and hook and top the ball and generally look goofy.

If I swing easy, on the other hand, I can often send a ball straight, up and out. Not as far as I might like, of course, but that may come in time.

One of the lovely things about golf is its long string of counter-intuitive truisms. Hit down on the ball to get it up. Swing easy to get longer shots. And the most important thing to think about while you swing is not thinking.

There are probably lessons for the rest of life here.

Whose Great-Grandads Are These?

I've been enjoying a photoblog called Shorpy which finds and posts photos from as close to the start of the 20th Century as it can get.

Today, the site featured as series of portraits by Lewis Wickes Hine of young boys at work in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1910. They were part of Hine's work for the National Child Labor Committee.

There are a 15-year-old newsboy found on Tatnall Street, a 12-year-old found at 4th & Pine Streets, a 14-year-old Western Union Telegraph messenger found on Linden Street, a 10-year-old newsboy found on West 5th street, and an 11-year-old peanut vendor.

Take time to read the descriptions, which appear to be taken from Hine's notes. They are fascinating. They include details such as "Don’t smoke but visits saloons."

It seems unlikely that I've ever met any of these boys' descendants, but I can't help but think that some of these faces look familiar.

An Apparition

For some, its the Virgin Mary appearing in French Toast. For me, it's the state of Delaware appearing in a puddle. I'll take what I can get.

Today Was a Day to Doubt Your Senses

April Fools Day in the internet age is a challenge. There are always any number of goofs out there on April 1; some subtle, some stupid, some sublime. But for those of us who wander the wide world web, the sheer volume of silliness can become overwhelming.

Google got into the act, of course, offering a toilet-enabled WiFi system and a de-evolutionary new way to archive e-mail.

The Delaware News Journal tongue-in-cheekily suggested a second chance for recently disgraced state lawmaker John Atkins.

A local Liberal false-outed a local Conservative.

On MetaFilter, the moderators crafted a special April-Fools' version of Ask MetaFilter (somewhat NC17) that collected a month's worth of fictional nightmare questions.

Technorati played anagrams with its own name.

And Flickr Scout told me that all 2,389 of my posted photos had placed in Flickr's vaunted Explore list of the most "interesting" shots posted. My little heart went pitter-patter; previously I'd only placed three in Explore.

There were hundreds more, of course. For all that, the most disconcerting Foolishness today was unintentional.

Karen had planned to head-out early today. The Bell Choir played early- and late-morning services at Epworth Church. I was planning to be up and around in time to get Colleen to church by 9:30.

But when I awoke and looked at the clock, I was horrified to see that it was already 8:30. I scrambled out of bed, woke Colleen the ungentle way, and leapt into the shower. When I came downstairs half an hour later, ready to drive her into town, Colleen was still in her PJs; she pointed to two clocks that both read 8:00. I had panicked and got us all up too early.

When I checked with Karen later, I learned that she had also been fooled and got up way too early.

Our fancy alarm clock is programmed to reset itself when power goes out. It also helpfully resets itself to account for Daylight Savings Time changes. Unfortunately, when Congress moved the spring-forward date up by a few weeks and away from April 1, they neglected to inform our alarm clock.

So. Early this morning, while we were deeply asleep, our clock stirred itself and sprang it's digital read-out ahead from 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m., placing Karen and I an hour ahead of the day.

We were fooled. Who says Congress has no sense of humor?

A Busy Day Off

I took the day off from work today. Colleen had a normal school day, but Christina was off from school for a teacher in-service day. Karen is out of state at a Music Therapy Conference.

I spent the day just as I wish I could spend most days. I saw my daughter off to a fun day at a friend's house. I did some back-road exploring on a sunny day. And I took a brisk hike in the pine woods at Cape Henlopen State Park.

Christina's friend Morgan had invited a small core of fifth-grade girls over for a day of crafts and cake and fun at her home north of Milton. So, after getting Colleen off to high school, and a quiet morning of the news and the laundry, I ran Christina up to Morgan's house.

I knew she was in for a fine day when Morgan and her young sister Emma came bouncing out their front door as we pulled into the drive. They were, quite literally, jumping for joy.

So, I headed west, intending to see where roads I've never driven before might take me.

I wandered up through the village of Lincoln and was swinging south again when I saw smoke in the west. I let the smaller roads lead me west and north again until I found a small brush fire being brought under control.

Now the challenge was to get back to Lewes, following as few familiar roads as possible. I took good advantage of Old State Road, a two-lane that was replaced by DuPont Highway, and other small back roads. My goal, as always, to see new things and perhaps to photograph them.

I stopped for a light lunch in Milton and headed for Cape Henlopen State Park.

I have been meaning to complete a wander I took in the back part of the Park two weeks ago. I had gone out from the campgrounds, along an old military road, toward the Salt Marsh Spur. This is a thin neck of upland that extends out into the Salt Marsh between Lewes and the Cape. I was slowed by very wet conditions, and had to turn back without following the whole of the spur trail.

This time, I went in via Herring Point and made the full three-mile round trip out the spur and back in just over an hour.

The fellow at the Nature Center told me that there is said to be an Eagle building a nest out the spur. I kept my eyes on the tops of the trees and snags, but I didn't see it. I wasn't particularly quiet moving along the trail. I didn't have the time, or the skill, to be stealthy.

After returning to the car, parked by the old battery at Herring Point, I headed back out to Morgan's house to pick up Christina.

We came home tired, but satisfied with our day.

Flag

This photo, and its partner, remind me that there are pictures to be taken at almost any time. Even when I think there's nothing to be seen.

I took these Monday evening, while in Annapolis for the Mid-Year Meeting of the National States Geographic Information Council. We'd just been dropped off outside Phillips Seafood House, in the center of town, for our "offsite social."

It was a slightly overcast, cool, and (I thought) unpromising evening. But there was still daylight (saved from somewhen) and I was in the harbor area of one of Maryland's oldest towns. It seemed worth a wander around, at least.

I found a few good pictures, and it was nice to stretch my legs after two days of intensive meetings. But I didn't think there was anything special until I was just about to enter the restaurant.

I turned back for one last look and realized that the sun was just behind an American Flag from where I stood. So I waited and timed the wind and its unfurling of the flag.

The jet in flight was a lucky accident.

Dave Burris is a Mensch

Dave, who writes the blog First State Politics, is also the Chairman of the Sussex County Republican Party. We don't agree on much, politically, but he's always been a polite and pleasant opponent; one who puts forward real arguments in a spirit of positive discussion.

Today, Dave has taken a difficult position, and done so in a manner that can only be called open, honest, and very personal. Dave has released a letter to the State House Republican Leaders explaining why he feels Representative John Atkins, who has lately come under scrutiny by the House Ethics Committee, should resign or be expelled from the House.

Agree or disagree on the Atkins matter, it is clear that our Dave Burris is a mensch.

The Weird World is a Small World

When I saw this headline on the News Journal web site this morning, I felt drawn to the story, and not just because it may be the single greatest headline ever written:

Mouse makes off with man's dentures

When I clicked on the story, I was surprised to find the dateline "Waterville, Maine."

Waterville is where Colby College, my alma mater, is located. I spent four great years in that small town. I saw many things and learned a great deal.

I never saw denture-swiping rodent.

A Mr. Bill Exner lost his dentures. He eventually found them, dragged off to the mouse's lair in the bedroom wall. They retrieved (and boiled) the dentures, but the story is not yet complete.

The mouse apparently isn't done. It frequently comes out and stares at Exner, his wife said.

''He's taunting him -- I swear he's taunting him,'' Shirley Exner said.

Actually, I Did Expect This. Or Something Very Much Like It

Dorothy Wickenden offers a commentary (Never, Ever Land) in the coming week's edition of The New Yorker that nicely summarizes the US Attorney Firings scandal and goes on to sum up the Bush administration:

Bush’s Presidency has been defined by the war on terror, but not in the ways that Rove intended: nonexistent W.M.D.s, Guantánamo, Abu Ghraib, Gonzales’s acquiescence in memos condoning forms of interrogation outlawed by the Geneva Conventions, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation. Today, Gonzales has the support of few Republicans except the President. Rove, who once boasted of a permanent Republican majority, is facing a subpoena from a Democratic Congress. The Bush Administration is struggling to regain the trust of the American public and to avoid a constitutional showdown over executive power—something it never, ever expected.

Wow: Great Blog Skin

Dina Hakimi has an excellent blog skin. Where it says "Pull?" You should pull.