I'm A Disc Golf Chick

I like disc golf. I like my husband for introducing it to me. He bought me the bag, the discs, and I actually know what over-stable and under-stable are and a few other choice terms.

Greg is the most urgent and intense driver (of discs). He can chuck those puppies over 350 ft. When I watch them,they look like birds in flight, rising up and down with the wind. Just last night, he placed 2nd in doubles. This is no small feat since he is the old man of the bunch. One comment that was made was, "Wow! For an old man, you have a hell of an arm."

I must tell you, he thinks I'm a heck of a putter, too. Whenever I make a nice putt, especially in front of a bunch of guys, he starts talking to me in ways that to the normal ear, may sound dirty. But it's actually a lot of disc golf phrases strung together with "my wife" in there somewhere. I have a slight hearing problem and sometimes it is hard to distinguish between consonants, like p and b. But I have no problem distinguishing between those two vowels when we're out playing. It is ALWAYS "nice putt."

Seriously, ladies, disc golf with your man is fun. You're out in a beautiful park, the weather is nice (but not necessarily), you're getting fresh air and exercise, quality time with the hubby, etc. etc. If I was single, I'd take up disc golf, for sure, as a strategy. There are hardly any good women players out there and single, athletic guys aplenty. Greg tells me about some of those he meets. Airline pilots, CEO's of small companies, millionaires, you name it. Heck, Greg plays with a certain BYU quaterback's dad and some of his friends. Of course, there are also the pot heads and nerds.

Sometimes I'll see guys out introducing the sport to their dates or girlfriends. I have to laugh at times. The girl will be wearing a flowing dress or flip flops or a halter top, her hair perfectly coifed. She looks like she needs to be mall shopping or something. The thing that she feels is most important is to look beautiful for her man. And then she throws. It is embarrassingly unwieldy, but the guy gallantly compliments her and urges her on. Hopefully, she will be persistent and the guy will be patient. If so, she will have it made and she doesn't even know it! I think it's fun to see families playing together. One time there was a couple playing, with baby stroller in tow. He was obviously a player and I assumed she was along for the outing, not necessarily the playing. Then came her turn. She let loose a throw that outdid mine by a few feet and she wasn't even trying. By the time their little guy gets to be three, he'll be a player for sure. The other day I saw a little guy tagging along with his player dad and possibly his grandpa. He wss carrying his own disc. I thought, "how cute, the little guy might be out of his element trying to keep up with the big boys." But no, this little guy was a bonefied player and he let those discs rip. So there are a lot of little disc golf virtuosos coming up the pipe.

Greg taught me how to play. It used to be that every time I made a throw, there he'd be, with another and another suggestion. "Please, just let me throw and enjoy my time here!", I'd say. I really didn't care how many feet my disc went or if I made the basket in 4 or 8 tries. So he'd let up for awhile until he just couldn't stand it and there come the comments and coaching once again. He's a lot better now....because I'm a lot better now! I may even enter my first tournament next year. And tomorrow he is playing a tournament in Ogden. We're trying it out today though.

A Tribute To Daisy

Daisy was my border collie. We got her as a pup and she was the last one in the litter, blue-eyed, sweet-tempered, and mischievous. For 6 years we had her and those 6 years were all the better for it. Why? Just her presence. She wasn't a licker. She wasn't a barker. But she loved affection and showed affection. I loved the adoring way that she looked at me when I was busy doing something else. I loved the way she anticipated going on a walk with me and trying to be patient while I rounded up all the things I needed. I loved how she refused to put a space between myself and her when I was hiking with anyone else but her. She would always always take her place directly in front of me. I loved how I never ever had to worry about aggressive behavior toward anyone as I was out doing my thing in a park, on a trail or on the road.

In early August of this year, I got a comment that she was looking thin. I had never really noticed, because we fed her well. I thought that the reason she turned down her food is that she was hot and just wanted to keep the fat off for coolness' sake. But it got me to wondering. I started watching her and noticed that she wasn't as energetic as she should be. Soon I really noticed it, especially after taking her to a dog park in Sandy and all of the dogs there ran heads and tails all over her. She was really a sedate little dog. And then the kicker. She collapsed on her legs. I saw it, it was ever so little, she got right back up, but no, this wasn't good. She was at the vet a couple days later. Well, after a few hundred dollars, we found out the diagnosis. I worried about heart worms. I know that dogs get them back east. That proved to be unfounded, since there are only a handful of cases here in Utah. But it was just as, if not more serious. She had Lymphoma. It is a very aggressive form of cancer that dogs can get. After that, she declined so rapidly that it was astounding. I have never seen anything progress so quickly. We put her down 4 days ago. She was sweet to the very end and I'm glad that she saw her family surrounding her those very last moments. I will always think of Daisy as my little sweetheart. Believe it or not, we already have another border collie. Her name is Evie and she is 10 months old. She has a few issues and needs a bit of rehabilitation. She has taken to Greg immediately. She and I haven't hit it off so well. I really miss Daisy. We'll see how this goes. Time will only tell.