Today was a ‘day off’. Well, it was SUPPOSED to be a day off. We lazed around all morning. Sue really wanted to finish reading her book club book (even though her friend Noreen has already emailed her twice, telling her how the book ends!) and I needed to do my best to finish the ‘borrowed’ motel book. So we goofed around all morning, watching YouTube videos of all the late night talk shows making fun of Donald Trump, and reading the Steinbach, and Winnipeg, and Canada news, and watching the couple in the room next to us frying up bacon and eggs on the ‘community’ barbecue in the back yard, etc. And NO reading.

And before you know it it was 11:30, high time for lunch. So we had lunch. And THEN we sat down to do some serious reading. Oh, but first Sue had to email some friends, and then phone her sisters, and then see if she could alter our flights home with WestJet (nope, she couldn’t — that old ‘travel agent’ thing doesn’t work quite like it used to). And I had a bit of a Skype with my parents. And then we FaceTimed with Max and his parents. And THEN I did some reading. And all the while, we had decided to use our two remaining golf passes tomorrow. And I told Sue that maybe we should rather golf today; you never know, it might rain tomorrow. And she said no, today was our reading day. And then she said I should call the golf course to make sure we could get a tee time tomorrow. And I said SHE should call the golf course. And she said, ‘No, YOU call the golf course.’ But I didn’t. And then at around 3 o’clock (I guess she was tired of reading), Sue calls the golf course. What? Tournament tomorrow and NO tee times available. How about today. Yes, you can come right away. Shoot! Well, you know it’s all MY fault (of course) — Sue says, ‘I told you to call the golf course!’

No big deal. Although the sky is looking a bit dark over the top of the big hill to the south, the temperature is PERFECT, the breeze is light, and I was getting tired of reading anyway. We take our clubs out of the trunk (boot) and head down to the course. The guys standing at the first tee suggest we go ahead of them. Great! And we’re off. Great tee shots. We chase down the fairway after our balls, hoping the guys on the tee can see just how far along we are. Second shot. Dribble, dribble dribble. Topped the ball. It rolls into the long grass. Oh boy! And then on the second tee I smacked my new favourite fluorescent yellow Titleist  golf ball sideways into the river. But I persevere. What’s past is past. So you won’t have a great score for the round; why not just count pars and birdies like Ed Hildebrand (Lorette) always does? Besides, it’s a beautiful afternoon, the guys ahead are not holding us back, and the guys behind are far enough behind us that there’s no rush. Let’s ENJOY the round!

Okay, so I was not playing very well. But you should have seen (and heard) my playing partner. Jeepers, you’d think she was on the pro tour! After EVERY SINGLE SHOT she whined and complained at length about how terrible the course was. She would hit a near-perfect shot and then watch as the ball took a hard bounce to the right. Or she’d putt and consistently the ball would end up at least five feet to the right of the hole. And then she’d get mad (I’ve already cautioned her about throwing her clubs), and it was all I could do to try to keep her spirits up, and encourage her, and say ‘Great shot!’, and just generally ‘cheerlead’ my way around the course. And then, after nine holes (and she’s still steamed about ‘having to go golfing today’), she’s only BEATING me by SEVEN STROKES! 

The back nine went more-or-less like the front nine, except that all that complaining seemed to catch up with Sue, and I finally stopped complimenting and encouraging her after EVERY SINGLE SHOT. And I played a bit better (and didn’t lose any more balls), and Sue had some unlucky shots. And when it was all said and done (and I mean SAID and done), we walked off the course at 7:30 TIED (at 105 — nothing to brag about for either of us).

So that means that we get ANOTHER ‘day off’ tomorrow, to read our books and laze around. And as challenging as it was to try to keep Sue feeling positive on the golf course, once we got home she was completely happy again. And when she’s got some corn-on-the-cob to cook up in a too-small pot, and some rice and chicken with (leftover from yesterday’s Thai take away) coconut cream sauce to heat up for supper — well,  all is right with the world and she is in her element. And that’s great for me, too.

So now it’s 8:30. The dishes are done, the doors and windows are open to allow the cooling breeze to blow through our motel room, the sky is dark, and it’s time to cue up the final two episodes of the “O.J” series on Netflix. And I’m quickly writing my journal, trying to stay ahead of the game. And now I’m done — gotta go watch TV. See you tomorrow.