Sunday, May 22, 2022

Three Beautiful Things 05-21-2022: PGA's Blustery Third Round, Superb Session at The Lounge, Salmon Hash (Sort of)

 1. I enjoyed watching the third round of the PGA Championship primarily because I love watching professionals play golf. It was also uncomfortable at times. For starters, Tiger Woods tried to complete this tournament despite being in significant pain as he rehabs from injuries he suffered in an auto accident over a year ago. With the tournament's cold weather and given the fact that he played early in the morning and couldn't properly get himself physically prepared to play today, he hobbled from hole to hole, hitting mostly survival shots and was a faint shadow of himself. He managed to complete round three in 79 strokes. After the round ended, he (mercifully) withdrew from the tournament. 

It was also uncomfortable, for me, at times, to watch the players contend with the cold and the wind. I enjoy seeing players challenged, so that wasn't uncomfortable, but, being a softy, I don't thrive on seeing golfers having to contend hole after hole with frustration.

That said, in spite of the conditions, I saw some great shot making today. I was impressed with how the third round leader, Mito Pereira, bounced back from a mid-round collapse. He bogeyed four of six holes between hole number 8 and 12, but birdied three of the last six holes and moved into a three stroke lead over the struggling Will Zalatoris and the emerging Matt Fitzpatrick. 

Predictions are very difficult, but the steadiest player on the leaderboard is Matt Fitzpatrick and his consistency could be the factor that makes him the tournament's winner. (But, of course, he could fall apart and, really, who ever knows who will win these tournaments!)

2. Debbie and I went up to The Lounge around 6:00 and had a superb time. I enjoyed my new favorite combo of Miller beer and a shot of Pendleton's 1910 Rye Whiskey. We yakked with Ron Delcamp for a while and then had a great conversation with retired miner, Tom Wild. He told us stories about his work in mines here in the Silver Valley and in Montana, including the harrowing stories of his being buried in a copper mine as a teenager and losing his father in mining accident. Tom told us about his transition from being a miner to a mine inspector. We found out we don't live all that far apart from each other in Kellogg and that, in fact, Debbie met Tom's wife one night during a craft night at The Lounge. 

3. I suppose Debbie and I could have ordered Chinese food. Not only that, I learned upon arriving at The Lounge that tonight was the Bunker Hill dinner. It's an annual dinner for anyone who ever worked at the Bunker Hill. I didn't know about it. Otherwise, I could have gone over, maybe seen some fellow zinc strippers from 50 years ago, and enjoyed a chicken fried steak. But, instead, I stayed put at The Lounge and when we arrived back home, I chopped up some baby Yukon Golds, got them frying, and added some jasmine rice and frozen green beans to the pan. On the stovetop grill, I got a couple of salmon patties started, soon cut them up, put them in the frying pan, and Debbie and I enjoyed an improvised sort of salmon hash for dinner -- and it worked great! 

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