Reminiscing, Flying the Flag Again and Smooth Streets
The leaves have been piling up fast in our yard and rather than wait a week between mowings to vacuum them up, I've been out there every 2 to 3 days. They're a lot more manageable that way. I love fall but not this aspect of it.
Two more metro area courses were added to the PCC membership I have for golfing, bringing the total number of courses I have available to me to 57. The two newest additions are courses I'm familiar with from when I was a boy: Hyland Greens and Dwan Golf Club, both in Bloomington. Dwan is an 18 hole course but not particularly long while Hyland has gone from an 18 hole par 3 course to 9 holes, all still par 3. They removed the inside 9 holes and turned them into a driving range. I went out to Hyland Thursday afternoon to play it for old time's sake. I remember the last time I played there—it was 22 years ago and I was with my former stepson, Dave. I returned home to a message from my sister on my answering machine that our dad had died.
It's one of those memories that stays with me.
I had to pause when I got to the 4th hole because that's where, as a boy, for a few summers I'd spend my days in the field off to the right of the hole hunting for golf balls that had been hit out of bounds into the tall prairie grass. I'd ride my bike there and bring along an egg carton to display my finds along the fence for the golfers who were teeing off. I'd earn maybe $5 for a few hours of work. It was good money for a kid of around 12 years old, plus, it was fun. I still remember the first ball I found: it was a Dynaflyte. I'd never seen one before or since but it was a beauty—new, shiny and with no cuts in it. I probably sold it for .75c.
I was in a discussion yesterday on Facebook about flying the flag. Two people in the thread touched on why they stopped flying theirs and affirmed for me that I wasn't alone in my feelings that there's a strain of patriotism out there that some of us would rather not be associated with—a hardline crowd that's co-opted what it means to be patriotic. I find it very off-putting. So, about 5 years ago I quietly packed up our flag and in an unpatriotic moment I tossed it in the trash. That's not something I'm proud of because I used to love to fly our flag from our front porch. It's very much the same way I feel about the Christian fish tattoos that Tammy, Rachel and I had tattooed on our ankles 10 years ago to signify our walk with Christ.
Hardline Christians are changing the face of the religion I used to be proud of into something I at times want to run from. I'm considering having my tattoo removed. Tammy would like to have some other design tattooed over hers to hide it. I hate that we're even thinking like this but it's where we're at. I have to wonder—if we're feeling this way about this faith of ours, what does that bode for anyone on the outside looking in who may be considering becoming a Christian?
But all is not lost. I'm happy to say that I'm flying the flag again, although the flag I have now is slightly different than the standard stars and stripes I used to fly. The focus of our new flag is on peace. I simply want to fly the flag while at the same time differentiating myself from those I feel have given the practice a distasteful meaning, at least to me.
The city of Lakeville replaces about 7 to 10 miles of road each year. It's quite an undertaking from all I've learned watching them working in our neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods this summer as they replaced our streets. McNamara Contracting wrapped up the project a few days ago. It's nice to have smooth roads for a change. We got 30 years out of the original roads so I suppose that's not bad. I was out there with my video camera at several points along the way collecting video to splice into an upload for YouTube. I sat down last night and assembled it, hoping to keep it to something less than 5 minutes. I failed miserably!
Each homeowner was assessed around $3000 for the cost of repairs, a price I think was well worth it.
Two more metro area courses were added to the PCC membership I have for golfing, bringing the total number of courses I have available to me to 57. The two newest additions are courses I'm familiar with from when I was a boy: Hyland Greens and Dwan Golf Club, both in Bloomington. Dwan is an 18 hole course but not particularly long while Hyland has gone from an 18 hole par 3 course to 9 holes, all still par 3. They removed the inside 9 holes and turned them into a driving range. I went out to Hyland Thursday afternoon to play it for old time's sake. I remember the last time I played there—it was 22 years ago and I was with my former stepson, Dave. I returned home to a message from my sister on my answering machine that our dad had died.
It's one of those memories that stays with me.I had to pause when I got to the 4th hole because that's where, as a boy, for a few summers I'd spend my days in the field off to the right of the hole hunting for golf balls that had been hit out of bounds into the tall prairie grass. I'd ride my bike there and bring along an egg carton to display my finds along the fence for the golfers who were teeing off. I'd earn maybe $5 for a few hours of work. It was good money for a kid of around 12 years old, plus, it was fun. I still remember the first ball I found: it was a Dynaflyte. I'd never seen one before or since but it was a beauty—new, shiny and with no cuts in it. I probably sold it for .75c.
I was in a discussion yesterday on Facebook about flying the flag. Two people in the thread touched on why they stopped flying theirs and affirmed for me that I wasn't alone in my feelings that there's a strain of patriotism out there that some of us would rather not be associated with—a hardline crowd that's co-opted what it means to be patriotic. I find it very off-putting. So, about 5 years ago I quietly packed up our flag and in an unpatriotic moment I tossed it in the trash. That's not something I'm proud of because I used to love to fly our flag from our front porch. It's very much the same way I feel about the Christian fish tattoos that Tammy, Rachel and I had tattooed on our ankles 10 years ago to signify our walk with Christ.Hardline Christians are changing the face of the religion I used to be proud of into something I at times want to run from. I'm considering having my tattoo removed. Tammy would like to have some other design tattooed over hers to hide it. I hate that we're even thinking like this but it's where we're at. I have to wonder—if we're feeling this way about this faith of ours, what does that bode for anyone on the outside looking in who may be considering becoming a Christian?
But all is not lost. I'm happy to say that I'm flying the flag again, although the flag I have now is slightly different than the standard stars and stripes I used to fly. The focus of our new flag is on peace. I simply want to fly the flag while at the same time differentiating myself from those I feel have given the practice a distasteful meaning, at least to me.
The city of Lakeville replaces about 7 to 10 miles of road each year. It's quite an undertaking from all I've learned watching them working in our neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods this summer as they replaced our streets. McNamara Contracting wrapped up the project a few days ago. It's nice to have smooth roads for a change. We got 30 years out of the original roads so I suppose that's not bad. I was out there with my video camera at several points along the way collecting video to splice into an upload for YouTube. I sat down last night and assembled it, hoping to keep it to something less than 5 minutes. I failed miserably!
Each homeowner was assessed around $3000 for the cost of repairs, a price I think was well worth it.
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