7-Iron

I was about 12 when Dad woke me from bed early one Saturday morning, one of the rare times he played weekends, as Dad often had Thursday and Friday off from work - tee times were much easier on weekdays.

I was to caddy for Dad, which was a rare privilege. We drove to a nearby golf course, I seem to recall Dad wore a yellow shirt, and probably some horrid plaid trousers which were a few years out of fashion in about 1976.

On the 8th, par 5 dad's approach shot bounded off the hard green and landed somewhere behind the green in rough dry shrub. "Give me that lucky 7-iron". I handed him the club, and he strode off toward the green.

I drug the hand cart along the side of the fairway,  and Dad carried his 7-iron across the green, and started searching for the ball.

As I left the cart near the west side of the green, and walked toward dad's right side, scouring the ground for the ball, I heard Dad yell "stop - watch your step!" .. I then heard the rattle of a snake, and saw the coiled rattlesnake, just 2-3 meters ahead of me, and even closer to dad, the lost ball lying a foot or two from the snake.

I think I froze in my tracks, and watched as dad slowly and carefully approached the snake, raising the 7-iron above his head to strike downward.

He stopped, lowered his favorite club, reaching it toward me. "Give me the 8-iron"....


Dad killed the snake, and used the 7-iron to pitch in.

Past and Future

When you are young, you have no past, only future.

When you are old, you have no future, and only past.

You will never successfully reach old unless you understand your past.

Someday, you will value proof that you were. That you lived, that you breathed, won, lost, fought, and loved. you will not see this until you have a past, and will welcome having items such as photos
to remind you of the past that has resulted in your success.