For many years the common wisdom stated a college degree was the only pathway to success.
Even comedian Jeff Foxworthy of "you might be a redneck" fame made fun of working class men when he quipped...
..."He's headed for a career with his name on his shirt".
Obviously that attitude was nonsense and over time produced a generation of liberal arts college graduates drowning in debt while spending their work day asking if you want fries with that value meal.
I'm happy my collar was blue for awhile as I worked in orchards and factories, drove tractors and trucks, shipped packages, received freight and roughnecked on oil rigs.
Eventually I did manage to cram 4 years of college into 12, taking classes nights and part time while working and raising a family.
And while it's true most of my career has been in the white collar world of IT...
...I hold in high regard those skilled laborers who traffic in the nuts and bolts of life:
Farmers, builders, truckers, mechanics, plumbers, electricians, repairmen...all the folks who provide goods and services whenever and wherever needed.
Foxworthy also said, "Look where Jesus went to pick people. He didn't go to the colleges; He got guys off the fishing docks".
So raise a glass of whatever it is you're drinking -
- and offer a toast of thanks to the working (wo)man.
Happy Labor Day 2025!
Gotta love crisp mornings in the 40's by the fire...
...and warm afternoons in the 60's, lots of sunshine, changing colors, apple pie and coffee...
...and oh yeah...Fall golf, the absolute best.
I could go on (and on), but you get the idea.
Only problem?
Two things, actually:
1) Doesn't last long enough -and-
2) It's a daylight thief.
On September 1st we have 13 hours and 12 minutes of daylight.
By September 30th we're down to 11 hours and 49 minutes.
Action point: get busy and enjoy this spectacular month!
Mentioned last week Karen and I were headed north on a one day quest.
Our destination:
And our objective:
Love the medieval knight emblem they included on all their models:
We'd been using an old outdoor firepit with a gas log set to keep the bonus room heated...
...which was functional but ugg-lee.
Since we paid my grandson to finish the ceiling in there this summer, we decided to up our game with a true mid century modern classic.
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| finally, Sir Kitschalot has a pal |
The 450+ mile round trip made for a long day, but was definitely worth it.
Wonder how much better I might be at hickory golf...
...if I'd skipped over the nonsense and went directly to my "eureka!" moments.
For several years I approached hickory as if it was modern golf.
I carried all my bad habits from that and applied them to my new hobby with predictable results.
Eventually I stumbled across Harry Vardon's book...
...and finally fixed my grip, stance and swing for hickory clubs.
And it was a year and a half ago an offhand comment from a club seller led me to pre-1900 hickory golf.
Lots of experimentation and trial and error followed before I finally settled into a routine.
Which is not to say everything is now set in stone, but what if I'd started years ago by reading Vardon's book and using my pre-1900 playset?
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| l to r: long spoon, short spoon, lofting iron, putter |
I'd have all the same time / talent / age limitations, but gotta believe I'd be farther down the road than I am now.
How's that for a long winded intro to this week's HGU?
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| teeing off 5 minutes before sunrise |
It was such an enjoyable outing, it made me wish I'd started this adventure correctly years ago, and so could have experienced more rounds like this.
When you're playing from the fairway instead of dropping new balls because the one you hit is now hopelessly lost in the hinterlands...
...this game can be sublime.
For the record it was a win, 5 and 4, but today that wasn't even the point.
From the cool of the morning and the dewy grass, to the swing of my clubs and flight of the ball, it was a little solitude, a little exercise and a very enjoyable stroll through the countryside.
Which drops us squarely in the middle of 23 Skidoo:
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| democrat-think |
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| sunset on the lake at Larry's cottage... |
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| ...and sunrise. he's got some wonderful scenery and a good eye. |
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| and as mean as ever |
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| strawberry transformation almost complete |
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| Karen's transforming a few into dried flowers so we can enjoy them over the winter |
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| while moving totes around I came across this chess set I bought as a gift but apparently never gave away...wonder who got gypped that year... |
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| a course in Switzerland where they're playing the European Masters championship...what a spectacular view |
My effusive praise for Autumn notwithstanding, I have to admit to a pang of sorrow at summer's too soon departure:
summer's end
(yours truly, copyright 2022)
in the fading days of august,
near the end of summer's reign,
when melancholy scents the air,
and daylight starts to wane,
with autumn waiting in the wings,
to dance across life's stage,
it's then I long to turn the hands
of time to June again.
delights of summer beckoned yet,
amid the lengthening days,
verdant frolics called to us,
from summer's lazy haze.
a morning round of hickory golf,
a sunset by the shore,
gardening with my better half,
a summer evening storm.
but time raced on so quickly,
and days flew by too fast,
the joys that once were future,
soon segued to our past.
and now we greet fair autumn,
possessed of fall delights.
but O! I'll miss those clarion days,
and clement summer nights.
As we turn the page on yet another summer, I'm reminded of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon's "travelogue" where he documents, for better and worse, his journey from jaded disillusionment to blessed enlightenment.
In chapter 3 he laments this cyclical nature of life and our seasons "under the sun"; the repetitive refrain, not just of winter, spring, summer and autumn, but of birth and death, love and hate, war and peace.
But his is one of those stories where you have to read all the way to the end, because his winding path eventually rises above the depressing refrain of "vanity of vanities; all is vanity!" and finally arrives at Divine Truth:
"12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
"13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man."
- Ecclesiastes 12:12,13
Amen to that.
later, mcm fans...
