Deep and Wide: Book Reviews

Keep Your Head Down “Darn, I looked up,” I said with a heavy sigh. “Keep your head down. I’ll watch the ball for you,” my husband said for the millionth time. It's a frequent conversation we have on the golf course. And, if you golf, you've heard those words a million times too. 
If you look up too early and turn your head toward the target, your clubface opens through impact. The result: you’re still standing too close to the ball after you hit it.  It’s one of the two hardest things new golfers fight to overcome. It Doesn't Need Our Help The other is 'helping the ball along'. The physics of golf require you hit down  on the ball to make it go up.   Yep.  It's counterintuitive to most of us, so we try to help  the ball along and swing upwards.  That's called topping the ball and the outcome is disappointing. We have to learn to trust the club to do what it’s suppose to do by keeping our...

Mei Mei Holmberg 1997-2015 RIP Have you ever done something you can’t reverse or repair, and find yourself unable to forget or forgive yourself? May 6 th , 2015 I did something that made me feel that way. It was a beautiful day. I played Glassy Mountain golf course with my husband and a friend. It is a fantastic course, but tough and long. By the end ... I was really tired. Then we stopped in for BBQ at a delicious little dive. Now I was really full and really tired. Arriving home, I did what I always did first … I let the dogs out. Only I didn’t let them both in. Mei Mei was a week from turning eighteen years old. She couldn’t see much anymore, her hearing was gone, but she still had a bit of puppy spunk in her. Her appetite was great and her tail wagged constantly. Mei Ling, her daughter, was about to turn fourteen, very spry and always right on my heels. After the puppies did their thing, I walked back into the house through the garage...

My New Year’s Resolution It says it all. Narrows it down for us. A great new word taught by a four-year-old fighting leukemia. It’s my resolution for the New Year.  His grandfather called him and said, “Camden, I’m coming to visit you tomorrow.” “No,” Camden replied. “Should I come today?” Grandfather said. “No,” Camden replied again. “Then when?” the amused Grandfather asked. “ T’now !” Camden said firmly. This child is fighting for his life. He innately understands the urgency of being present … living in the t’now . It’s all he’s got. It’s really all any of us have. If you are a prayer warrior, please stop right now and lift up Camden. Request total healing. Invite comfort and peace for his family. If you have a prayer-chain, add him and his family to it. Let me know if you do. Being Present I’ve finally gotten “serious” about golf. I even told my husband I was checking into golf school and not coming home until I could p...