Levy Trail Loop

I walked the Levy Trail Loop this morning in 32:56.

I PLAN TO STAB...
...the next person who says "closure"

QUESTION OF THE DAY
Would any of this John McCain celebration have occurred if not for his lifestyle change at the start of the Trump phenomenon? I, no kidding, can't remember similar honor bestowed on anyone since JFK

War Memorial Golf Course

Ed, John, and I played War Memorial Golf Course this morning. Ed scored 80. I scored 86 and John 101. I had nines of 45 and 41, used 32 putts (with a goddamn 4 putt), and had 6 pars, 8 bogies, 3 triples, and 1 pentagonal. It was a weird fucking round

Camp Clearkfork

CRYSTAL SPRINGS—Z-Man and I drove to Camp Clearfork and were out for about forty-five minutes on a run set by John Czarnecki. The new pretty Hasher I commented on four weeks ago was there. Her name is Rachel.
This morning, I walked Levy Trail South in 33:43.

Hendrix College

CONWAY—I walked around and across the Hendrix College campus this evening for 37:54, briefly with a fluffy cat splotched black, brown, and white who two students addressed as Charlie. It was my first time on the campus since January 2006 and to walk about on it in the daylight since spring of 1979. I don't believe I appreciated its loveliness as much as a twenty-year-old. I was surprised how easy it was to find Staples Auditorium, where three of my friends and I listened to author Richard Ford twelve and a half years ago.
I was there to report on a football game played at the school's Young-Wise Memorial Stadium. Charleston defeated Melbourne, 37-14.

War Memorial Golf Course

John Czarnecki, Ed Pennington, and I played War Memorial Golf Course this afternoon. Ed scored 87. I scored 90 and John 105. I had nines of 46 and 44, used 33 putts, and had 1 par, 9 bogies, 7 doubles, and 1 triple. We laughed a lot.

Levy Trail

Five other Geezers and I walked on the Levy Trail this morning for 1:06:26.

War Memorial Golf Course/Levy Trail South

This time we made it five holes before rain ran us off the course. John Czarnecki and I tried. We both scored 27 through No. 5 at War Memorial Golf course this morning. I had 2 bogies, 1 double, and 2 triples.
The humidity in Levy has plummeted through the day. In fact, it reminds me of a line from the final chapter of A Different Closet: There were a few days like this each August. Cool wind from the northwest had blown away the dank air, and high clouds diffused into a translucent sheet that spread over the sky to leave a bright white afternoon, breezy and dry and almost cool, all serving as an advertisement for fall.
Anyway, I walked through it to complete Levy Trail South this evening in 32:54. I started a little early so I could get back for kickoff of a preseason NFL game on ESPN.

Levy Trail South

I walked Levy Trail South at lunchtime today in 32:30

War Memorial Golf Course

The rain had just started. By my way of thinking, it was coming down pretty good, but John Czarnecki gave it the ol', "Ah, this ain't shit." So I hit one of my longest drives of the year—maybe 230 yards—down the No. 7 fairway, and the fucking bottom falls out. A half an hour later, when the rain finally backed off a little bit, we returned to our cars. I left a brand new dollar-fifty golf ball behind.
Including an 11 of the Par 4 second hole, I played six holes in 33. with 1 par, 3 bogies, 1 double, and 1 whatever the fuck an 11 on a Par 4 is. Ed scored 30 and John 33.

Levy Trail South

I walked Levy Trail South tonight in 34:23. I saw my first toad frog of the year right around 36th Street. Heck, I turned around to take another look just to make sure I had seen what I thought I'd seen. People from up north might not understand the significance of this sighting. Back in the '60s and '70s, as I grew up, I'd put the over-under on toads I saw a day at ten. Now I see one every two or three years. While I'm at it, green grasshoppers fall into the same category. Thirty years ago, they were all over the place in the summer, like toads. It's been two years since I last saw one—on the windshield of my Impala in the Levy Kroger parking lot. It seems odd to me that the climate-change advocates haven't harked on these changes, except that I myself only noticed the absence of toad frogs and green grasshoppers a couple of years ago (two or three, I think). All I'm certain of was that they were everywhere throughout my childhood and are almost nowhere now.

OVERHEARD
"I hate to say it, but I never gave a hoot about Aretha Franklin. She was sort of like Bob Dylan to me. I was probably missing something, but I never understood her popularity."
—Pete in a conversation with Z-Man

War Memorial Golf Course

Ed Pennington and I played War Memorial Golf Course this morning. I scored 83 and Ed 85. I had nines of 45 and 38, used 30 putts, and had 3 pars, 12 bogies, 2 doubles, and 1 triple. Yips only affected two putts: one, from eight feet, rolled 10 feet past, and I missed a straight-in two-footer.

War Memorial Golf Course

Ed Pennington and I played War Memorial Golf Course this morning. Ed scored 80. I scored 92, with nines of 44 and 48. My struggle with putting yips continues as it has for the last few months. Well, no. I have started to work on it, and it's getting better. Heck, I only used 32 putts today, but I did miss two three-footers.  It only occurred to me a few days ago that yips have been my problem. I'm trying all sorts of different grips. They have each helped, at least temporarily.
Blow-up holes have also been a problem. I had 2 pars, 9 bogies, 5 doubles, 1 quadruple, and 1 pentagonal.

Levy Loop

I walked the Levy Loop after golf this evening in 32:26.

War Memorial Golf Course

John Czarnecki, Ed Pennington, and I played War Memorial Golf Course this morning. Ed scored 85. I scored 90 and John, who reverted to his form of last year, 114. I had nines of 44 and 46 and used 30 putts. I had 5 pars, 5 bogies, 5 doubles. 2 triples, and 1 quintuple (five-over on the Par-3 17th). I had a very good chipping and putting day, minus the yips. For the first time in years, I returned to my old right-index-finger-down-the-grip technique, and it seemed to significantly help.
I hurt my left knee on No. 17 when I pitched into a rock and the ball flew back into my knee bone at six-hundred miles an hour from a foot away. It still hurts like two motherfuckers.

I PLAN TO STAB...
...the next person who says someone or some group is, or they are, "outraged." Who is ever truly outraged? What the fuck does that even mean?

Levy Trail South

I walked Levy Trail South through a soak-me-through-to-my-motherfucking-underwear thunderstorm this afternoon in 30:27.

The River Club

SARASOTA, Fla.—Marion and I played The River Club this morning. It was 6,165 yards long with lots of sand and water. Marion scored 110 and I scored 96, with nines of 47 and 49. I had 5 pars, 4 bogies, 7 doubles, and 2 triples.

Jo, no shit, meowed non-stop for ten minutes when I returned to Levy this evening. I love her but was afraid for a bit that she had lost her cat mind.

The Meadows Groves Course

SARASOTA, Fla.—Marion and I played The Meadows Groves Course this morning. It's a par 63, similar to War Memorial Golf Course but with lots of sand and water. I scored 87 and Marion 92. I had nines of 45 and 42. I had 4 pars, 8 bogies, 3 doubles, 2 triples, and 1 quadruple.
Last night, as Marion and I drove home from Gulfstream Park and the greater Miami metropolitan area, Marion told me about his daughter Grace's friend Molly. He went on and on. "Perkins, I'm telling you, man, she's got you written all over her. I mean, she is exactly the kind of girl you gush over. Hell, she acts like you." He said his wife Kim kidded he liked Molly more than Grace. "I'm telling you, Perkins, you gotta figure out some way to meet her."
Marion is more absurd than I, believe it not.
Molly and Grace are musicians who live in Nashville, Tennessee. Molly is a bit more serious of the two, at least in musical terms. She makes a living at it. Here's a video I found: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Lp4_8Hm_mE

Magellan Street

SARASOTA, Fla.—I walked and jogged, primarily on Magellan Street, for 34:56 this morning from Marion Waugh's house.
Afterward, Marion and drove to Miami where we bet a card of 13 races at Gulfstream Park. I won a net of $62.40. Marion won about $25. It was a great day. I had not been to Gulfstream since January 2000. The track has been refurbished and is more spectacular than I remembered. It was fun beyond reason.

Golf

SARASOTA, Fla.—Marion Waugh and I played a 6,200-yard course this morning. I can't remember the name. Marion scored 108 and I scored 98. I played about as well as I have played for the last couple of years. I had nines of 48 and 50. The course was gorgeous.

Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport

ATLANTA—I walked for 39:14 in the Delta terminal of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Thursday morning. The winner of the Miss Trip to Sarasota Pageant was a flight attendant on a flight from Little Rock to Atlanta. It was the first time a flight attendant has won one of Pete's pageants.