Hi, everyone:

I'm afraid I have bad news.  Due to some important personal matters that need my undivided attention, I have to put the blog on hiatus.  I don't know exactly how long I will be away.

During the hiatus, I will finish the new post (it's almost done) and publish it.  But after that piece, I won't be writing for probably a few months.

I apologize for any inconvenience.



Bev

About four years ago, I was flipping through the TV channels when I came across a handsome, solo violinist in concert.  He was dressed in faded blue jeans, a T-shirt, and a blue jacket.  He had a bit of stubble, and his blond hair was tied back in a short ponytail.

Not only did his casual appearance stop me in my tracks, his music also had my undivided attention.  It wasn't entirely classical, and he was backed by his band and an orchestra.  As I continued to listen, I realized that David Garrett was a crossover classical artist, and what I was listening to had to be a fusion of classical elements with rock or pop.  Garrett was performing a track from one of his albums, David Garrett, and the music was an amazing blend of two popular and well respected genres.

If that weren't enough, I was even more transfixed by Garrett's outstanding command of his instrument and his physical ability to play at stunning speed. The speed and precision in which he played some of his pieces were phenomenal.  (He is in the Guinness World Records for playing "Flight of the Bumblebee" in 66 seconds.  Now that's lightning speed!)

I was so in awe of Garrett's incredible talents that the next day I ran, not walked, to the nearest music store and bought the CD.  I became a big fan after listening to it several times.

The Crossover Music

On his CD, David Garrett, the crossover violinist did his own arrangements and integrated classical elements into songs by popular recording artists and rock bands.  For example, Garrett fused Mozart's "Turkish March" with a Michael Jackson song.  And on another piece, Garrett fused Paganini's "Caprice No. 24" with a Metallica song.

Garrett also did his own interpretations of the theme song from the movie "Pirates of the Caribbean," and from Vivaldi's "Summer" and Bach's "Air."  In addition, he included a track of his own composition.

Who is This Virtuoso Extraordinaire?
Mari Smith via photopin cc
Mari Smith via photopin cc

Works Cited:  

www.david-garrett.com/us/about/
      Retrieved 4 Jan. 2014. 

"David Garrett Interview."  Time Out Chicago  10 Apr. 2009.
     www.timeout.com.hk/music/features/22486/david-garrett-interview.html
     Retrieved 4 Jan. 2014.

Wu, Dorothy.  "DAVID GARRETT - Evolution of an Icon, Metamorphosis of an
     Artist."  Notes on The Road  6 Nov. 2012.  
     www.notesontheroad.com/david-garrett.html
     Retrieved 10 Jan. 2014.

Hi everyone, 

Happy Holidays!  May this holiday season be filled with the love and warmth of your family and friends; the spirit of giving and receiving; great food; and the appreciation for all that you have in life.

I hope the New Year brings you good health, prosperity, and the desires of your heart.


Bev



Image credit: gem66 via photopin cc

For years I've watched friends play golf.  From the sidelines, it's enjoyable but not much fun.  One day, I was watching a golf tournament on TV and saw a female caddie.  I suddenly had a lightbulb moment: I can't play golf, but maybe I could be an occasional caddie.

My friend "Steve" is an avid golfer who likes to walk the course, so I asked him if I could be his caddie.

"What?!?  Did you say you want to carry my golf bag?" Steve said.

Two weeks before the big event, I did extra reps of exercises to strengthen my back muscles.  When the day came, I was good and ready.

The Big Day

Steve, his golf buddies, my back brace, and I are on the golf course.  The sun is shining; there is a slight breeze; and the group ahead of us is not playing slowly. It's a great day for golf.

Because Steve walks the course, he carries the bare minimum in his golf bag: 14 clubs, golf balls, tees, extra gloves, golf towel, umbrella, rule book, scorecard, two small pencils, couple of quarters for markers, one bottled water, a banana, and a couple of energy bars.

My intention is to carry the golf bag and the paraphernalia that probably weighs 22 pounds for 9 holes or more.

After Steve hits his first tee shot, I pick up the golf bag.  We start walking the course.  I'm not a real caddie and as a result, I don't help with strategy or yardage.  But I do give Steve the appropriate club that he asks for, wipe off the dirt or grass from the club, and rake the bunker.  Hole after hole I'm enjoying myself because I'm playing golf vicariously through Steve.  Everything is peachy.

However, as the day progresses I noticed that it's getting warmer.  It must be at least 85 degrees with no breeze.  What happened to the breeze?

Somewhere between the 6th and 7th holes, there is a tectonic shift.  An earthquake is coming.  My forehead starts to sweat under the golf cap. Small drops of water are forming at the temples.  The strap of the golf bag is digging into my shoulder.  The muscles of my calves are cramping up. And I have periodic shortness of breath.  

Steve is having a decent day on the golf course, so I don't want to interrupt.  Now I'm schlepping around a golf bag full of rocks.  Every time Steve looks over to see how I'm doing, I force a smile and give him two thumbs up.

It's the 8th hole.  I don't know how I got here.  After Steve finishes the hole, I decide to say something before I collapse on the golf course.

"Steve," I whispered, "do you have a moment?"  Steve comes over.  "I've got bad news.  I'm not cut out to be a golf caddie.  It has nothing to do with you.  I'm quitting because this job is killing me."

"You can't quit now," Steve joked, taking the golf bag from me.  "We've got the back nine to play."

"Yeah, well, the back nine is going to have to live without me."

"You know, Bev, it's too bad you're quitting because one of my golf buddies wants you to carry his bag.  You might have a career as a golf caddie."

"Very funny, Steve.  I'll keep that in mind.  Right now, I'm going to the clubhouse."

"Feel better.  See you at the clubhouse in a couple of hours."

If Only 

If I had powerful muscular legs, the stamina of a long distance runner, and the strength of steel, I could have made it to the 9th hole and beyond.  But, alas, I didn't.  So there went my career as a golf caddie.

I'm back to being a spectator, unless I have another lightbulb moment.




Image Credits: Micah Taylor via photopin cc
gamene via photopin cc

I've been around golf most of my adult life as a spectator.  The position of the body after a golf swing isn't good for my bad back, knees, and posture.  I have to watch the sport rather than partake in it.  So, from the sidelines this is what I've learned about golf.

Starting with Golf Vocabulary

I learned early on that there are good words and bad words in golf.  

The good words are: 

• "It's in the hole!"
• Hole-in-one
• Eagle
• Birdie
• Par
• Low handicapper

The bad words are:

• "Fore!"
• Out-of-bounds
• Three-putt
• Quadruple bogey
• High handicapper
• Bunker
• Hook
• Tree
• Water
• Wind
• Whiff

All of the above are not just mere words.  They create intense emotions in a player. The good words will get a fist pump.  The bad words might make a player throw a club and mutter an expletive.

Golf: Not Just Another Popular Sport

Golf is an extremely popular sport.  The game is slooow and methodical, and it takes four to five hours to complete a round of golf.  That's a long day at the golf course.  Most players don't even notice the time.  For me, by the fourth hour, I'm ready to go to the clubhouse for that cold beverage.

For a while, I couldn't figure out why golf is such a big deal.  It involves men and women spending their weekend chasing a small white ball and trying to put it into a small hole.  It's just another popular sport, right?

I posed this question to an avid golfer-friend who has played the sport for years. After he got over the absurd question, he tried to explain how golf was different from other sports.

The Difference Between Golf and Other Sports

Cost.  Golf is an expensive sport.  The average player should have the following equipment and necessities: golf bag, 14 clubs, covers for the clubs, lots of golf balls, tees, golf gloves, golf clothes, golf shoes, waterproof shoes, rain suit, golf umbrella, golf towels, money for greens fee, and possibly money for golf lessons.

Ca-ching!

A gentleman's sport.  A player plays the game according to the Book of Golf Etiquette & Rules.  That's right, there's a book on etiquette.  For example, there is absolutely NO talking or moving around when a player is about to hit the ball. If you talk or move and a player makes a bad shot, run for the hills as fast as you can.  It's your fault.  The player isn't going to be happy, and he will be looking for you.

An individual sport.  Golf is an individual sport, not a team sport.

The honor system.  The game is played by the honor system.  If a player makes a mistake, he must call a penalty on himself.

Mental sport.  The game requires a great deal of thinking as to what to do with a small white ball and a bunch of clubs.  The player creates a plan to get the ball into the hole in as few shots as possible.  I find the plan a bit amusing because from what I can see, conditions on the golf course keep changing.  Therefore, the player is constantly modifying the plan.  It's almost as if there's no set plan to play golf, but to be without a plan is insanity.

The sitting ball.  In other sports, the player reacts and moves the ball almost immediately.  In golf, the ball can sit there for a few minutes basking in the sun while the player thinks about what to do with it.

A versatile sport.  Golf can be played in a variety of conditions: in the rain, in the wind, in the scorching heat, in the sand, in the water; and among ducks, gophers, squirrels, and other inhabitants of the golf course.
Early bird tee time.  Many players are so gung-ho about golf that they are willing to play the game early in the morning.  The early birds can start playing golf at 6:30 a.m, the first available tee off time. I'm convinced that if there were a tee time for 5:00 a.m., players would be teeing off in the dark.

The caddie.  The professional golfer has an assistant: the caddie.  No other sport comes to mind that allows a professional athlete to have a helper who participates in the game.  The caddie's job is not to wipe the sweat off the pro's brow.  His job is to carry the golf bag, help calculate yardage, give advice on strategy, and give moral support.  The caddie is on the course to lighten the load so that the pro can think . . . think . . . think . . . about what to do with the ball and the different clubs.

Golf: What's Not to Like?

Golf from the sidelines has been an interesting way to learn about the game.  It's better to participate than to watch.  Nevertheless, watching friends play golf has been educational and enjoyable.

It's fun and exciting when a player puts a small ball into a small hole.  The sound of the ball going into the hole is sweet music to a player's ear.  It never gets old.

Golf is a dynamic, complicated, and mentally challenging sport.  It can also be a frustrating sport.  As my avid golfer-friend explains, the game is straightforward. It becomes complicated and frustrating when the ball has a mind of its own.





Image Credit: Zach Dischner via photopin cc
DigiDreamGrafix.com via photopin cc

• Poverty
• Job loss, sometimes culminating in chronic unemployment
• Long, deep recession resulting in scarcity of jobs and high unemployment
• Lack of affordable housing
• Loss of housing due to foreclosure or nonpayment of rent
• Mental illness preventing the ability to work
• Substance abuse preventing the ability to work
• Domestic abuse forcing victims to live on the streets
• Serious illness or prolonged medical condition that depletes funds
• Divorce with little or no financial support

The Underlying Reasons

The underlying reasons are often the preludes, the opening acts, the impetuses that start the homeless cycle.  Some of the major reasons are listed below:

• Poverty
• Chronic unemployment
• Taking housing for granted
• No homeless prevention plan
• Bad decisions that create vulnerability and set off the domino effect
• Lack of good problem-solving skills
• Lack of good decision-making skills
• Lack of good life skills
• Lack of emergency funds
• Mismanagement of funds
• Excessive debt
• Lack of a supportive network, personal and business
• Lack of financial independence producing unhealthy dependency
• Lack of preventative services to keep people from losing their homes
• Inadequate programs for mental illness and substance abuse

D.S., the prolific and world-renowned novelist, has written a book that is a departure from her normal fictional prose.  In A Gift of Hope: Helping the Homeless, Steel reveals clandestine work that she has done with the homeless on foot for 11 years.  The work is a tribute to her late son, Nick Traina.

Steel leaves her comfortable world and courageously ventures out into the toughest (and sometimes the most dangerous) homeless areas in San Francisco. She brings sleeping bags, jackets, gloves, socks, and toiletries.  She does her work at night ignoring adverse weather conditions and even her safety.

She asks for nothing in return.

In her memoir, Steel provides detailed accounts of her personal experiences with the homeless on foot.  The most deprived and barely surviving group of people in the homeless population.  She describes the areas and conditions in which they live, the display of impatience and desperation by the homeless, the physical deterioration and emotional effects of the homeless caused by the lifestyle, her concern for the very ill, a few close calls that endangered her life and that of her small crew, and more.

Steel also talks about how the work affects her and her view of the homeless:

"It is life-changing to be there, to look into the eyes of people who are lost, suffering, sick in body and mind, most of whom have lost hope.  They are the forgotten people, whom no one wants to think about or know."

Steel's work of hope and compassion are her gifts to the homeless.  There are two other gifts that she generously gives out: they are the rare gifts of unconditional love and unspoken understanding.  Since her acts of human kindness come straight from her heart, she asks for nothing in return and requires no explanation.

There is one last reason why Steel's work should be commended: She treats the homeless with respect.

A Gift of Hope: Helping the Homeless is an important book for the public as well as for the homeless.  Steel gives the homeless a voice and that is a very powerful step to identifying and solving problems.  I highly recommend this book.



Image Credit:Thomas Hawk via photopin cc