When I was six years old, my big brother got married on  a snowy day in February. I was the flower girl with ivy in my hair and a green velvet dress to match the big girl bridesmaids. My shoes, purchased from Karlson’s Shoe Store in Hinsdale, were custom-dyed green to match my lovely dress. I felt elegant, even though my feet were squeezed tightly in the green shoes, the formerly white Kickette pumps, that betrayed because they shrank during the dye job. They pinched my feet. After the wedding,  it was snowing outside and my shoes got wet on the way back to the car. When we got home and the shoes came off, some of the green in the shoes washed out, but my lacy white ankle socks and feet were green. The little green shoes live on in a plastic bag on a shelf in my closet, waiting for someone to pick them up and remember.

The sun appears to be returning, and we find ourselves dreaming of golf course adventures as we look outside and see grass getting green again. To celebrate spring and the return of golf, we offer this rerun, originally posted on the wildly famous Western New Mexico Lunatic Fringe Golf League blog. (You can look it up. It’s still there.)

Friday, March 11, 2016

At WNMLF League practice today, golfer Joan commented, “I am very happy with almost-par.”  Kudos to Joan. She had several almost-par holes today. We will refrain from embarrassing the other golfer and not refer to her performance.

And so we introduce a new guideline for WNMLF League play—if you get within one stroke of par, you are doing a pretty darn good job.

This seems like homage to another founding guideline for WNMLF: No day that includes golf can be a bad day.

We will not mention the interesting tee shot that went down the dreaded hill on #4 or the ball that was eaten by evil golf sprites on #5 never to be seen again…and a few other creative shots.

The sun is shining, the grass is beginning to green up, and golf seems more possible than it did a month ago.

Cheers. Here’s to another season on the course. See you out there.

I only thought I was finished with that novel. After 14 drafts, a lot of helpful input from others, and what seemed like enough revision, I was ready to send it out. Turns out, it was not ready to go. After a number of rejections that included one agent who read part of the novel, some polite form letters, some abrupt form letters, and some no responses, I sent the manuscript off for a free sample edit.  It seemed to be spot on, so I hired an editor from @DarlingAxe. Michelle Barker turned her professional eye to it and sent me a wonderfully detailed narrative assessment.  So here we go. Sledge hammer and hard hat ready. Meet you on the other side.