Atomic Monster Cafe: Lucky 13...

...for Karen and me...yes, the poor woman has endured 13 years of marriage to yours truly, so that merited a fave cookbook, flowers, a cake, and some champagne to wash it down.

Remember, marriage is kinda like playing cards...at first all you need is two hearts and a diamond...

...but later on you wish for a club...

...and a spade...

Thankfully we haven't arrived at that phase yet, and all is still well. Right, honey? I said, right??

Took a couple of days off of work for the big event...and along with anniversary type celebrations, I thought I might get some hickory golf in...

...but that was how my first day off began...torrential downpour, which eventually subsided and gave way to an 86 degree steambath in the afternoon...and then 50 mph gale force winds blew in the 2nd day...and today began with temps down in the 40's...this must be Michigan where each day is its own isolated and unrelated weather system.

But today is a glorious fall day...

...ok, not quite that glorious...but still it's a lovely autumn day...crisp temperatures and bright sunshine, so off to the links I went...unfortunately my cleek staged a minor rebellion and refused to behave from the tee...I was forced to banish it to an unused section of my Sunday bag, and once again I was reduced to playing "simple golf"...mashie, niblick, putter.

Wasn't all bad...

...that ball mark about 2 feet from the cup was where my tee shot landed on the par 3 number 2 hole...and while I should have carded a birdie, I "settled" for a par.

The rest was downhill from there.

My younger brother passed back in 2003 when he was only 43, but Phil was a fabulous athlete in his day and golf was his best sport.

He didn't work at it; he was just a natural who could hit the ball a country mile and he putted like Jack Nicklaus. It was beautiful to watch and maddening to play against because he was just so effortlessly good.

When he played 18, if he came in at 5 or 6 over par it was a tough day on the course for him.

If Phil is in heaven, today he had to be laughing his ass off at his older brother.

Oh well...as the last scene in Gone With The Wind opines...

...tomorrow is another day...I'll tee it up, try again and hope for better.

Karen and I spent a little time in downtown Holland yesterday...

...ate at the Windmill Restaurant for some authentic Dutch fare...y'know, a hamburger and a chicken sandwich...

...and spotted some children performing an ancient rite no longer practiced in much of our modern day society, may God have mercy on our souls.

And because the autumn winds have been steadily blowing, I think most of the acorns have finally fallen...our yard is absolutely covered with them now...

...and we've been gathering a few to save for later...

...we'll feed them to the deer that still frequent our backyard...

...when food is a little bit harder to come by than it is now.

I've got about 2500 words on PMT: The Amateur now and I'm liking the story so far...these typically come in around 17,000 to 18,000 words so I've got a ways to go...should be at 5,000 words before the weekend's out.

But right now it's a beautiful sunny day and I need to get outside and soak up some of that fall sunshine, so...

later, mcm fans...

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