Monday, August 10, 2020

Three Beautiful Things 08/09/20: Hike, PGA, Family Dinner BONUS A Limerick by Stu

1. My hike today on the Wellness Trail above the Shoshone Medical Center went very well. The air was cool so I didn't get heated up, my legs felt good, and, even though I stopped to rest at both benches, I wasn't gasping for air. I was mildly winded. In addition, I am really happy with how comfortable my hiking shoes feel.

2. For the early part of the afternoon, I was busy. Debbie and I worked together to get things ready for hosting family dinner tonight. By the middle of the afternoon, I'd done my part with food prep, had completed some shopping at Yoke's and the liquor store, and helped get the deck properly furnished to host everyone.

Once I had completed my contributions, I had time to settle in and watch the PGA Golf Championship, this season's first major. As I tuned in, the leaderboard was a log jam. Few players faded and we golf fans had the pleasure of seeing superb players play superb golf, meaning that every shot's importance became dramatically magnified.

Collin Morikawa struck the tournament's two most thrilling and gutsy shots on holes number 14 and 16. Morikawa, 23 years old, was playing in only his second ever major. He has only been playing on the PGA tour since June of 2019, but, before today, had already won two tournaments. On the 14th hole, he hit a perplexing and disappointing second shot from the fairway that fell short of the 14th green. I'll admit it. I wondered if the pressure of being tied for the lead in this major tournament was starting to close his throat and tighten his grip on his clubs a bit. Morikawa surveyed his third shot from below the green and executed a perfect chip shot, holing it for a birdie. It was as cool and gutsy a shot as I'd seen all day from anyone. Suddenly, he and Paul Casey were in a tie for the tournament lead.

Then Morikawa, as they say, doubled down.

Today, the 16th hole played at 294 yards, a very short par 4, especially for the bombers of professional golf. But, thanks to the bunkers and cypress trees guarding this green and the thick grass just off the putting surface, and, I might add, thanks to the winds and the increasingly cooler and damper temperatures of the marine environment of this course tucked, as it is, into the southwest corner of San Francisco, it was a daring decision to go ahead and try to drive this green from the tee.

Morikawa decided to go for it.

He hit a majestic drive that bounced just in front of the green and rolled to within seven feet of the pin.

He calmly sized up his eagle putt, sank it, and leapt two strokes ahead of the field. He parred the last two holes, playing them confidently and intelligently, and won the tournament's coveted Wanamaker Trophy.

For many years in the late 1990s through his 2008 victory at the U. S. Open, Tiger Woods dominated the men's professional golf tour. In the last several years, a group of thrilling young players have emerged, players such as Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, and Brooks Koepka, to name a few. None of them has, as of yet, asserted sustained dominance. In fact, Jordan Spieth's game has slipped a bit, McIlroy hasn't won a major in six years, and, today, Brook Koepka lost his chance to win his third PGA Championship in a row by shooting a mediocre round of 74.

My point? Sustained superiority is very difficult to achieve in golf.

I'm not party to this way of thinking, but there are those who are always looking for the next dominate player to emerge, the next Jack Nicklaus or the next Tiger Woods.

I wouldn't doubt, because he's young, charismatic, and fearless, that some are wondering if Collin Morikawa will be the next dominant player.

I doubt it. My guess is that he's going to have a splendid career and face the same kinds of up and downs that the other younger players have gone through -- and there's nothing at all wrong with that.

I love that no player is dominant right now. I love that in this tournament just completed, that a scintillating mix of players of all ages finished in the top ten. Paul Casey at 43 had a great shot at winning. Dustin Johnson, 36, finished tied with Casey in second place. Justin Rose, 40, finished tied for fourth. But several players in their mid-twenties also competed very strongly, among them Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Champ, Scottie Scheffler, and Xander Schauffele, as did the 21 year old Matthew Wolff.

I love watching players of all ages play strong golf in these tournaments, love that there's great suspense regarding who will triumph, and love that the future of professional golf, both men's and women's, looks so strong, looks so promising.

3. I took a whole chicken out of our freezer Saturday to thaw and didn't expect it to be thawed out on Sunday.

I was right.

At around 7:30 this morning, I unwrapped the not quite thawed chicken, seasoned it, put it in the crockpot with water and a coarsely chopped white onion, and got it started to both thaw and cook.

Early in the afternoon, I removed the cooked chicken, took the meat off the bones, disposed of the bones, returned the meat to the crockpot, and set the stage for Debbie to make a superb batch of chicken and noodles.

We served the chicken and noodles with a fresh, beautifully dressed green salad. Paul, Carol, Christy, Debbie, and I enjoyed cocktails to start. I was ready to mix a lot of different drinks and enjoyed making a couple of dry martinis for Carol and Paul, a bourbon and coke for Christy, and a mixture of rye, triple sec, sweet vermouth, and bitters for Debbie. I drank an ounce or two of Ouzo.

After dinner, I went to the blender and mixed ice cream, milk, creme de cacao and brandy and served up not very boozy Brandy Alexanders.

Our conversation over dinner and afterward was really wide-ranging, touching on everything from episodes of The Twilight Zone, Russia, books and movies, family news, and many points in between.

It was a great chance to discuss our questions, insights, stories, and updates.

We had a great time!



Here's a limerick by Stu:



No doubt there’s green mountains ‘round there.
With water as clean as the air.
It’s hard now to think,
That they both used to stink!
And those mountains were brown and quite bare.

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