Today, I attended the second round of the 2012 PGA Honda Classic in West Palm Beach, FL.  It was a marvelous outting with Steve, my youngest brother.  

Full disclosure, I don't play golf, but I used to subject myself to the endless humiliation that comes to those who play the game.  I picked up golf when I was in sixth grade.  My dad bought me a junior set of clubs, a red bag, and pair of Footjoy golf shoes.  I was set.

I never really kept score when I played golf.  I enjoyed being outside and I enjoyed playing the game with my friends.  Later on, during the summer between my seventh and eighth grade years, I attempted to take my game to the next level by trying out for the Davis Middle School Golf Team.  There were 18 spots on the team; 38 boys showed up for the first of three days of tryouts.  I was essentially out of the running after the first day; I shot a 112 on the first round.  But, my dad encouraged me to see the tryouts through.  On the final day of tryouts 19 guys showed up.  Guess who finished dead last; this guy did.

I didn't give up on golf right away.  I still kept a bag of sticks around for those Saturday morning slayings at the public municiples.  I met a guy named Jim in the nineth grade who loved to play golf.  We woudl sneak on to the private coruse behind his house every once in a while to decide who had the longest drive or the sharpest approach game.  But, after several years of seeing little to no improvement in my game, I asked my wife to sell my golf clubs in a garage sale.  She let them go for $40.00, and that was that.  I was done with the game.  I quit cold turkey.

Today, in the damp heat of a South Florida morning, I revisited the game one last time with a trip to West Palm Beach--this time as a spectator to watch the some of the world's best players work through an unforgiving course.  Like everyone else at the Honda Classic, Steve and I decided to follow Tiger Woods through his second round of play.  Say what you will about the guy, he is still a major attraction at these tour events.  Throngs of people followed "the man who changed the golf forever", watching as he shot a -2 for the day.  

On three seperate occassions, Steve and I walked ahead of Tiger's group in order to find a close spot to watch him take another shot on the course.  On these occassions we were merely three or five feet away from the icon of the sport.  From my observation, as I watched Tiger pass by the 17th tee box, I noticed that he seemed almost distracted, as if he would rather be somewhere else.  Don't get me wrong, Tiger remains an excellent player.  He put on a putting clinic in the back nine of today's round.  However, there is a certain amount of confidence that is missing from his game.  And, that reminds me why I finally let those clubs go in a garage sale--when you're winning, golf is a great game; when you're losing, it is endlessly frustrating.  

My family is small.  However, what we lack in size, we make up for in laughter.  

As I write this, my first post in the Slice of Life writing challenge, I am sitting on the patio at my father's house in Lake Worth, Florida.  The sun is bright.  A delicate breeze swishes through the palm trees. And, I frimly believe that I have found Heaven on Earth.

My dad has lived in Florida for thirteen or fourteen years, which is a personal best in residential longevity for him.  Before relocating to Florida, my dad held residences in Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio, and Kansas.  While I have enjoyed visiting him throughout the years in all of these places, Florida has to be my favorite destination to meet and reconnect with family--especially in March.

We, my wife, Rebekah, my son, Wyatt, and I arrived late last night.  After a good bit of rest, we have spent the day settling in to our new surroundings.  Wyatt, a one-year-old explorer and surveyor, has spent the better part of today inspecting the layout of the house.  Watching him play here, in this house, a place that I truly enjoy myself, has been refreshing and honestly renewing.  His energy echos off the tiled floors that cover the entire house.  And, his laughter fills every square inch.  It is truly exciting to see everyone smile as he runs and toddles throughout the this house, my heaven on earth.