The Ryder Cup
This is true golf to me. You are part of a team. Each hole is important. the object is to win, not score the lowest. that creates a subtle but powerful difference in attitudes. It is a game of character, mano a mano, and look who couldn't take the pressure. This is much more than just playing for yourself. There are no excuses, no blaming it on anything. The inevitable never happens, and the impossible becomes the reality. Heart becomes important. Do you have the reason that drives you to do better, to not give up.
The crowd was loudly for the USA team, shouting U S A whenever they could. But as loud as they got on Friday and Saturday, they were silent and lacking the energy on Sunday. The Americans misunderstood or forgot the dynamics of match play, and couldn't live up to their own hype. I believe it to be the greatest sporting match in the world today. If you collapse as the Americans did on Sunday, was it because of hubris? What do you think? Let me know
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Back from the fireworks
Actually, they weren't bad, not as extravagant as previous years, especially the finale, but a lot more creative and new and splendid types of explosions. We got there at 830, way too early, but at least got a spot on the verge, across the freeway from where they let them off. So we walked over to Mexican place and bought a couple of fresh chicken fajitas and ate them back on the grass. Aah holidays and food, they go together so well.
The Beginning
It wasn't long before the sun baked the peppers. 105 degrees out today. That is a good water temperature to put yeast in when making bread. But if you turn the hose on to water the peppers, make sure not to splash yourself to cool down. It will burn like spitting oil from the frying pan.
You can't water during the day. Splash the leaves and they burn like bugs under a magnifying glass. So water in the evening, when the sun is settling behind the oak trees. After dinner. That time when good food digesting makes you want to sit and do nothing. Gardening, like walking dogs, has to be done. You can't just leave either one to their own devices. They both need our help and love. It makes a perfect end to the day, transitioning between the physical and the spiritual.
Baking bread is one of those immensely satisfying and rewarding activities. Proust rated it up there with penning great prose. There is also both an art and science to doing it well. Get the science wrong and you are throwing away a loaf with a rock hard crust and a doughy yeasty center. Get the art wrong, and at best it leaves you thinking that paying $4 at Whole Foods is worth every penny.
Done right, and the taste and pleasure and satisfaction of eating a buttered slice of home made bread spread with real fruit organic jam and a lump of good cheddar, is as good as it gets.
Today is July 4th and it is one of those days when eating good satisfying food is an all day affair. Dozing watching the golf. This is living the dog's life. Not bad at all. Later on we will go down to Georgetown, park somewhere near the freeway, take the folding chairs out of the trunk, and set up on a grassy verge to watch the fireworks. Then feeling that another year has gone by, like on all annual occasions, and slightly let down because they didn't seem as extravagant and dramatic as last year, trundle home for more food. Holidays and food, linked together in a soporific loaf of comfort.
You can't water during the day. Splash the leaves and they burn like bugs under a magnifying glass. So water in the evening, when the sun is settling behind the oak trees. After dinner. That time when good food digesting makes you want to sit and do nothing. Gardening, like walking dogs, has to be done. You can't just leave either one to their own devices. They both need our help and love. It makes a perfect end to the day, transitioning between the physical and the spiritual.
Baking bread is one of those immensely satisfying and rewarding activities. Proust rated it up there with penning great prose. There is also both an art and science to doing it well. Get the science wrong and you are throwing away a loaf with a rock hard crust and a doughy yeasty center. Get the art wrong, and at best it leaves you thinking that paying $4 at Whole Foods is worth every penny.
Done right, and the taste and pleasure and satisfaction of eating a buttered slice of home made bread spread with real fruit organic jam and a lump of good cheddar, is as good as it gets.
Today is July 4th and it is one of those days when eating good satisfying food is an all day affair. Dozing watching the golf. This is living the dog's life. Not bad at all. Later on we will go down to Georgetown, park somewhere near the freeway, take the folding chairs out of the trunk, and set up on a grassy verge to watch the fireworks. Then feeling that another year has gone by, like on all annual occasions, and slightly let down because they didn't seem as extravagant and dramatic as last year, trundle home for more food. Holidays and food, linked together in a soporific loaf of comfort.
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