Golf...who likes it?

I do. So went to the DMV yesterday and got six points for doing what the intimidating woman in my passenger seat called a "California rolling stop". I am not sure what that really means or entails but I do know that is I gathered ten points that I would fail the test for the Chauffeurs license thus losing my regular licence until I could pass the test all over again. I know how to drive, I know most traffic laws but having someone who must find it painful to smile sitting in your very small car, writing things as you turn right, turn left and parallel park is a wee bit stressful. Did I mention that this cali rollin stop was at the stop sign of the parking lot out of the DMV? It was. Anyways I passed. Did I attempt to butter the instructor up the rest of the test? Yes, yes I did. Did it work? You tell me, I have a chauffeur's licence in my wallet now.
After this ordeal, my work training got cancelled. HUZZAH! So I called the roommate and we went golfing. Here are some things I notice and love/hate about the "game" of golf.
Golf should not be called a game. Games do not cause men in their mid twenties to have cardiac issues relating to rage. SkipBo, that is a game. Golf is something more. Maybe it is closer to a job. I do not make much money from it, most of the time I am ill-tempered whilst doing it and I perform much better is I am drinking beer.
Physics are stupid. I hate them. The whole issues of spin really chaps my backside. If small dimpled balls did not spin in certain directions I would be a phenomenal golfer. Maybe I would not be able to hit the ball at all but at least I would not hit it at a 90 degree angle any longer.
Being awesome at Tiger Woods PGA 2004 does not make you even slightly good in real life. I struggle with the fact that getting on the green is basically one shot away from being done with the hole. This is true for me on the video game. In real life I am usually about 3-4 shots away. FYI this is also true with guitar playing and guitar hero.
Lastly, golf is life. You can play like a no good hack for 17.3 holes BUT on that 18th hole you hit a spectacular drive, and Mickelson like approach, and drain that put like Jack at Augusta. You love this "game", you feel on top of the world, you forget two holes back when you tossed you pitching wedge farther than you just hit your ball. That is life. You have trials and tribs out the wazoo (sp?) and then God gives you a sliver of mercy and all is balanced, all is good.
Fore.

Great, Sun, Morning, Awe and some coffee

Had a spectacular camp fire with some friends last night. The fire was hot, the brews frosty and the conversation would have kept Professor Slughorn's hour glass still.
The topic of sun in the morning came up. How it can lift the spirits and bring forth immediate worship. I am at a coffee shop this morning and I got to watch the sun rise in The East and elation, contentment and mercy filled me. God's print is in all of nature but there are certain things that really strum with me.
Mountains. Majestic and scary. They can strike fear in me as well as my utmost humility.
Sunrises. Rebirth, new day and all that. The sun is such a gift. The daily sign that life goes on and we are not alone.
late for work now because of the stars in my eyes.

The Autumn List it is!

Lists are great. It is a lazy way for me to tell people things that I would not be able to in normal natural conversation. I get to shove my thoughts into all ya'lls faces. So it is Autumn but it is waning quickly. Life seems to speed up the more complicated it gets. That is a terrible thing to me. I guess that is why people who are constantly going and moving so often lose track of themselves or others.  Taking time to slow down and savor is not part of our culture anymore. I digress...
Here is one way I can try and slow my life down. By making a list, sometimes I am able to at least recognize what I love and what touches me.
So The Autumn...

Leaves. Crunchy, colorful, musty, aromatic...the adjectives could go on forever. I love when the leaves turn on the trees. The seem to symbolize the somber atmosphere descending, like elves leaving Middle Earth. I spent alot of football practices in college simply look at the collage of changing foliage. This may have contributed to my lack of playing time but I think my shortness of talent did mostly.

Flannel. I would wear flannel all year if I could. I mean I can but I tend to become smelly hot garbage when I attempt it in the summer. I was fortunate enough to have three close friends in college who all shared my love for the flannel shirt. James, Josiah and Jake. We really did make them cool again. I was saddened by the hipness factor they have now accumulated. I guess I am just being selfish though.

Coffee. Coffee makes my list for all seasons but it is especially grand in the fall months. Crisp mornings are brightened and illuminated by a fresh hot brew. Hurray.

Seeing my breath. Friends have witnessed my boyish joy I show once the warm moisture molecules from my lungs hit the cool air and cause steam. I realize you will think this stupid but this is my list not yours...and its the little things in life and all that.

Oktoberfest Style Beer. Best kind of beer hands down. Rich, frothy, amber, bursting with flavor. Gosh what more could you want.

Sitting in coffee shops with or without friends. I am doing this right now. It is great. Sit, read, talk, listen, drink, watch. Sounds like a pretty fulfilled life if you ask me.

Camp Fires. This is a multi-lister as well but oh well. Fire is always great unless it is burning you.

Fantasy Football. I like to watch football games but I have to admit that I am not a die hard fan anymore. It is hard for me to watch an entire game anymore. I do however love looking at my team during the week and writing mean/comical posts that degrades my fellow league members or myself. I also enjoy picking Star Wars themed team names. This year I am the Rebel Alliance. We are terrible but I like to write that we are good.

I do not like frost on my car windows though and that comes with Autumn as well. Good thing I can now park my car in a garage. I feel this will cut down on the number of days I get "sick" on work days this year.

Cheers 

The Ache for Further Up and Further In.

Everywhere I am I yearn for something else. I live in small town Kansas, I yearn for something exciting and busy. I live in Chicago, I wanted to be in Africa. I live in the mountains of Utah and yearned for closeness of family and even missed the Midwest autumn. I live in Des Moines and see pictures of mountains and it makes me miss the mist covered mountains.
The grass is never greener on the other side is that other side is just another place here on earth. I am constantly frustrated by my restlessness and want of being somewhere.
I am reading some of Tolkien's early middle earth creation literature right now (yes i am super dorky and hope i stay that way) and it has, as does Lewis' Narnia stories, so many references and themes of man being in a world that is not his/her own any longer. The metaphysical longing of something/someone/some place that is not yet here or we are not quite at yet is all over.
I truly do want and long to be in Africa for a very long time. I do want to live in Chicago maybe again if I stay here in the States. I do love being around my family and friends. These longings of comfort or completeness are, I think, the shadow or echo of my true longing. To be in the place where the colors are no longer images of reflected light but visions of the True Light. To finally be completed as Man and for my nature to be as it should be. No longer broken and vile. No longer wanting. To finally see the Glory the all sunsets/sunrises, mountains, music, love, birds, books, smiles, seas, winds, prairies, leaves, creatures reflect as shadows on a cave wall. Follow the dogs for they are headed Further Up and Further In.