Posted on July 22, 2013 under Monday Morning Musings with one comment

I have a lot on my mind this morning so bear with me. This is a long post so please try to get to the bottom…about a half a cup of coffee’s worth of reading.

First, the picture above. If you live anywhere near Antigonish ( with apologies to my friends in Egypt and New Zealand ), you must go to the logging road behind Bethany and see this amazing display of 1000 aprons. Once I have done my research, I will definitely be writing a story. Can you imagine the stories behind each and everyone of these aprons? I have a short video showing a few of the aprons and a longer one with no voice over.

If you were too busy yesterday enjoying the weekend and, shockingly, ignored my website please check out the KFC photo challenge. I can hardly wait until you weigh in with your story ideas.

I would like you to go to your calendar and circle September 26th. My writing buddy, Phil Milner and I are planning a fundraising event in aid of St.Vincent de Paul. It will be an evening of story telling and music and should be a blast. Details are being worked out regarding a venue and some of the other logistics. We will need a handful of volunteers the night of the event.

Some of you reading this are already loyal followers of Week45 and others have signed up on my Week45 Facebook page. I would like to once again invite people to follow me on my website. This is easy to do. Just go to www.week45.com and go to the black panel on the right of the page. Go down to the bottom right hand corner and click “follow”. I don’t expect Facebook to disappear any time soon but technology is changing so quickly, that I want to build my audience on my own site. I remember several .com companies that have come and gone over the years.

Coming up tomorrow, I have a story which is a tribute to volunteers in general and specifically the folks who just organized the 150th. running of the Highland Games.

Have a great week.

Posted on July 21, 2013 under Storytelling with 2 comments

So, Betty and I are returning from a romantic getaway to Walmart Saturday evening when she spots a stretch limousine parked beside KFC. I quickly pulled over and took this picture.

My first instinct was that someone’s wedding costs had gotten out of control and they decided to have the reception at KFC. Maybe the bride and groom were treating each other to  a “double down”.

OK. Now it’s time for you to weigh in. You can either write a story and send it to me or give me a story idea and I will do the rest. Come on, it’s Sunday and you can’t spend your entire day at the beach or in church! Let your mind run wild. Who knows, I might even put the story in my book coming out this September.

And to those golfers who spent part of Saturday at the golf course and the remainder of the day on the couch watching the British Open, I wrote a story for you yesterday. Check it out.

Posted on July 20, 2013 under Storytelling with no comments yet

Where can you experience frustration of the highest order and moments later, feel a sense of elation that is hard to describe?  How can you be so on top of your game one day and feel completely inept twenty four hours later?  How can you be at peace, feeling that you have things all sorted out and then feel completely inadequate.  Welcome to the mysterious world of golf.  It seems appropriate that golf spelled backwards is flog.

Back when I was ten years old, every day was Christmas.  I got up at 5:30 a.m., made myself two egg salad sandwiches (every day), grabbed my three golf clubs and trudged 3 kilometers to the golf course.  I played all day only stopping to eat.   My wife hopes that I kept the sandwiches in the fridge and not in my golf bag.  I practiced, caddied and hunted for golf balls.  And in the waning light of the day, several of us gathered on the putting green for our daily contest.  The trip home around 9:30 p.m. seemed a little longer than the morning expedition, but there were no complaints.

Those of you who have played golf understand this clearly: it is the most beguiling game imaginable.  In most sports, one can attain a certain level of competence and consistency with enough time, patience and practice.  Golf humbles you, plain and simple.  If you think you have it figured out, it will slap you silly and bring you back to your senses.

Non golfers must be shaking their heads wondering, what is the appeal to a sport that can drive sane people over the edge?  To wit: during a particularly frustrating round of golf, an exasperated golfer whacked two balls into a nearby pond.  His partners, sensing an eruption in proportion to Mt. Vesuvius, gave the player a wide berth.  He walked calmly to the edge of the pond and with a herculean toss, threw the clubs and bag into the water.  He began his walk back to the clubhouse when he suddenly spun on his heels and returned to the pond.  Wading in water up to his knees, he retrieved the bag and brought it to shore.  He unzipped the side pocket, removed his car keys, heaved the clubs back into the water and stormed off the course.

Some golfers strive for perfection.  They take lessons, practice for hours on end and read every golf magazine imaginable.  Eventually the golf gods impart wisdom, and perfection is replaced by striving for excellence.  This leads to accepting mediocrity.

The best round I ever had was following my son while he played my favorite course on the planet – Cape Breton Highlands Links.  I never hit a bad shot but I took several excellent ones … with my camera.

I haven’t played much in the past eight years but when I do, it is for fun, pure and simple.  I have figured golf out.  It is about the walk and the camaraderie.  It is about smelling freshly mown fairways and watching eagles soar and foxes cross the greens.  I don’t keep score any more because, let’s face it, nobody cares about my score or yours.

Golfers are eternally optimistic.  Most carry a bag of dreams with them until they hole the final putt.