Smoky California

 

 

Back at it on a Sunday night. I'm a little tired from golf today, but it is a good thing as the numbers added up for me.

 

The pictures. Willie from last Sunday night. He is really starting to slow down and has been sick of late. He only played about an hour and 10 minutes and waived goodnight and was gone. No encore or anything. The second picture is Darla and I at the concert. The next three are from our dinner out Friday night with Vance and Terralee, friends from church. They had called and asked us to join them for dinner. It turns out they were not only out celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, but it was actually their 50th on Friday. We met them through a bible study and have remained friends for about 10 years. They are in the process of selling their house and moving back to Oregon where their kids and grand kids live. We were honored to have been chosen to join them on Friday night. The final picture gives you a view of what we have been dealing with for weeks now. The wildfires in California have trapped the smoke and it is being pushed back and forth by the air currents. Some days we have sun and clear nights and others ash and a blotted out sun.

 

Darla and I went to her jewelry gig last night at the winery in Lodi and the winds came up in the afternoon and blew all of the smoke to the north. It was a beautiful night with a light breeze and the temperatures dropped into the mid seventies by 9:00 PM. On the drive home north on Interstate 5 you could see a defined line of smoke across the northern valley. I know that our discomfort with the fires which are ash and respiratory issues are small compared to the impact of lost homes and livelihoods for people in the line of the fires. The Carr fire which spreads from Shasta County all the way to Mendocino county is now the 3rd largest fire ever in California. It has been burning for 2 weeks and is only 17% contained. There are four other major fires burning in the state and the fire in the central valley actually closed Yosemite for a week which is unprecedented.

 

It was smoky today and we did have a bit of a breeze, but it was hot and I was suffering in the smoke. My game was very good and I shot 40+42=82 to beat my opponent 3 and 2 in the match play event. I took a three up lead with three to play and then pulled my drive left into a canal that is red staked, so a hazard. I had to take a drop and then play my third to about 160 yards on the par five. I was able to get the ball on the green in four and then sank a 30 foot putt for par to tie him on the hole and win the match three up with 2 holes to play. Fun stuff.  I play David, who beat his opponent 2 and 1 today and shot an 81, on Saturday and if I win, play the winner of another match that will play in our foursome for the championship in our flight. I had two birdies in today's match.

 

My game is coming around and I played well on Thursday night in league. We played Charlie's team. Charlie has been in Colorado on a family emergency and his partner sent me a note and told me that he had a 2 handicap subbing for him. As it turned out, my partner Ron was on a business trip to LA and I needed a sub. I talked to Rico who I play with a lot and he agreed to sub Thursday night. Rico is a 4. It was fun watching those guys go at it that night. David (Charlie's sub) had a stretch of three straight birdies and put us behind and then Rico hit the par 5 6th in two and made the putt for eagle and then had two birdies down the stretch to shoot 34. David shot 36 and I shot 40. Joe, Charlie's partner, shot 44 and watched us beat them. It was fun to watch two really good golfers at their best that night, Rico really enjoyed himself and wants to play in the league next year.

 

Darla has been on a buying binge and creative binge lately. She has painted the kitchen hutch purple and now is painting the kitchen dinette area with bay windows a turquoise green color. When her creative streak comes out I just stay out of the way. Her colors are wild, but generally look pretty good when all is said and done. We have the new sliders being installed later this month and she is planning on putting in new window treatments on the windows in the bedroom and in the living room and kitchen dining area.

 

I edited the picture to take out the pile of stuff sitting on the table as the job is still being worked on. She also bought some rattan sofas for the outside area. It looks nice.

 

 

I redid the sealant on the stamped concrete this weekend and it looks shiny and fresh.

 

 

Work continues to shine. Our numbers look really solid after the first three days and new business needs to stay strong. It's hard to grow right now in personal lines because of the fires. We cannot bind coverage on an new home if it is within 30 miles of an active fire. There are so many fires that it is having an effect on our business. I suppose business that might otherwise be moved is renewing with us, because insurance law does not allow you to get off an account that is currently within 20 miles of an active fire, so we are keeping those accounts.

 

As I mentioned earlier, I don't think we will be attending any more Willie Nelson concerts. His voice was particularly weak during the concert and he had been sick and the fires were really bad up in the Reno area. The city was socked in with smoke while we were there. Alison Krause was excellent and we really enjoyed her set. She came out to sing "Will the Circle be Unbroken", which is a great Old Opry favorite by the Carter family, with Willie. It was a lot like going to church there for a bit. Very enjoyable.

 

I will wrap this up for the week and I will be back next Sunday to let you know how I fare in the Club Championship event. Be well. Ciao.