Sunday

Hot one in River City today.  Good day for inside activities.  Looks like it will be in the 90's all week around here.

The early ride to DeWitt today felt good to get in the books, but that headwind on the way home made for some serious work.  In my math, the equation of good from a tailwind is never balanced-out with the off-set of the headwind.  This was by far not the worst head wind, but when you're out there by your lonesome, with no one to make a draft, the grind against the wind gets old.  BTW, the Sunrise Cafe cook (can't call him a chef!) did yeoman's work on my breakfast.  Yes, that's four eggs!  $6, including toast and coffee.  Suite.

My experiment with shutting the TV off during the week has been a solid success.  I don't feel like I've been missing anything.  It has reached the point that last night, a Saturday night not covered by the original commitment, I couldn't even muster enough interest to keep watching the NASCAR race.  At this point, my evenings are going to stay tube-free.  What would happen if America did that?

The part of the experiment involving vino has been less successful.  But I have made some conscious choices to forego the gratuitous glass of wine mid-week when I might be home alone.  A little less vino is not such a bad thing.  (Of course, these Dog Days of Summer are not exactly prime times for red wine at slightly below room-temperature.  Pouring a nice Cab over a glass of ice just isn't right!)

I noticed from one of my country roads this morning a crude golf green in a farm field.  It may not have been as much of a "green" as just a target pin placement for a golf enthusiast.  On our standard weekday morning ride, there's a true "green" in a yard area that is shared by 2-3 homes in a new neighborhood by Davenport Country Club.  That green has been around a while and is starting to go back to "seed" from lack of proper maintenance.  For the non-rich, a golf green may be a stretch to keep up to speed.

The course in Wellman, Iowa (located South of Iowa City) had sand greens.  (I haven't been through there in years, so I can't confirm whether they have kept the sand or converted to grass.)  Sand greens were used as an alternative to real greens and the associated up-keep.  You would hit to the "green" with your approach shot, make a mark at the appropriate distance, and then use the roller to make a line to the cup.  Then you would putt on the smoothed path to the cup.  I guess it's still golf.

OK.  Football is officially upon us.  I see there's a Thursday night college game on one of the sports channels, and all of the local high schools have games this week.  I have trouble getting excited about football in August.  In 90 degree heat.  And I have a ticket for the Iowa-Northern Illinois game on Saturday with my pal Dr. Doug.  At least his seats at Kinnick are in the shade of the press box.  We'll just be hot.  More on this adventure later in the week.

All for today.  Hope everyone has a great week.

BCOT