Freshly Shorn!

Very recently I came to the realization that I haven't had a haircut since January.  I was beginning to look like a Southern Baptist Televangelist!  Apart from some major theological differences and the ability to say "hell" rather than HAY-ell I guess there are a few similarities.  Anyway...here are the results.

My forehead, my neck, my ears, nose and back are all visible again!  Now I shouldn't have to go under the clippers again until July.

In my last post I was bemoaning the snow that came down at the beginning of the week.  It's long gone, totally washed away.  Since the snow stopped all it has done is rain...all week long.  March has another day to go but Spokane has already shattered the record for the most precipitation in the month of March.  We are at about four and a third inches and still counting.  There's water everywhere, and around here anywhere there's water there's also ducks and geese, and anywhere there are ducks and there is...well, I think you get the picture.  The rain has even affected my tennis play.  I'll take any excuse I can get.  Actually, I think it makes me better.  With the other guys having to slog around in nearly hip deep water it makes it hard for them to get to my shots.  Being that my game is nearly stationary anyway I am not all that much affected.  I have been back with my regular group now for a couple weeks, and I still have yet to encounter my good friend...the Happy man...John.  He did show up today to watch for foot faults, but with my feet being so big and immovable that is seldom a problem for me.

Tomorrow morning the gang at the church, St. John's Lutheran of Spokane, will be gathering for our spring clean up day.  At this point this will most likely consist of scraping the moss off of the parking lot and the barnacles off of the church building.  Holy Week begins Sunday with Palm Sunday, and reaches it's climax on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  There will be plenty of opportunities for all of you to come and join us for worship over the course of the next week, so I expect you to be there!

Seriously?

Yesterday (Sunday) we finally enjoyed a little taste of spring, about 65 degrees and sunny.  To take full advantage the St. John's Lutheran Church softball team took to the field to practice.  For some unknown reason I was included.  I quickly came to realize that I am at least as bad as I was last year, and probably worse.  But it was nice to be outside in the sun.  Today...a different story.  After grilling a pork roast for dinner last evening in ideal conditions the rain moved in late last night.  I got up and out to go play tennis at about 7:30 and the rain was pouring down.  When I left the club at 11:00 it had turned to snow!  Sloppy, slushy, wet snow.  Up on the Hill there's about an inch on the ground.  If you haven't read the last post go ahead and take a look back...the idea of retirement is becoming even stronger.

Tennis this morning was an adventure.  I played with two different groups with two totally different results.  In my 8:00am group I could not be stopped.  At 9:30am I couldn't get started!  It must have been the snow outside even though at that time I had no idea that it was falling.  You gotta blame something other than yourself!

I guess I will spend the rest of the day inside, with the blinds in the office tightly shut.  I just don't want to see the %$#& that is coming down outside my window.  It's enough to ruin a perfectly good Monday, if there is such a thing.

Springy?

Well let's see...spring officially got underway on Monday night.  All that it has done since is snow!  But you know that, at least if you are reading this from somewhere in eastern Washington or northern Idaho.  There was snow on the ground Monday morning, then hail in the afternoon.  It started snowing again yesterday and didn't stop until this morning, when 3 to 4 inches covered the ground.  As I look out my office window I see more snowflakes flittering down.  Is it legal to shoot snowflakes within the city limits?  That's just the reality of living in the Spokane area though.  Spring just plain stinks.  If it's not cold windy and white...it's cold windy and wet.  While the rest of the country is getting suntans we're still wearing parkas and muck-lucks.  It will be this way until sometime in June...if we're lucky.  People often ask me "are you going to spend the rest of your life in Spokane?"  The answer is always, and has now been reinforced, $#%@ no!  We'll be heading back to Florida once retirement rolls around, and if anyone wants to fund that retirement we can be on our way today!

Since I am finished with my teaching duties for the quarter I have found my way back out onto the tennis court (indoors) with the ol' posse, at least those who aren't walking around dropping vertebrae out of their backs all over the city streets.  It seems that my guys are having a rash of back related issues that preclude them from playing.  I suspect that this is simply a ruse that has been concocted to keep them from having to face me again.  I've got my serve up over 6mph now!  We are scheduled to get back out there tomorrow morning, so I'll see who shows up.

Pressure to Produce

In the past few days I have been feeling the heat from some of my former blog followers to "get back out there"!  It seems that there are too many people who desire to live vicariously through me...yeah...that's right...Mr. Excitement.  At the behest of my lovely wife of now nearly 30 years I am going to attempt to oblige.

This weekend marked a special time for me, as St. Patrick's Day always does, because it meant another birthday.  Yesterday I got one step closer to being 80 years old...only 26 more years to go.  80 is a milestone because by then I am hoping to be decent at playing tennis.  The guys that regularly kick my butt, and you know who you are, are generally octogenarians.  In the spirit of being an 80 year old I went to a funeral on my birthday.  As a matter of fact, I officiated at the funeral.  It was a lovely service.  You should have been there!

Today was more of the party day.  After church and Bible class members of the St. John's Lutheran Church softball team headed for the "Funspot" at Fairchild Air Force Base.  The idea was to use the indoor batting cages.  As the March weather isn't really conducive to holding outdoor practices it seemed like a splendid idea.  Due to the fact that they serve beer at the "Funspot" it turned out to be an even more splendid idea.  After taking our turns in the cages...there was a dozen of us...we headed for the bowling alley.  Seeing that it's my birthday one would think that everyone, especially my wife, would just let me win...but NO!  She had the audacity to throw a 176 in the 2nd game to take home the high score for the day.  If not for the gutter ball on her last toss she might have reached 186.

Now it's Sunday evening and I can smell the corned beef boiling on the stove.  It's time for me to get off the computer in order to begin cutting up the onions, carrots, potatoes and cabbage.  I guess it's up to me to cook the "birthday dinner".

Note to my disgruntled readers...I am going to try...TRY...to post at least three times a week.