Before we count down the top ten items that I (we) learned this past weekend,
it is important that I set the stage first by introducing the cast….
Clint Grant- He and I played little league together and we shared the same
love of airplanes- Proclaimed out loud one night while we listened to Lynyrd
Skynyrd on the Stereo "WHY'D they have to die??" Clint is a pilot, College
teacher, and now has spent more time in Texas than Georgia-no matter, he is
still ours and he knows it. Clint is our "A" player and leads discussions in
the ongoing conquest for golf greatness. He is the kind of guy who laughs at
you after you just wrecked your car. He finds the humor in everything,
especially my inability to swing a club. It was his idea to have this reunion
and make it an annual requirement.
Steve Sides- The epitome of cool-total athlete and still performs as same.
Was our star High School Baseball pitcher-bring the heat...he also brought
the heat at Godfathers Pizza back in the day working the stove and
administering to the "pies"--he still has the burn scars to prove it-- Had
beer caps on his stereo where the volume and station adjustment knobs were—a
visionary--and was instrumental in our first ever case of longneck Budweisers
when longnecks were the “deal”. Man knows his rock and roll like none other.
Grew up down the street from the BIG HOUSE, where the Allman Brothers lived
in Macon. He gave our fearless foursome the moniker of “THE CORE”. Looks like
Harrison Ford.
James Randy Hatcher- the 220 pound Swiss army knife-he is all of Popeils
inventions in one complete package-mechanical and culinary engineer that can
fix, rig, field dress, or cook anything. Only caveat is it takes a big pickup
truck for Randall and his basic load of survival gear. That MacGyver dude?
Don't even. If I'm shipwrecked on a desert island and want to get home I'm
taking Randy--(of course if I'm on a desert island and I don't want to leave,
well….. that's another story for another day) begins most sentences with
“Soooonnnnnn” and calls everyone “Hoss”, unless it’s a female, which usually
gets “Darlin” and a “I’m going to be in town a couple of days and……” (Well,
that part isn’t true, I just threw that in because….) Clint says Randy would
make the perfect wife if sex weren’t a consideration.
George Fisher-Inherently born smart ass. The little dog that starts the
fight. All mouth and “noassatall”-makes constant references to John Wayne.
Limps, takes meds, and the first one to call it a night. Destin was his pick,
though, so the others keep him around for laughs.
The Setting: Destin, Florida. It’s 30 years since our “Glory Days” and we
embark on a weekend to show ‘em all we still got it. Lodging and tee times
pre-arranged, and we all fall in by the close of business Thursday evening.
It is our charter to cram as much of the old days into the next 36 hours as
possible, as long as we get three square meals, maintain our regularity, and
get 8 hours uninterrupted sleep.
One thing that is sure to happen when we get together is a fun time-we laugh
until our sides ache busting on each other with the "stuff" we used to do—
SO, as we took inventory of our weekend, these are the things we learned….
10) Never ask a teenager where to get a good steak--(TGI Fridays ain’t the
answer)
9) Lubricate your joints with a Bloody Mary after breakfast. Take with 2
Aleve.
8) Always be on time and maintain the appropriate rate of play lest you get
placed on double secret probation by the marshal/time keeper.
Clint, Steve, Randy, George, (in unison): “ARE WE RUNNING BEHIND?”
Time Marshall: "VERY..."
7) If you groan in agony at the same time your clubface strikes the ball it
won't do any good-your ball is still bound for the twilight zone. All 4 of us
concur to this axiom. It is, therefore--a fact. (Core concurrence by a
majority vote automatically becomes fact—you can look it up in the Core
charter.)
6) Using “Body English” to get your putt in the hole will hurt you---it isn't
covered by most health providers, so buyer beware. For what it’s worth,
Profanity doesn’t help much, either.
5) When at McGuire’s Irish Pub in Destin don't engage in too much
conversation with the singer lest you end up "kissing the moose"- (A huge
taxidermed moose head that serves in lieu of a Blarney stone)-several others
did it because they were singled out for their birthdays-I was singled out
because of my big mouth (and perhaps because of my three pals)…
4) I never actually pulled any "G"s in a golf cart until Randy was at the
wheel-what surprises me is that that surprised me. Check with your flight
surgeon ahead of time. Driving with Hatch should come with the same standards
as if flying for the Thunderbirds.
3) Air guitar like no ones watching--We still got it--Friday night Steve
cranked his stereo and we ran the gamut of all the classics-singing along and
air guitaring all the while—it is of particular note that we all excelled
when Tom Petty’s Even the Losers and Here Comes my girl were played---the
biggest difference from this time and 30 years ago is we didn't jump around
(Someone could have gotten hurt) , and no one threw up.
.
2) When enjoying a post golf break at Fisherman’s Wharf, enjoy the boats-our
middle age kicked in as we all started saying what we would do if we won the
lottery and the boats we would have with said winnings. A Blood oath was
administered on site and it is now “binding”.
1) and the number one thing…….We learned that while each subtle degree of
variance in regards to the clubface and the strike of the ball will affect
your golf game ---a weekend getaway with your high school buddies will
reaffirm your beliefs in what is really important and unimportant on this
planet--family, friends, good times and making memories is what will keep our
batteries charged for years to come...or until we meet again.
EPILOGUE: We remain steadfast and ubiquitous (I just looked that up in the
Thesaurus, replacing “omnipresent”---ain’t that cool?) as we approach the
half century mark—we are comfortably and confidently nestled somewhere
between ‘hugging the porcelain queen” and the “Flomax” commercial- we are no
longer juveniles and not quite geriatric –alas, we are still rockin’.
That's how we roll. We are Confident. We are Content. We are Comfortable.
We are THE CORE.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment