July 2008

We spend the 4th at Mount Vintage - it is becoming a tradition. Then the following week we went to North Carolina for a few days and visited Brookgreen Gardens again.

Athens, GA

Steve and I took a trip to Athens, GA this weekend. We stopped for lunch at a quaint hotel in Washington, and also visited (briefly) Goodness Grows, a great nursery, in Lexington. Once in Athens, we took a long walk around the campus, searching for the perennial trial gardens. When we finally found them, surrounding by construction and cranes, we also met Allan Armitage, toured the (empty) greenhouse and received a Rudbeckia fulgida from Mr. Armitage. On the way back to the hotel - nurturing the new plant - we stopped for Ben and Jerry's. For dinner we opted for our favourite tapas and had an enjoyable meal at Casa Mia. On Sunday we drove home, stopping at Piccadilly Farms for more plants and at Maison Bleu in Watkinsville for another good meal.

Pictures.

Kishan and Anita's wedding

My young friend from work got married this past weekend. Kishan and Anita grew up in the Augusta area. Both families are Indian so the wedding and reception were interesting cultural experiences for us. For those of you (including my wife) who think Catholic weddings are long, you should try a traditional Hindu wedding. I couldn't follow everything, as my Sanskrit is a bit rusty, but I'd have to say my favorite part of the four hour ceremony was the rite of the Kashi Yatra in which the groom leaves the building (as if on a pilgrimage to become an aesthete) and the prospective father-in-law retrieves him and convinces him to become a family man instead. It's a choice we all have to make at one point in our lives. Congratulations to Kishan and Anita.



(Thanks to Ben for the pictures)

Garden Trip

I organized a trip to the gardens of Susan Wood in Aiken. She has several acres of woodland which are being converted to gardens. We met with her landscape designer and toured the gardens.

English Garden Tea

We held our annual English Garden Tea on April 22nd. It was at Gail's house. A "spiffing" good time was had by all.

The Tragic Cost of Sunday Drivers

Steve wrote a letter to the editor about Georgia's prohibition of alcohol sales on Sundays: The Tragic Cost of Sunday Drivers.

Monday at the Masters

As our regular readers know, we live near Augusta, which is famous for being "the home of the Masters". Life here revolves about the golf tournament. Schools are closed, and many residents leave town so that they can rent their houses to corporate bigshots who come to watch "the tradition unlike any other". The tournament is a huge boost to the local economy, especially for hotels, restaurants and golf courses.

The boss at work generously shared a ticket to the Monday practice round with a few of us employees. I got the afternoon slot from 3 to 6 pm. Lisa was kind enough to drive me so that I didn't have to worry about parking.

It was my first time ever at Augusta National so I was really looking forward to it. The weather had been a bit cold in the morning, but it was nice, even unexpectedly sunny, later in the afternoon. My first impression was: Wow, there are a lot of people here! But after not too long I realized that the event was very well organized. The grounds and golf course were absolutely beautiful. I guess that's what everyone says, but it's true.

The Augusta National people want to put on the best golf tournament in the world. They're not worried about maximizing revenue so you don't see a lot of advertising and corporate sponsorships. Prices are reasonable: a beer is only $2. The face value of the practice round ticket is $36. Of course, you have to win a lottery to get a chance to buy practice round tickets. They might be worth ten times that on the street. The actual tournament has been sold out for many years so there's no way to get a ticket unless you know somebody with connections.

Walk-ins enter from Gate 3-A on Washington Road. Players and members have their own entrance so they don't have to queue with the plebs. I arrived fairly late in the day so I imagine that most of the people had seen enough of the players and were looking for souvenirs. The "Patrons Corridor" near the entrance was packed with people overflowing from the Golf Shop. I made my way slowly through the crowds and headed out to the Amen Corner (holes 11 through 13), which are known as some of the most dramatic in golf. I then wandered around the course just to get a feel for the place. Every once I stopped to watch a few golfers play through.

Tiger Woods had played early so I didn't get to see my personal favorite. As many of you know, Tiger and I both went to Stanford. I wore my Tiger hat (courtesy of Buick). That's pretty much where the similarity ends.

I did get to see a few notables such as Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Mike Weir and Geoff Ogilvy. During the practice rounds, the players often hit an extra ball or two just to try things out. They spend a lot of time around the green getting a feel for breaks. It's amazing watching them attempt some of those long puts that follow a horse-shoe path right to the cup.

The 16th hole "Redbud" is a par three across a pond. During the practice rounds the players entertain the crowds by skipping the ball across the pond and onto the green. I saw Woody Austin take about five skips and end up within fifteen feet of the hole. (Maybe I should practice that instead of hitting them high and into the water.)

Towards the end of the day, I camped out at the 18th green ("Holly") as Ernie Els and Retief Goosen were teeing off. I remember thinking to myself that I was standing right next to the green -- I certainly wouldn't risk that if I were playing. A few minutes later, Goosen hit his approach shot into the crowd about ten feet away from me. Fortunately, there were no injuries. Goosen checked that the guy was OK and told him to keep the ball as a souvenir.

I also walked around the club house and practice range. Some areas were roped off to the crowds, but it was fun to see everything even if I couldn't enjoy a cocktail with the members.

It was a great afternoon. I'm very happy I had a chance to go.

Callaway trip

I just got back from an overnight trip to Callaway Gardens - it is the best time to see the azaleas. I went with Ruth on an organized tour. We stayed at Callaway and visited the gardens, but also went to Hills and Dales Estate (very pretty) and Warm Springs - the location of "the Little White House" which was the country retreat of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

See my photos.

Remembering William F. Buckley Jr.

National Review has a memorial page for William F. Buckley Jr., the founder of the magazine and leader of the Conservative movement. WFB died at his writing desk in his home on Wednesday, February 27. He was one of my personal heroes: a great and good man. Rest in peace.

Christmas Newsletter 2007

We wish all our family and friends a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I'll keep this newsletter short because it's mostly a recap of events that are already covered in our blog.

Our dogs are doing well. Heidi is nine years old. She has arthritis but has responded well to medication. She seems happy and pain-free, although she misses the long walks we used to take as a family. Cleo, at 19 months, is just about full grown: weighing over 100 pounds (actually light for a Great Dane) and standing about 32 inches at the shoulder (or nearly six feet tall on her hind legs). She's tall and slender (like her adoptive mother), and strong as an ox. Mostly, she's a good girl even though there are many temptations when the kitchen counter is below eye-level. Lots of pictures are posted on our web site.

Lisa has enjoyed living in the Augusta area. She runs the web site for the Augusta Newcomers club. She's involved with the garden group, the book group and various lunch groups. She's made lots of friends through these activities, and has been introduced to many of the restaurants and coffee shops in the area. Some of her friends encouraged her to play golf so she took some lessons at our local course. Her golf pro quickly determined that she really was left-handed and needed the appropriate clubs. Many years ago, her father had tried to teach her to play right-handed and it hadn't worked out so well. We've been to the driving range together a few times, and we're looking forward to playing together. Keep an eye on our blog if you're interested in progress reports.

Steve has now been working at Janus Research Group for over a year. He describes his project as "a video game for soldiers, but without the fun stuff". Management might call it a simulation system for collaborative training on Army communications equipment. (If you were the government, which one would you pay more for?) In other news, Steve was happy to see Stanford win a couple of football games, especially the amazing wins over USC and Cal. A few more wins and we would have had a bowl game. As it turned out, we feel confident saying that Stanford was the best 8-loss team in the country. Wait 'til next year. Steve was actually in town for the Oregon game. However, he had a tight schedule so he enjoyed the tailgate party but skipped the game. It was good to see the family and friends after being gone for a couple of years.

This fall, we joined a local dining club. We've enjoyed happy hour at the Pinnacle Club whenever Steve can get away from work on Fridays. The club held their annual President's Ball, a fun black-tie event, in October. Definitely, the event of the season.

Steve's family out in California are all doing well. Our niece, Ashley, is now a teenager, and will be going to high school next autumn. Her brother, Michael, is 11 and doing well at St. Christopher's school. On the other side of the pond, Lisa's father spent some time in hospital, but is recovering and has finally managed to get back on the golf course.

It didn't take long for us to discover that life in Augusta revolves around Masters Week (in early April). We didn't win the lottery for 2008 practice tickets, but we hope to find another way to attend the tournament. Steve is trying to organize a Stanford Alumni cocktail party during Masters Week for next year. He has sent email to Tiger Woods but hasn't heard back yet.

Heidi and Cleo as Elves

Heidi and Cleo showing a little Christmas spirit, courtesy of ElfYourself.com.

trip to North Carolina

We just got back from a spending a few days at our "beach house" in North Carolina. While we were there, we were fortunate enough to attend a couple of Christmas parties with our old friends and neighbors. It was great to see everyone again. We also had time to play a little golf. Steve hadn't played for over a year, since we moved to Augusta for the new job. He managed four pars and four bogies, and took enough mulligans to keep his unofficial score under a hundred. The next afternoon, we got in nine holes. Lisa drove the cart and made a few putts, but her rib injury (thanks, Cleo) kept her from taking a full swing. She should be better soon.

Cleo's Chaise

Cleo used to sleep in her crate. So if we went out for dinner she would be crated, then we would come home and she would have some crazy time and then be crated again. I felt bad for her and decided she was old enough to sleep on her own bed. Since she likes furniture so much, particularly our bed, there was no point in trying to get her to sleep on the floor. She's too big for the average dog bed, a twin size would have been great but would not fit in our bedroom, so I settled on a large chaise longue. Steve was convinced that she would never get off our bed to use it. The first night we let her snooze with us as always and then went through the same routine of putting her to bed, but on the chaise instead of in the crate. She got up and came over to me and cried. She kept that up for an hour, with me putting her back in bed and her getting up again. Then she slept on the chaise for a few hours. Then cried... She kept this up for three nights, and on the fourth, miraculously, she slept on the chaise. Success. Until the weather turned cold. Then she would come and cry to get in bed with me again. Eventually she would sleep in a tight ball on the floor at my side. I figured the chaise was too cold so I got her a sheepskin and velvet blanket. It worked.

Steve is still amazed that he was wrong. Of course Cleo and I knew it would work because we understand each other. More photos.

Stanford Beats Cal

On Saturday night, Stanford beat Cal, 20-13, at Stanford Stadium. The Stanford Axe is back home where it belongs.

By the way, as Tradition demands, the score on the Axe trophy for the 1982 Big Game will be corrected to 20-19 in favor of Stanford. Twenty-five years ago, I was there at Cal's Memorial Stadium as the The Play, which will forever live in infamy, stunned Stanford. Just to set the record straight: his knee was down and that was a forward lateral.

Cleo and Heidi in 2007

I have set up web pages for the dogs' photos this year:

Heidi and Cleo

Cleo's love of furniture

Cleo sleeping

Cleo and Sparky