First golf swing of the 2013 season

First golf swing of the 2013 season

A 3:05 yesterday afternoon, at the behest of Mary, I took my first golf swing of the 2013 season in front of the Great Room at the inn. Golf season is approaching at Killington. Mary, as one would expect, was concerned that my left knee would give me trouble in it's knee brace during my golf swing. She wanted me to try it out. Never one to miss an opportunity to hit a few golf balls, I was only too happy to oblige. The start of golf season in Killington is imminent. Getting the body "swing ready" is "important".

Saturday night was the last day that the restaurant at the inn was open to the public for dinner service this season. (It will re-open on Friday June 21st for the 2013-2014 season.) To wind the season down, we had a "clean the fridge" staff party last night at the inn. Around 4PM yesterday, after hitting a few balls in the back of the inn, Mary and I moved into the Great Room to set it up for the party. We snapped on the TV to catch up on the Boston Marathon results. In Vermont, I may be a flat lander, but in Boston, I am a Bostonian, having been born in the Brighton neighborhood at St E's. Patriots Day and the Marathon are a tradition that a Bostonian takes with them through life. I wish we did not turn that TV on at 4:00. Make it go away.....

Instead of watching a baseball game on TV last night at the staff party (the group has some dyed in the wool Yankee's fanatics to balance out our beloved Red Sox) we decided that ski movies would fill the void in the wall occupied by the TV. Pandora was playing tunes across the internet. The beer tap was flowing just right. The wine accumulated in Bin X went down too easy. Make it go away.....

Around 8:00 last night, my son Jay called. To my horror, I found out he was too close. He was working doing rehab construction in a building on Newbury Street, one block from the finish line of the Marathon. He had finished up and was walking down Boylston Street. He had passed through the finish line area several minutes before and was near the Public Library, heading towards the Boston Common to pick up the MBTA when chaos struck. UGH.. Make it go away.....

In his first successful science fiction novel, Childhood's End, published in 1953 (the year I was born), Arthur C. Clark spoke of benevolent overlords taking position around the earth in alien spaceships. He spoke of a world that was on the verge of annihilating itself in the cold war global nuclear competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. In their innocence, the people of earth in the 1950's needed alien overlords to prevent them from destroying everything.

And so we watch ski movies instead of the TV news. We watch ski movies instead of watching the horror in Boston played out over and over. Instead of seeing the missiles of North Korea constantly rolling down the street in some far off surreal parade. Instead of hearing about IED's in Afganistan, or the latest rants from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran.

In Vermont, we are somewhat insulated from the world around us; but we can't escape it. At best, we can only trick ourselves into making it go away, if only briefly.

Growing up in the Boston area, I have great faith that humanity will prevail. That the good wrought by the many will far out weigh the bad perpetrated by the few. ....it is not time for the Overlords!

Golf season is fast approaching. I hope you have your clubs out...