Trifecta Plus

In honor of yesterday's full moon, we had burst of energy and were able to engage in three of our hobbies in a single day--actually four.  So it was a Trifecta Plus sort of day.

First, LBR Terry M. and I went to the Pinecreast golf course and spent two hours having fun.  We whacked a couple of hundred balls on the secluded chipping range.  Then we spent quite a lot of time on the putting green, concluding with a one ball putting match through six holes.  We ended tied up even-steven.  We both agreed it was a lot of fun and look forward to the next edition sometime soon.  Best of all, our activities were totally free and closer to our homes than the Sand Creek kiddie course.  THANKS, TERRY!

After some time passed, we kept looking out our window and seeing decent weather with no wind.  Somehow we thought it was going to rain yesterday.  Nope, the weather kept holding and the wind didn't come up.  Go figure.  So we called Houn Dawg and proposed a pistol target shooting session in the late afternoon.  Much to our surprise, he agreed.  I picked him up at his Westside home and we went out into the boonies near the edge of the Hell's Half Acre lava flow to the remnants of what was once a National Guard shooting range.  We set up HD's folding table and our newly minted targets.  In total, we sported four pistols and two .22 caliber rifles.  One of the rifles was a 1915 single shot--a real relic.  We spent over two hours shooting at the targets and evaluating our accuracy.  It's clear we have a lot of work to do to become as accurate as we both wish we were.  It was a lot of fun and I didn't return home until almost 7 pm.  THANKS, HOUN' DAWG!

On the way back home from HD's Place, we were driving east on 13th Street when we passed a tiny child running a lemonade stand on the sidewalk.  The little boy looked so downcast as I drove by.  Frankly, I can't imagine anyone stopping to buy lemonade at nearly 7 pm.  I knew I had an errant dollar bill in my pocket so I detoured a few blocks to loop back and become a customer of the boy's stand.  He was assisted by his tiny sister.  I sure brightened the day for those kids.  The boy went from looking downcast to looking perplexed.  It was clear I was his first customer and he wasn't really sure of the various steps to assembling a foam cup of filled with lemonade.  Eventually, with some pointed fingers and admonitions from his little sister, he figured it all out and got it together.  They were delighted with I gave them a full dollar for a cup of stuff I had no intention of drinking.

When we arrived home, Susun was entertaining Karen L. in the courtyard prior to their watching DTWS.  They both got quite a laugh of of the story about the lemonade stand.  (You should have heard them hooting and hollering when the dancing show started.  Man, those ladies sure know how to have fun watching TV!)

Then it was off to Tuesday chess at Barnes and Noble.  As usual, my anatomy was used to wipe the floor by the other players.  I did manage to win one game.  It helps to win one game each week--it proves I can still play, even if only feebly.

After leaving B&N we sat in the driveway until the Eagle Rock Amateur Radio Club weekly net came on the air at 9 pm. We dutifully checked in when our turn came. The local net is nothing compared to the robust net held each morning at 7 am (Arizona Time) by the Verde Valley Amateur Radio Association.  I look forward to participating in that each morning.  Yesterday, I told them that the Snake was running 27,000 through the city and that touched off a lot of comments about river flows during the 90 minute net.  This morning, I made up a blog post with links to various USGS statewide flow monitoring networks and talked about that on on the net.  The people down there are very hospitable and seem to enjoy my comments each morning.  That's cool.

Well, lots to do again today--we don't have the liberty today of enjoying the "day after" affect of the full moon.  Have a great day & Many Cheers, jp