How beautiful and pleasant you are, O loved one, with all your delights! Your stature is like a palm tree, and your breasts are like its clusters. I say I will climb the palm tree and lay hold of its fruit. Oh may your breasts be like clusters of the vine, and the scent of your breath like apples, and your mouth like the best wine. Song of Solomon 7:6-9

Okay, I guess we didn’t have quite THAT MUCH fun today!

I had just barely finished eating my bowl of yogurt this morning, when the Neufelds were knocking on the door. Rise and shine. We’re going golfing. We’re going to skip the heat of the day and go early today.

On the way to the course we were met by a LONG string of golf carts carrying women golfers to their tees around the course. Oh, oh. Looks like there’s a women’s tournament on today. I hope we don’t get shut out again.

We checked at the starter’s desk and were told we could golf the back nine this morning. Whew! Well at least that’s better than no golf at all!

So we got our golf carts out of storage and put on our golfing shoes. We filled up our water bottles and went to the 10th tee box. Two (not very speedy) elderly couples were doinking around on the forward tees just ahead of us. Hmmm… Could be a S-L-O-W morning. But we were patient and in the end the golfers ahead really didn’t slow us down all that much. Dave even added to his list of birdies on hole number 12.

When we finished nine we were directed to continue by replaying the back nine. The ladies’ tournament would be playing the front nine until at least noon. Ken wasn’t interested in repeating what we’d just completed. He headed for the showers. Dave and I thought we might as well take advantage of the slightly cooler morning temperatures and give it a go. But the golfers ahead were not playing any faster, and when a cart pulled up to the tees and the guy suggested that if we came back at 1pm we’d have the course to ourselves, well… We parked our carts in our carport and decided to go for brunch with the rest of the gang.

But Kaaren and MaryLou were just getting ready to go for a swim in the pool and sit in the sun for a bit. And Ken was still in the showers. Dave went to meet the girls and make a plan.

It was Valentine’s Day — I’d suggested that Dave and Ken should take their wives out for a nice brunch. I was happy to stay back, but in the end we ordered two Ubers and all five of us went to a waffle shop at the big new mall not far from our place. The food was okay, if not exactly ‘exciting’. After brunch Ken and Kaaren went back to their place and the Driedgers and I went back to ours.

As soon as we got home Dave and I went straight to the golf course and teed off on hole #1. Yeah, now there was NO ONE else on the course. And although it was the heat of the day, it wasn’t “unbearable”.

We started the round off playing okay, but when we got halfway around the front nine, the wheels came off. We both played TERRIBLE. What is going on? What are we doing out here? It was PAINFUL. Discouraging. Frustrating. We couldn’t wait to get off the course!

I returned my clubs to the storage shed and went back to the house. Our neighbour’s worker, Angel, was already busy washing the floors in our place. MaryLou was sitting at the table, waiting for him to finish the upstairs so she could go change into her swimsuit and join Dave at the pool. I went out on the balcony and read my book.

When the Driedgers came back from the pool we had happy hour. I went upstairs and showered. Dave and MaryLou FaceTimed with Hans and Chris in Phoenix while I took advantage of the coolish late afternoon temperatures and read my book out on the balcony.

It was already quite dark outside when Dave called me down for supper. MaryLou was heating up bowls of leftover pasta. We ate. Then MaryLou went upstairs to work on something and Dave got the Jets game going on his iPad while I washed the dishes.

While the Jets were struggling, I wrote my journal and looked at my photos. I was feeling quite tired from pulling my golf cart around the course in the heat of the day. Around 8:30 MaryLou reappeared and Dave invited her to join him to watch a Valentine’s movie that he had selected just for her. Uh-huh. I gathered my stuff and went upstairs. I finished writing my journal and then got out my Kindle and read until I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer.