Trust but Verify

September 2022

A Step Sideways

I enjoy all of the varied challenges that go into writing a novel—life experiences, Internet research, interviews, reading, etc. But, in honesty, like anything else in life, I have to take time out from my avocation and inhale the great outdoors. That is where I have and continue to find revitalization for mind and body.


 

In my youth, I was a severe asthmatic, so running and playing sports were out of the question. Moving into my teens and beyond and free from asthma, the outdoors became my life focus. From high school sports of running the high and low hurdles, on to the USMC, back to civilian life and a police career, I was never far from doing what I loved—running 10k races throughout Southern Arizona, hiking, mountain climbing, fly fishing, going for speed, swimming in the California surf, bicycling—distance riding such as the Wichita Falls Hotter Than Hell Hundred.







  



Now, though, the senior years are on my doorstep, and the hard rigors of what I used to do are memories in my rearview mirror. But the call of the wild, so to speak, still resounds in my ears. I’m not up to the hundred-mile ride in 100-degree heat, nor am I ready to go back to the mountains to find a peak to climb.

How do I answer the call? Simple. Or not so simple. GOLF. It’s not an addiction, but as close to one as I can get.

Golf is a very simple game—hit the little ball down the grass fairway and tap it into a little hole. Not much to it.


Wrong. Golf is a beautiful and relaxing game, extremely mentally and physically challenging, but available to males and females of all ages. It is not for the faint-hearted or easily frustrated person. It calls for time, patience, and practice. As the saying goes, 10,000 reps are required to master a skill.

 


Whether in the high plains of West Texas, the surf of La Jolla, or the greens of Ireland, golf can revitalize the mind and body

It just takes a little practice.

Life has been good, and there is a lot to write about.

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