Lakewood Lake No. 3

Four other Geezers and I walked near Lakewood Lake No. 3 at lunchtime today for 54:53.

River Trail

Several other Geezers and I walked approximately six and a half miles from the Clinton Library on the River Trail this morning in 1:53:29.

OVERHEARD
"All of them had kids by they first cousins."
—old man talking to another, who burst into laughter, as they walked into Edwards Cashsaver

QUESTION OF THE DAY
Who is funnier than EDP445?
/www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0lNtAPApCA&t=74s

Ghetto Cat Loop/War Memorial Golf Course/DFL

I walked the Ghetto Cat Loop this morning in 34:10.
Yesterday afternoon, I played War Memorial Golf Course in 91, a somewhat typical round for me lately, chock full of shots pulled massively to the left. Late in the round, I began to come to a nearly full stop at the top of my backswing, a cure-all technique I have fallen back on for years, in this case as an attempt to stop pulling every single full swing I take. It seems to make it a bit easier for me to begin my downswing with my hips rather than my arms, and it worked like crazy this Christmas afternoon. I ate at the Krupsaws and then played War Memorial in 78, which ties my second best score there. I had nines of 37 and 41, with 1 birdie, 8 pars, 5 bogies, 2 doubles, and 2 triples. I used 31 putts.
The Democrat Football League Packers held on for a 142.05-127.87 Cooper Bowl victory over Krup's Kids. Daniel told me before lunch that his dad handled the loss well. Jo and I feel little more than a great sense of relief.

Levy Trail 5K/DFL

I walked the Levy Trail 5K this morning in 49:47. I went through three miles in 48:14.
It's hard to explain, but Yahoo stills gives Krup's Kids a one-percent chance to win the 2018 Democrat Football League Cooper Bowl. The Green Bay Packers currently lead by a score of 142.05-127.07 and still have a Denver defensive lineman-linebacker out for Monday Night Football. Since defensive players cannot score negative points, it doesn't seem as if there is any way the Packers could lose.
Krup's Kid owner Jeff Krupsaw explained last night that there is: If said player Bradley Chubb talks the Denver coaching staff into giving him a crack at running back and he rushes backward for a total of exactly 150 yards, Krup's Kids will win 127.07-127.05.
"I still have hope," Krupsaw said.

Levy Trail South/Levy Loop/DFL

I jogged for a total of three minutes and otherwise walked to complete Levy Trail South early this afternoon in 30:00.
After watching football all day, I walked the Levy Loop this evening before Sunday Night Football in 34:33. With two games left, I currently trail Krup's Kids 120.87-118.45 However, I have three players left and the Kids one. According to Yahoo, I have a seventy-five percent chance of winning. It predicts I will win 139.13-128.71. We'll see.

East End

Five other Geezers and I started at the Clinton Library and walked off into the East End neighborhood toward the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport this morning for 1:21:13.

Downtown Little Rock/DFL

Six other Geezers and I walked Bob McKinney's annual Christmas tour of downtown Little Rock this morning. We were out for a bit over two and a half hours and covered about four miles.
I never took any of my readers to a downtown hamburger restaurant called The Box, mainly because I didn't know where it was after it moved twice since Walt and I ate there several times in the early 90s, but we walked right past it today. In fact, an old waitress/perhaps owner opened the door to ask us if we planned to sing Christmas carols for her. I will try it again soon.
My memory is that their burgers were fantastic. But if they were, I can't explain why I never made whatever effort it would have taken to figure out where their restaurant was. More likely, I figure, they were just burgers typical of the good sort. I guess we'll see.
The DFL Green Bay Packers are currently 113.26-111.67 Cooper Bowl favorites over Krup's Kids. My kicker goes tomorrow night, but otherwise, all of our players play Sunday. We each have key players going on Sunday Night Football so there will be much suffering until close to 11 p.m.
Fuck. I wish I hadn't made the playoffs.

Levy Trail

A handful of other Geezers and I walked about four miles on the Levy Trail this morning. Part of the route involved a zig over to Mark's Donut Shop for coffee and fried sugar.

War Memorial Golf Course/DFL

Ed, his brother David Pennington, and I played War Memorial Golf Course this morning and early afternoon. Ed scored 84, David 89, and I scored 91. I was on my way to a nice round until I scored 9 on No. 18. I had nines of 46 and 45 and used 37 putts. It was clear that Ed and Dave, ten years Ed's junior, were ladled from the same pot.* They laughed exactly the same.
The DFL Green Bay Packers held on for a 112.84-108.96 victory over the Ratpackers to advance to a Cooper Bowl appearance against Krup's Kids, who we hope to bury.
*a line I created the moment this paragraph was written. I think it should become a shop-worn cliché, like a chip off the ol' block

Lakewood Lake No. 3/DFL semifinals

Several other Geezers and I walked a bit over four miles from Lakewood Lake No. 3 this morning. I forgot to start my watch but was out for about an hour and fifteen minutes.
The DFL Packers have a bit better chance to advance to next weekend's Cooper Bowl than I hoped for yesterday. We currently lead the Ratpackers 112.84-106.13. We are out of players, but the Ratpackers have one more to go. Yahoo predicts Carolina receiver Curtis Samuels will score 8.08 points in his team's game with New Orleans on Monday Night Football. If so, we'll lose by 1.37 points. I believe he will likely score more points than the Yahoo projection, but you never know. I predict we have about a 25-percent chance to hang on.

Levy Trail Loop/DFL

I walked the Levy Trail Loop early this afternoon in 34:22. En route, I at least temporarily finalized rules to a new car game for use on Levy Trail walks and/or runs. It seems to provide a bit more action than my old city-street version of the car game. For instance, when I left my driveway, I tossed out an over-under of 12, which I reached a bit less than a mile into my walk. A total of 22 cars qualified. This new game could make for a good gambling opportunity for my readers.
The DFL Packers had a crushing blow on Thursday Night Football when the Chargers' receiver Keenan Allen injured his hip and was pulled from the game before he scored a single point. I'll bet I haven't had more than two or three zero-point games by a player since I joined this league back in 1997.
What terrible late-season luck. We lose our best player because he apparently likes to beat women in hallways and our third best to an injury.
Oh well. We are currently 113.28-96.29 underdogs to the Ratpackers and will probably lose, but there's a long way to go and still of room for hope.

War Memorial Golf Course

It was dark gray, windy, and cold at War Memorial Golf Course this morning and afternoon. Ed Pennington and I each scored 91 (John Czarnecki, who sucks, is in Argentina, where it's fucking 77°F right this goddamn minute. He and his girlfriend are scheduled to return on Jan. 1). I had nines of 45 and 46, with 2 pars, 6 bogies, 8 doubles, 1 triple, and 1 quadruple. I used 36 putts.

River Trail

Six other Geezers and I walked from Burns Park Golf Course to the skateboard park and back on the River Trail this morning in 1:17:09. Someone said we went 4.28 miles.
The DFL Green Bay Packers advanced to the playoff semifinals with a 124.48-104.94 victory over the Cavemen. We will play the Ratpackers for a Cooper Bowl berth beginning Thursday. We are currently 117.54-114.93 underdogs.

Levy Trail North/DFL

I walked Levy Trail North at lunchtime today in 32:24 as a warmup for a trip to Hot Springs this afternoon. Jeff Krupsaw and I are going there for Terry Wallace's funeral. Terry was the track announcer at Oaklawn Park from 1977 through 2011. He continued to work in-house simulcasts before he retired in the summer of 2017. He died Wednesday at the age of 74. Most Pam's boy readers met him at least a time or two.
The Democrat Football League Green Bay Packers lead their playoff quarterfinal-round game with the Cavemen, 105.48-104.94. The Cavemen are out of players. We have Seattle running back Chris Carson and defensive end Frank Clark going in their Monday Night Football game with the Minnesota Vikings. The only way we can lose is if Carson finishes the game with a loss of seven or more yards and Clark doesn't get a sack. The odds of that happening are roughly—no kidding—26,000-1 against.

Senior Center

I walked two miles on the Senior Center track this morning in 29:43.
While walking, I heard a songwriter on NPR say something about having "nowhere to go" at some pivotal moment in his life, and the writer in me responded with a thought that went something like, "When you have nowhere to go, you can go anywhere you want."
Now I'm working on an angle for a retrospective closing chapter of A Different Closet, one a bit like the final few pages of Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach.
We'll see.

Levy Trail South

I walked Levy Trail South this afternoon in 32:47. The day reeks of football —cold, overcast, and wet, with fallen leaves everywhere. Tonight should be a good one to watch the Class 2A championship game between Junction City and Hazen (which is on U.S. 67, about five miles toward North Little Rock from Craig's). I may have said something once about Hazen's press box crew a few years ago. They were are all big Craig's fans but couldn't understand why any of the rest of us would ever agree to eat in the dining room. Not one of them would say or admit that they had done anything other than carry out from Craigs.

War Memorial Golf Course/DFL

John, Ed, and I played War Memorial Golf Course this morning and afternoon. Ed scored 90 and John 97. I scored 99, with nines of 51 and 48. I had 1 birdie, 4 bogies, 8 doubles, 4 triples, 1 quadruple, and used 35 putts. My game is so bad that I plan to put my entire bag of clubs in timeout for at least a week. I might not play before Christmas.

The DFL Green Bay Packers salvaged a 114.19-77.09 victory over Krup's Kids last weekend and advanced to the DFL playoffs as the third seed. We are currently 112.29-112.10 first-round favorites over the Cavemen, who defeated us 105.95-103.83 seven weeks ago.

LETTER TO THE TIMES

Pete Perkins | North Little Rock, Arkansas
Humans will not stop burning fossil fuel until there is no more fossil fuel. Our only hope, therefore, is to adjust to that inevitability—a probable outcome, I believe, despite our country's obsession with voices brainwashed by the far left and right.
Either way, don't worry. The earth will survive until long after the Sun explodes. It will do fine without us.

Levy Trail Loop/DFL

I walked the Levy Trail Loop at lunchtime today in 32:16.
The DFL Green Bay Packers will win unless, no kidding, its and the Philadelphia Eagles' running back Josh Adams losses 287 rushing yards in his team's game against the Washington Redskins. Whereas it's not impossible for a running back to rush for a loss of 287 yards in a game, if Adams were to do it, I wouldn't care that my team lost. I mean, heck, we're in the playoffs anyway. Rather, I would cherish having watched what all men of learning would label the most phenomenal occurrence since the Big Bang.

Levy Trail Loop/DFL

I walked the Levy Trail Loop this morning in 32:28.
I finally have a fantasy player whose performance has crossed the border between die-hard sports fans and the general public. Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with his stature as a running back, which is nearly as high as anyone's in the NFL. Nope. My superstar Kareem Hunt...well, shit, you can read. What's good for the Democrat Football League Green Bay Packers is that we picked up his backup with the Chiefs. I read about Hunt's trouble at 4 p.m. Friday, apparently before any other DFL owner and was able to get Spencer Ware, a very talented, young reserve running back with the Chiefs, who yesterday released Hunt. We'll see what happens, but the DFL Packers need Hunt to express remorse like two motherfuckers and apologize until another team signs him. Crazy thing is, this could work well for us. This could give us a two-for-one deal next season. We'll see.
For the time being, we really need Ware to step up and help us beat Krup's Kids and then march with us through the playoffs.

War Memorial Stadium

I walked for a total of 40:41 through War Memorial Park and around War Memorial Stadium late this morning before I watched Greenwood beat the fuck out of Benton in the Class 6A state championship football game.

PARAGRAPHS OF THE DAY

A day after severe weather postponed high school football playoff games across Arkansas, there was nothing to slow down high-powered offenses Saturday except defensive effort, and the Greenwood Bulldogs brought it.

War Memorial Stadium was a bowl of room-temperature sunshine throughout Greenwood’s 45-14 victory over the Benton Panthers in the Class 6A state championship game in Little Rock. Though no one missed Greenwood’s typical display of offensive excellence, its defense shone, too.