Anyone who has been reading this blog recently knows that I have taken up disc golf. The other day while perusing one of the online retailers, I came across this disc pictured to the left. I cannot describe it any better than the manufacture, so here is a lift from their page….

“Innova has just made the next advancement in disc golf material.  RW-Pro - Rubber Wood!  Rubber Wood is R-Pro plastic (which is a special compound of plastic that features the durability of Pro-Line along with an enhanced rubber grip and feel) with an environmentally friendly WOOD composite that makes the disc firmer and offers a textured grip like the old school Special Edition Rhyno and early Omega Super Soft. By far one of the most eco-friendly discs in disc golf, the RW-Pro has the look and smell of wood. Be the first to purchase this very collectible disc that will help support the 2009 US Masters.  This new blend of material shows how Innova Champion Discs continues to lead the disc golf industry with new technology and material.”

I will say that the disc smells of sawdust and is a little grip-pier than the rest of my discs.  We will see how it flies in the next day or so.

or another title might be “A disc golfing weekend gone bad!”

Before I get into the blow by blow of the weekend, let me just say…… I am one tired and sore old man!  (Whew, I am glad I got that off my chest!)

Friday

Let me start the story by saying I would not normally give up a weekend with my wonderful bride to do something like this. However, as she was going to be in Blairsville for the weekend attending a women’s retreat, I decided to take the chance. So, without further adieu;

After working a full day, I hopped in the truck for the 2 hour drive into the North Georgia mountains to the sleepy little town of Toccoa Georiga (home of the Toccoa Falls College). The plan is to arrive with enough daylight left to meet up with my friend Gerrit and play a round prior to the tournament the next day. Fortunately, I get into town early enough to check into my hotel and head to the course. As Gerrit had played the course before, we spent a good time walking around and chatting while tossing a few discs. The only thing I can add at this point is that it was HOT HOT HOT! Not quite the weather I was expecting in April in the mountains.

After we finished our round, we swung by and picked up Gerrit’s family for a meal at the local Pizza Hut. It was a great way to end the evening.

Saturday

Today is an early start, and it started poorly. When I went out to the truck to open the tailgate the lock was frozen shut. Not from ice, but because the evening before I apparently pulled the key out of the lock too early and I could not get the key back in today. After futzing with it for about 10 minutes, I was finally able to get it back open to be able to get to my discs and to load my meager belonging.

The other thing that happened is that during the round yesterday I realized that the two shirts I had brought were going to be stifling (can you say Dark Blue and Dark Grey on a 90 degree sunny day??) So a quick run to Wal-Mart yielded two new shirts that were the dry-wick technology and were very light colors (white and light blue).

Heading out to the course for a 8:30 am registration and to pick up my disc and then a chance to sit in the parking lot and listen to bagpipes until the players meeting at 9:30. During this meeting the tournament director covered all of the rules for the day including this little gem “Alcohol is illegal in public parks in Georgia and it is against the PDGA rules. Consider this your only warning. If I see it, you’re gone!”. I had never even considered doing this so it was a bit of an eye opener.

The start will be shotgun style so all 95 players head to their respective tee’s. I have the fortune of starting on tee # 23 which is about as far as you can get from the players meeting as is possible. So after a 10 minute trudge to get out there and a few warm up tosses, we are off at the sound of an air horn.

3.5 hours later, at the end of 24 holes, one tired Mike heads back to the gathering area to turn in the score card (I shot an 84, 12 over for the first round) and grab a quick bite of lunch. I had purchased a turkey sandwich and diet coke from vendor that morning and it was waiting for me when I arrived. (yum!)

At 2:20 the second round started and I got to start from hole 23 yet again. After another 3 hours or so, it is back the gathering to turn in the scorecard again (an 86, 14 over this time) and to the awards ceremony.

Even with the heat and bright sun. Even with losing a disc, I met some great folks and had a great time!! I can also say that I will not be playing in many of these because they are very draining, but I expect to do a couple a year.

Sunday

This is the day everyone dreads after doing something stupid. The ‘MORNING” after. I wake up about 4:30 this morning and attempt to climb out of bed. My legs have rebelled, my back is trying hard to stay in bed, my shoulders are refusing to even attempt to push me vertical….. But at the end of the argument my bladder rules the day. As it is only a short walk from the commode to the shower I decide that sleep is for wimps and take a LOOOONG steaming shower to loosen the muscles. It helps, thankfully. Getting dressed for the day proves no problem but then…… it occurs to me…… I have to go DOWNSTAIRS…..  my legs protest again, my knees have declared a general strike and my back decides it wants to go back to bed. Fortunately, the dogs bladders win this time so I gingerly walk down the stairs..

I could go on and on about this, but the rest of the day went very smooth. It also included another 18 holes at our local disc golf course to break up the sore muscles and dinner with friends. All in all, it was a very, very good weekend.

Wow, what a weekend. I have to go back to work today to recover!

Friday 

A week or so ago I received an interesting phone call from a former coworker, Margaret, letting me know that she was coming into town to watch her sister and brother-in-law act in a community theater play. Margaret wanted to know if Ruth and I would be interested in attending with her. Being the gallant sort of man I am, I immediately asked Ruth is she wanted to go. Ruth enthusiastically agreed that this would be a great date night together.

Come Friday night we headed out to the car to drive over to Marietta. For those of you who are not familiar with the Atlanta area, the drive from Snellville to Marietta is around 60 miles. Add into this the fact that it was rush hour and you have a long drive on your hands. With the play starting at 8pm, we intrepid adventurers start our trek at 5pm! 2 hours of bumper to bumper traffic got us to North Marietta in time to find a quick dinner at a great little Italian place.

Meeting up with Margaret led to a bunch of smiles as I was wearing a kilt (pictured left). The audience was not sure whether to look at me or the actors on the stage (the actors won!) The play was great and Margaret’s BIL did a great job as the lead in the play. Ruth and I were very entertained. (Although the star of the show was the florist!)

After the play ended, we headed out to a quick desert and coffee at a local diner. The amazing thing about the diner was that at close to midnight there was a waiting line to get in! The kilt was a hit here to as most folks did not know what to make of the big guy with the big smile wearing it. All in all it was a great, albeit long, evening. We finally got to bed about 2:30 am for a short nights sleep.

Saturday

Today started bright and early at 7am. Ruth and I have a tradition of going to breakfast together prior to her heading to church and today was no different. After breakfast I headed back to the house to prepare for the days events. For several weeks I have been attempting to run a disc golf tournament for my church. Unfortunately every weekend we had scheduled brought lots of rain and thunderstorms. Today was our next scheduled attempt to run this and we had an absolutely gorgeous day to play it. 10 men of various skill levels showed up at 9:45 in the morning to hear the rules and to play a round. Congratulations to Gerrit and John for winning the first annual GCC Missions Disc Golf Event! A lot of fun was had by all and $100 was raised to support world missions.

After the tourney and lunch ended, I came home and grabbed my wife and the two of us went back out to fling a few discs. Ruth had a great game and I had a very poor round. I guess getting a couple of hours of sleep and then already having played a round stiffened me up a little (It has absolutely nothing with the fact that I am not 20 any longer!)

Sunday

You would think that after the last two days that Sunday would be a day of rest. You would be both right and wrong. Sunday is indeed a day of rest where we get to go to a church service with a lot of friends. Today was also special and the pastor of the church we are looking to merge with is speaking.

Today also marked another first in my kilting life as I wore a kilt (shown left) to church for the first time. This was to fulfill a promise made to the young lady pictured with me at the left. You she she is the artisan that hand knitted those wonderful socks you see there. I had promised her that when they were complete that I would wear the kilt to church so she could get pictures of the complete outfit.

A lot of good natured ribbing ensued from the congregation, but I think that Deb was the most pleased of all. All I can say to her is these are fabulous and will get many years of wear (and when do you want to knit a second pair??)

After doing all of this, what does one do on a Sunday afternoon you might ask. It is a simple answer containing three small letters……

Happy tax day to all citizens of the United States of America!

This is the day of the year that millions of Americans have no idea of what it is that they paid the federal government. Think I’m crazy?  Ask someone today what they paid in 2008 income taxes. You’re likely to hear “I didn’t pay anything. I am getting some back!”

Oh the ignorance. You’re government thanks you.

When does one have too many kilts?  I find these things much more comfortable than blue jeans, although maybe not always as functional. (I would not want to crawl under a car to change the oil in a kilt!)

With that being said, here is my latest addition from Stillwater kilts. It is in the Black Stewart tartan. This tartan has a special place in my heart as it was the very first tartan I had a kilt in. That kilt has since been donated to my nephew and he is wearing it in good health. So when Stillwater offered the kilt again in wool, I jumped all over it…

I expect that this kilt will be worn quite a bit!

Picture pioneers pushing farther and farther into the Badlands of the American West with native Indians serving as scouts. As they kept the monotonous trek, they began to hear the rhythmic sound of beating drums in the direction they were headed. A few of the scouts traded nervous glances, however the lead scout convinced the explorers nothing was amiss. The following day the sound of drums became more emphatic, but the lead scout assured the nervous white men. On the third day, much to everyone's terror, the pounding drums became almost deafening. On some sort of unknown cue, the drums simultaneously ceased. The terrified scouts flung down their packs and fled into the wilderness. When the captain queried the lead scout he was told, "Never have fear as long as drums make sound. When drums stop, very bad sign: next come bagpipe solo". 

Luke 23:44-46

44

NIV

On a lonely hill side more than 2000 years ago, the darkest day in history revealed itself. The Lord of the universe was put to death by those who could not understand. I do not condemn those who did this because if He lived today, we would also be condemning him to death ourselves. His message was too radical for the time then and it is still radical today. Through his death, we all had a chance at life.

As we enter this Easter season, let us remember it is not about the Fuzzy Rabbit, the eggs or the new hats. It is about the redemptive power of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him all things are made complete.

The past couple of weeks have been a real struggle in the McKennon household. The sudden and unexpected death of a friend, the long hours at the office and my internal struggle as our church considers a merger have all at various points gotten me down. In and of themselves, these things could of been easily handled but taken together have caused hunched shoulders and sleepless nights.

During this same time, a massive cold front came through Georgia that brought rains and colder temperatures. The splashes of color in our front yard brought by the tulips we had planted were even affected by this. The tulips has all dropped over and closed up only revealing a small spot of their splendor. It was if they were mourning the passing of spring and drawing into themselves. However, when the sun returned, the plants perked up and the flowers heads exploded open again revealing their true nature and beauty.

I think that life is a lot like this. When the storms and cold come we draw within ourselves hiding the beauty within. Hiding the fire and the passion that we have from all observation and it appears that all hope is lost. Then with the returning of the sun all things look brighter and we are ready to face the day. 

Psalm 19:1 speaks of this with the story of God’s creation revealing His glory to all that will look. I hope that as I continue through life’s journeys that I continue to see the hope and the blessing in all things and that when the skies are their darkest and all hope appears lost that I look into the things around me and see Gods steady hand at work that the hope that is within me springs forth to share with those around me.

A couple of years ago when I first got into wearing the ancient garment called the kilt, I could not believe how expensive they were. The kilt alone can cost upwards of $1500 depending on the tartan and he maker.  I am much to “Scottish” to pay those kind of prices so I looked for alternatives. Many of the kilts that you see in these pages are much, much less expensive than that.

Another item that goes with the kilt is the hose. Cheap kilt hose can run $25 for three pair or up to $200 for the pairs that Scottish dancers wear with their kilts. Again, being a bit of a cheapskate, I looked for an alternative to these costs. One of the ladies at my church does knitting, so I asked her to knit me a pair of hose. After much discussion and shared patters, the pair to the left came into being. Deb Brown did an excellent job on these and I expect to wear them for years and years to come. I think the set off this casual outfit quite well, don’t you?

My new MacKinnon red kilt came in yesterday and I got a chance to wear it out today. Man, what a great kilt. I was a little dubious about this particular tartan, but Matt Newsome made another masterpiece here and I think this is going to be a great summertime kilt.