Gina at the golf course


May 23rd, 2008  a Friday

I know it is late in the day for me to post my blog but as you can see from my photo, I had an invitation to go on a golf outing today.  When I first woke up, it was grey and rainy which is one of my favorite things.  So I knew I would have to (get to) wear my pretty yellow raincoat with the hood.  It is a good thing, because I did get rained on even though I was in a golf cart most of the time. 

The course was in the foothills and it was all misty and damp when we arrived.  The clouds were hanging way down over the mountains and hills like wisps of cotton.  The temperature was very cool with heavy overcast.  It was not what you would expect in late May in the desert.  A delicious surprise, completely opposite of the 110 degrees of just a few days ago.  And hardly anyone showed up on this beautiful day which made it seem like our personal playground.  So I got to get out of the cart a few times and sit on the green and watch the putting contests.  Once I was even the judge when they couldn't decide who was the winner.  That was fun. 

I saw plump, sassy quails who weren't afraid of us at all.  And a family of roadrunners with tiny babies who scurried on their little stick legs as fast as can be.  When the baby wandered too far, the mom made a whistling sound to alert the baby to come back closer.  And there were dozens of cottontails.  I loved it when they ran across the fairway at full speed because in each running step was a stretched out low leap reminding you of how long their bodies really are which you can't tell when they are sitting upright. 

I don't get out of the house much, being a bear and all.  It takes a real effort on someone's part to bring me along.  What may seem like a routine outing to a person can be a real adventure for me.  Like golfing today.  Of course I cannot golf which is kinda sad because I might be pretty good at it if I could, but I'll bet I enjoyed the experience in my own way just as much, if not more, than the golfers.  Just to be out in the fresh air and see the world as part of it rather than from my house looking out.  I have a friend who had a stroke recently and he can't go out on his own at all either.  Like me, getting out to see the world has special meaning when you can't just get up and do it whenever you want.  Like most people can.  They just don't realize how lucky they are.  Why, I was so excited about my little adventure that when I got home, I insisted on trying to slide down the banister and fell off, tumbled down the stairs and landed flat on my face.  I didn't even care.

It seems tempting sometimes to just be an observer rather than a doer.  We can think of all kinds of reasons why we don't want to get involved.  Too scary, too time consuming, too risky, and too disappointing.  I would have been fine if I didn't get to go golfing today and it would have been just like any other day.  But I am really glad I got to do it.  Even if I had flown out of the golf cart and landed in a big mud puddle and gotten my fur all wet and dirty, it would have been worth it.  Everyone deserves an adventure from time to time.  You should insist on it.

Monday is Memorial Day and I will use the time I usually write my blog to signify for those who have died in service to our country, and all countries for that matter.  I will resume the blog on Tuesday morning.  I think the best way to honor veterans who have made the ultimate sacrifice is to be engaged in life.  There are thousands of ways to do that.  Hope your holiday is engaging.

GR