FORE

 

“They call it golf because all the other four-letter words were taken”- anonymous, angry golfer

 

I was never a very good golfer.  At least not by my definition of a good golfer.  When I really worked at it, I got down to an 11 handicap, but mostly I was more like a 15. I could hit the ball a long way, occasionally I could find it.  On and around the greens I might as well have been wearing boxing gloves and using a pool cue. 

And I didn’t particularly care for the “social” aspects of golf.  I always felt there were five types of guys on the golf course.  The hail-fellow-well-met types who were either trying to sell you something or persuade you to visit their church.  There were the gamblers who had all kinds of made-up bets going on and wanted your money.  And there were those guys who just needed a friend and once they opened their mouth you immediately knew why they had none.  Perhaps the worst were the little groups who always played together and acted like they owned the course.

The last type were guys like me who preferred to be left alone or if they played along with someone they played fast and seldom spoke.  I called them the independents and for me they were the best company you could have while playing golf.  You might know their first name and maybe, if you happened to play with them often enough, they might tell you more at which point you were obligated to tell them more.  But if they were true independents, it was very little and not very often and you both understood that was for the best.

Four years ago, my back finally wore out.  Lower lumbar stenosis and a slipped disc.  Surgery was discussed but the spinal specialist encouraged me to try some PT, modify my activities and learn to live with it.  Surgery was the last resort.  Golf was a hard NO.  With a lot of trial and error including some bad PT along the way, I’ve finally gotten back to a reasonably good place with my back.  I am never going to be who I used to be. But past a certain age, none of us are.

Recently, I had to admit that I missed golf. I had written it off and even when I got to the place where I might be able to play again, I said no.  I just didn’t want to play “old man golf”.  And besides the best part of my game was gone.  The “long ball” was history.  I didn’t think my short game would ever be good enough to make up for the lost distance.  So, I just didn’t want to play anymore and convinced myself that I couldn’t even if I wanted to.

But something changed.  Another birthday is coming and I am absolutely an “old man”.  I still work full-time and workout almost every day, albeit not the way I used to.  I write, I read and still do some chores around the house and yard, but not much else these days.  And I miss hitting and chasing that damned little white ball. I never really considered myself “a golfer”.  I did not have, nor did I want to be part of a regular foursome who were on the course every weekend and sometimes during the week.  I wasn’t interested, nor good enough to play in tournaments.  But mostly I was one of those independents, and we are just too far outside the norms to ever be considered real golfers.

So, I started hitting a few wedges around our place out in the country.  Got some plastic practice balls and begin making full swings.  It was ok.  Finally, the other day I decided to go the driving range and hit some real golf balls. The first few shots were ugly.  But I made a couple of adjustments, remembering what did and did not work when I swung a golf club.  And I actually began to hit some decent shots.  Finally got to the driver and hit the ball very well.  I decided to stop before pushing it too far.  All in I probably hit only 30-35 balls.  Not a serious practice session by any means.  But the back seems to be no worse for wear and the golf bug is back.  

I need to continue working on “my game” before going back on the course.  I don’t expect to shoot in the 80’s again.  I may not even break a 100 for a while.  But when I do get back on the course, it will be my best version of “old man golf” and at this season of life that’s good enough for me.

The Bureaucrat Who Cried "Wolf"

 

Ok, the jury has returned and we have the verdict: Fauci is a “tool” and I mean that in the worst possible way.  But let’s be honest, there are plenty of other people who should share the blame for the wave of totalitarian government control that ended up making the Covid pandemic even worse, and make no mistake it was horrible enough on its own. 

As one who has had Covid twice and probably had it in Jan-Feb 2020 before it was identified, I can confirm it’s no fun.  But I was fortunate.  The first time back in 2020, assuming it was in fact Covid, for me it was a long-drawn out flu-like event.  Never as severe as a really bad flu, but lingered and would just not go away.  The second time was in 2021 with vaccine on board, and it was mostly a bad cold.  It came around again in 2023 and if I hadn’t been tested, I would have just thought it was a head cold.

As an older person, on the advice of my GP, I started getting a flu shot in my 50’s.  At 60 we added a pneumonia shot.  Having had some rough experiences with bronchitis in the past it was an easy call for me to take the Covid shot.  Stupidly, I didn’t get around to taking the RSV shot and got hit with it in the winter of 2024. It eventually became severe bronchitis which eventually turned into “walking” pneumonia and a trip to the ER.  Much worse than anything I’d experienced with Covid.  So I have since got the RSV jab, it’s a one-time deal and there is no reason older folks shouldn’t get it.

I am otherwise a very healthy old man; workout daily, eat right, get my rest and still function at a relatively high level.  But, like most senior citizens my immune system isn’t what it used to be and I can’t ignore that reality.  When there is a flu outbreak and a lot of people are getting sick, I tend to wash my hands more frequently and maybe do more fist bumps than handshakes at church.  I don’t like crowds in general so maintaining my personal space is the norm for me which works out well when some nasty bug is going around.  I used to be a guy that challenged cold weather.  Shorts and a windbreaker unless it was very cold and windy.  Not these days.  It’s best to avoid getting too cold so I dress appropriately warm when it’s cold outside.  In other words, I try to use some common sense.  Get vaccinated when it’s clear that the risks of not getting vaccinated outweigh the risks of taking the vaccine.  Wash your hands, especially during flu season.  Take a multi-vitamin.  Get your rest.  Do the basics.

My concern now is that our political polarization has spilled over into health and medicine.  I personally know older conservatives who refused to take the Covid vaccine and paid a big price, some the ultimate price.  There were those who went out of their way to act as if Covid was just another flu bug, don’t worry about it.  Of course, some dodged the bullet but many did not.  Then there were those who followed all the guidelines to the letter and were first in line for the vaccine.  They fussed and fumed at the deniers and those who advocated alternative ways of treating Covid. 

I confess to wearing the mask in places where the majority were wearing masks.  I just didn’t want to be that guy, especially if someone got Covid and believed that somehow I might have contributed to it.  There was a lot of social pressure to abide by masks-wearing, distancing and following the arrows on the floor in the grocery store.  Those mavericks who broke all the rules are now nodding their heads and saying we knew it was all B.S. but you chumps just rolled over and bought it.  I admire stubborn independence and tend toward it myself, but draw the line where it causes others to be more anxious and stressed-out in difficult situations.

So now we have parents not vaccinating their kids for the stuff we’ve been vaccinating kids against for decades.  How many more proven “best practices” will be ignored because some whack-a-doodle political hack or internet influencer claims that now it’s bad for us? When the “experts” and the elites and the mainstream media keep getting it so wrong for so long on so many “existential threats”, eventually they become the little boy who cried wolf.  One of these they may actually be telling the truth, but by then no one will be listening…and the wolf will be real.