I played golf on a real golf course today for the first time since 2018. It wasn’t pretty.
We were supposed to have a foursome including my good friend Terry DeArmond from Southern California. However, he stayed home with his wife Barbara…”sheltering in place” because of the coronavirus.
Lots of things are closed for the same reason here in Nevada, but golf courses are not. So, my neighbors Al and Galen threw caution to the wind and headed to the Oasis-Arnold Palmer Course here in Mesquite, where Al is the six-time Men’s Champion.
Al played from the Old Man tees in deference to Galen’s and my game. It was actually Galen’s birthday today; he’s 72 now, same as me. Al is a young whippersnapper…only 68 years young. (He told me today that he shot 65 on this course when he was 65!)
He didn’t shoot 65 today, and Galen and I probably shot between 90 and 100. I say probably because I had an “X” hole on both the front and back 9’s. Coming in, I shot 37 plus X on a par 4 that I butchered. And, I lipped out a Birdie put on the 18th hole. So, that will make me want to try again…
But, I definitely need to play more than every two years.
Most of the golf courses in town (there are 8) are open, but there are no rakes in the sand traps, you don’t pull the flags on the green, and only one person is allowed in the Pro Shop at a time…all to minimize human contact.
Most people are giving it their best shot re: social distancing. The “hoax” and “overreaction” comments are dwindling, as the horrible news comes to us from Italy and, lately, from New York.
Our twice-annual community garage sale’s Spring event was yesterday, and I only observed two driveways with stuff for sale. Last Fall, I visited dozens of residences…it was quite the social event. One of the problems with garage sales, though, is that purchases are in cash…and who knows where those greenbacks have been, whose sneezed into them, etc. And, of course, one must touch and feel those potential bargain goods…that all the other shoppers have touched and felt. So, no thanks.
I’m going hiking tomorrow with my buddy, Lloyd. We will be ten miles from the nearest human beings, and we’ll keep a social distance between ourselves.
One of the favorite pastimes of Sun City Mesquite is the neighborhood potluck get-together. Charlie and I might have held the last big one, at Christmastime, when we hosted 4 dozen people, breathed on each other, and man-handled all of the appetizers in the trays. What with peoples’ newfound respect for germ transmission, those potlucks are probably going extinct…in this town, anyway. What a shame.
I think this pandemic has spelled the end for things such a Wheat Chex Mix and that ubiquitous bowl of peanuts at every bar. Who knows who’s touched them and what virus did they pass on?!
The old folks around here definitely “get it” regarding the seriousness of the pandemic.
Which makes it appalling that the Governor or Florida waited until last week before he canceled Spring Break festivities on Florida beaches! Can you imagine how many of those reckless young partygoers acquired Covid-19 and are now going back to their universities and cities…all over the country!… infected with the virus and then passing it along to their friends and loved ones. I read somewhere that one infected person passing it along to another, then those two pass it to two others, etc….in one week there are 64 infected people. That’s scary, particularly when you consider that there were thousands of Spring Break revelers in Florida up until last Friday.
There’s not much to do here in Mesquite when the restaurants and casinos are shuttered. Golfing, hiking and gardening for me, and bookkeeping and tax prep for Charlie. And, of course, spending time with our wonderful dogs, Booger and Baby.
Just doin’ the best we can, trying to dodge the Covid-19 bullet.
