Three Beautiful Things 07/12/15: The List, Golf Thrills and Memories, Happy Hour

1. I was relaxing in Mom's television room, writing a blog post, when she walked in and she held out and rattled a piece of paper in front of me. I quickly reasoned that she wanted me to take this piece of paper and read it. It was a list of things she wanted me to do today -- water plants, move plants from the kitchen to the patio, dead head the flowers in front of the house, and a few other things. I had been afraid that I wouldn't have anything to do on this fine Sunday.  Mom relieved me of this fear and before long, I got to work and, fanfare please, it turned out, later in the day, Mom was pleased with my handiwork dead heading the flowers in front of the house.

2. Carol and Mom met Susan Kerns in Pinehurst and then traveled over the hill to CdA to see Singin in the Rain at the Kroc Center. While I had the house to myself, I watched the Women's U. S. Open and totally enjoyed Inn Gee Chun firing birdies on four of the six holes between the 12th and 17th and then biting my nails as Amy Yang eagled the 16th and birdied the 17th to pull even with Chun, but paid for an errant drive on 18 with a bogey.  Chun won in her first ever U. S. Open -- she's only twenty years old -- and it was thrilling.

Throughout the back nine I flashed back to July 10-13, 1997 when I was in the gallery for all four rounds of the Women's U. S. Open at the Witch Hollow course of Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club outside Portland near North Plains, OR.  I loved those four days. It was the best experience I have ever had at a sporting event, especially the first three days when the galleries were less crowded and I watched many of my favorite players, including Betsy King, Meg Mallon, Pat Bradley, Patty Sheehan, Laura Davies, and Nancy Lopez, to name a few.

3. After the golf tournament ended, I went out in the back yard and Mom's new next door neighbors, Sister Christy and her husband Everett, called out to me to come on over and join them for Happy Hour.  I could hardly say no, and joined them for some gin and tonic and some relaxing conversation, much of it focused on the progress they are making in getting settled into their new home.