Native American Summer

Every year the Chicago Tribune used to publish a cartoon around this time of year entitled, "Injun' Summer" that showed an atumnal moment with burning leaves under a full moon. I always loved that cartoon despite its politically incorrect title and characterizations. Its just that the cartoon made me feel, taste and smell Fall. I have always enjoyed this time of year. Crisp fall air. Cool nights with still warm days. Pumpkins, leaves and, of course, discs. Courses look gorgeous this time of year in the upper midwest.

This week my wife and I escaped for a few hours in the middle of the week. It was great to play hooky. I played 12 holes at Fairfield ( where IOS #6 will be held next week) and we then went to a local forest preserve to walk the path and shoot some pictures. This coming Saturday I will lead a bike ride for my bike club to another local forest preserve where we will see some fall color. On Sunday I will play the Homie Memorial. I can't wait to see what the Red Roc club has done with Lemon Lake since I was last there. They now have three courses in a beautiful park in Cedar Lake, IN. A fourth is planned. After a moment of loudness in Homie's memory we will all go out to our holes. They will serve lunch so all the players stay at the park together. That tournament is always a lot of fun. It should be warm this weekend and who knows how many more warm tournaments there will be until next year. Maybe IOS #6 the following week but not much more.

The shorter days have cut into playing time. I used to get time to play after work. That is impossible now. I can get some putting in if I get right to it. A number of players in DISContinuum have been following the Putting with Confidence program and posting about it on the website. They will have a putting contest at IOS#6. Many have reported putting in the dark lately. I have been doing the same and suspect that is the case for lots of players these days. Pretty soon it will be dark when I leave for work and dark when I get home. I will have to putt under the floodlights in the yard.

I will enjoy this slim period of time when the trees put on a show and its still warm enough to play in shorts. In a few weeks the beautiful hues will have fallen to the ground and it will be colder on the course. Of course the wooded holes will be a little eaiser then.

[David Barish]

Well Shel, thanks for the comment. The poetry that I had hoped to enjoy on Sunday was replaced by the expetives I was muttering when my vehicle malfunctioned on the way to Lemon Lake. Fortunately, I was not that far from home when I had to call for a tow. The day was stunningly gorgeous and I was not playing disc golf. Alas, no pictures. I did ride 50 miles the day before on delightful roads so the weekend was not lost. I will have my bag, and my camera, with me at a tournament this weekend barring automotive escapades. Keep them in the fairway.

[Shel]

You make this season sound so nice, it's cool the way you describe it. You should write a book, and if you post some of the pictures you took that would be real cool too. It's nice to see that other people appreciate the seasons and nature too. Actually I believe many disc golfers enjoy nature too, sometimes they just have to be reminded to look around and see the beauty. We have Red Buds, and several other pretty things, that I can't think of the names of at the moment, but I always point them out to my fellow golfers, sometimes we just don't notice until it's pointed out. I love the quietness of the winter too, I can sit in a course at times and just appreciate the leaves blowing, the birds, the sky, and most of all the sunsets. There's nothing like it. There's a bit of nature in all disc golfers, especially us that play year round regardless of the conditions, you know, the "die-hards", that's when lots of memories are made. Thanks for sharing your story and making me realize the great appreciation of nature and seasons, that go hand in hand with disc golf...