A Day of Firsts

There is something about doing something for the first time. I'm not talking about the first time that you get busted by the cops, or the first time that you got sick from a half-liter of vodka; or the first time that you, well, you get where I'm coming from. Saturday was a day of firsts. The first, and certainly the lessor, was when I finally nailed a lob wedge. I was the 18th hole at Les Bolstad (the University of Minnesota's course) and I sat about 75 yards away from the pin but directly in front of a large (say 45 feet) pine. I've questioned before why I even have this club in my bag. After a couple rounds you can tell which clubs get the most use from the mud and scuff on the iron. The pitching wedge and the 9-iron, unfortunately, get over-extensive use by me over the course of 18 holes. So, to be able to nail that sombitch and finish it out with a one-putt made a truly marginal round rather memorable.

A couple hours later I had a more momentous occasion to witness. My 6-y-o Ella has been working on riding her bike without training wheels. Yesterday she nailed it. I had been running behind her and holding the seat since last year and except for a couple moments, she hadn't been able to commandeer the vehicle on her own. After two or three running "practices" I let go of her bike. She didn't know that she was unaided until she saw me running beside her. That sight froze her momentarily, but she gained her balance and went flying along.

As a side note, for those of us who were born in the sixties or the early seventies, protective gear for activities was quite different than it is today. There were no helmets, knee or elbow pads. If you were smart you wore long pants and maybe a baseball cap to keep the gravel out of your bleeding skull. My parents had a rock the size of Gibralter next to their front yard and when I started learning to ride my first bike, that rock seemed like a magnet to my bike. There's nothing like a good shot to the groin that will give a young boy the encouragement to learn the art of balance and steering on a bike. I thought of that as I strapped on my daughter's elbow and knee pads and her titanium helmet. I didn't put the mouth guard on her as my wife was gone for the day and couldn't monitor.

I hope your own day of firsts don't include blood or compound fractures and Happy Father's Day to everyone who qualifies.