Last Round Of The Season...

...is officially in the rearview now. 

Not happy about that, but at least it went ok.

Decided to play my McIntyre gutta perchas...

course was still soft from the recent rains

...something I haven't done in a long time since they seriously <underperform "real" gutties> from the late 1800's.

Do love the sound they make when you hit them, however...a sort of wooden "thwack" that's really quite satisfying.

And their reduced distance works ok for this par 3 course.

For both featheries and gutties, I lengthen the holes by playing most of them as dogleg par 4's, hitting around / away from the water hazards where I can, instead of over them.

It was a beautiful, sunny, late fall day when I tallied ho to the Links At Rolling Meadows for one last round.

my 2nd shot on the 1st hole, hitting into a 25 mph headwind.  you can see the sand traps were still pulling double duty as water hazards.

#6 tee.  hit well from the tees and fairways today, though inconsistent on the greens as usual.

my birdie putt on #7...

...and (surprisingly) where I left it for a par tap in.

Since I play bogey or better wins the hole, double bogey or worse loses, notched a 4 and 3 win as I walked off the 6th green.

Not my best round but have definitely done worse.

Just wait til next year...

You know what comes next...

...and it was a pleasant weather evening for all 107 of our trick-or-treaters...high 40's and calm.

We raised the Jolly Roger to let them know we were open for business...

...applied the finishing touches to our costumes...

the beautiful Lady of the Manor...

...at her station, ready to pass out treats...

...and Gramp N. Stein, just ready to pass out.  proof that while time may be a great healer, it's a lousy beautician.

...made sure the greeters were on duty...

careful, she bites

Big Frank: tall, green, formerly deceased

...and everyone was in their place...

...then welcomed the hungry hordes:

our neighbors...the lady in the dress makes all their costumes each year

Happy to report a good time was had by all the ghouls and goblins that graced our Walk Of Fear™, and their parents seemed happy, too.

Thankfully we got most of the cleanup done last night since it's raining this morning.

Still have to remove batteries and store things away, but All Hallows is done and dusted for another year.

Next Stop:

Yikes.

Somehow or other we've quite suddenly and without adequate warning arrived at November.

As if that's not bad enough, it's also time change weekend, when we voluntarily plunge ourselves into wintry darkness by chopping an hour of daylight out of our days.

What the heck were we thinking?

For us northerners who exult in the long sunny days of summer, the cold and dark of the next few months promises to be challenging.

But the months ahead don't have to be spiritually cold and dark, as we have this promise from God's Word:

12  Then spake Jesus again unto them saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

    - John 8:12

take heart, mcm fans...

Well, It Happened...

our bedroom fireplace

...heating season has arrived. 

It took awhile, with a summer resurgence followed by some meteorological dithering - hey, it's warm!  nope, scratch that - it's cold! - but now it seems late October weather has settled in for good.

Ergo, all three fireplaces are operational once again.

the bonus room fireplace, keeping Sir Kitschalot toasty...

...and ol' faithful warming the cockles of our hearts (along with other body parts and the rest of the living room).

Good thing, too, because the power company informed us of a planned overnight power outage on the time change weekend, from 11 pm until 7 am.

That means the furnace won't run and with temps dipping into the high 30's / low 40's at night, we're thankful we'll be able to keep the home fires burning.

And of course we'll have our emergency backup plan in place...

...just in case they don't have the juice turned on by 7 am.

I like warm fires on cold mornings, but wish this was March heading into April instead of October into November.

Heavy sigh.

Speaking of the end of October, we're less than a week away from All Hallows E'en:

In spite of the spooky pic, we shan't be leaning into the graveyard theme on the big night.

We'll opt for a lighter vibe as we have ever since I handed a treat bag to a little tyke and he told me earnestly, "I decided this year I wouldn't be scared".

Karen and I agreed the very last thing we want is to scare kids away, so Vintage Halloween (jack-o-lanterns, black cats, full moons) -

- that's the look we're going for each year.

To be fair, some low key, non-threatening spookification is ok, even desirable.

Most kids like being scared just a little bit - y'know, the kind of "there's he is!" fright you feel when the monster finally appears on screen...

...not the "crazed lunatic with a chainsaw who's trying to kill me!" garbage - or worse - that we see everywhere today.

Given its roots, I understand why there are Christians who have a problem with Halloween.

I went to Bible college with a man who escaped a Satanic cult and trusted Christ as his savior.

Based on his personal experiences, he'd never celebrate Halloween.

For most people, however, it's just a day for kids to dress up, ring doorbells and get candy.

They're excited for the fun and adventure, and you know what?

Parents are going to take their kids trick or treating whether we participate or not.

So we decided, why not use it as an opportunity to spread some fun, enjoyment, and the Gospel?

We strive to make their brief time at our place memorable for all the right reasons.

Elsa and that frozen snowman guy, Ooloo...uh, I mean OOgly...eh, Oddball?  Whatever.

When they leave, we want them to have a treat bag in their hands, a smile on their face and the good news of Jesus Christ in their hearts.

And maybe just a slightly elevated heart rate.

Happy Hallows.

After a summer and early fall of serious drought conditions, the heavens have suddenly opened - and remained open - for an extended period of steady rain, much of it lake effect.

Over the last several days we've gotten more than twice the rainfall of June and July combined.

We definitely need the rain, but it has put the kibosh on my end of season golf plans.

The deluge finally relented, so I ventured forth on Saturday.

It was too wet for featheries so made a slight change to my playset...

l to r: long spoon (20*), short spoon (25*), lofting iron, putter

I wanted to swing my W. Dunn spoon (far left), made by club maker Kelly Leonard from Canada.

Typically don't hit quite as long with that one, but love the feel of the club and when I swing it correctly, they're high, straight shots that are really quite enjoyable.

Took me a few holes to get warmed up, but my scrambling skills were in good working order and I ended up winning the first 2 holes.

#3 tee - a slight fade on this narrow fairway resulted in a lost ball in the brush.  I did find 3 balls in my hunt, none of them mine.

Got in trouble on #3, righted the ship on #4, then stumbled again on #5.

thanks to the recent deluge we have a new, unplanned water hazard in the middle of the fairway on #6 (which happily I avoided)

Thankfully after that I found the groove and won out the rest of the way.

the sandtraps now double as water hazards; managed to avoid them, too

decent tee shot on #7 left me with a reasonable lofting iron shot to the green...

...which I pushed to the far side of the green, but chipped close enough to the hole to save par and win the match, 3 and 2.

It was sunny and mid 40's, just the way I like it.

Hoping to get 1, maybe 2 more outings before this season's in the books.

<insert muffled weeping sounds here>

And finally...it's that blessed time again when we all embrace mass hysteria and storm the exits...

don't blame me...all I said was, "free pumpkin spice lattes for the first 50 customers!"

But first, let's 23 Skidoo...

Some spectacular October sunrise pics, courtesy of Larry from his cottage "up north":

no editing involved, that's the actual mirror effect of the smooth as glass lake

rising mist on the water

...followed by some amazing sunset pics:

love the fire in the sky...

...and waving farewell with a little <nachtmusik>:

Switching gears now...

a recent study revealed 1 in 6 pregnant women in Michigan smoke pot.  in a related study it was discovered that 16.67% of pregnant women in Michigan are morons.

not a great pic, but that's a black squirrel branch surfing while munching red berries

staging area in the bonus room...Karen informed me the heady days of "Occupy Living Room" are over

the stars in their dressing room, practicing for their "one night only" performance

I'm amazed by Isaiah 52:13 through 53:12.

That's the Bible prophecy that tells in remarkable detail about the Servant of the LORD - the ministry and sacrifice of Christ, hundreds of years before it happened.

Verse 12 is the astounding summary:

"12  Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He hath poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."

    - Isaiah 53:12

Written 700 years before His advent.

later, mcm fans...