A few weeks before Easter, granddaughters Alexandra and Leah-Bo added a new pet to their repertoire, a young mixed-Terrier pup of some sort, who joined a hamster and several fish in the household. The way it was explained to me, the new dog's first visit to the fenced-in back yard resulted in him surprising a young rabbit, which he proceeded to rip to shreds.
This overt violence was a big shock to Alexandra, but the way I understand it, Leah-Bo thought it was great sport. After some conversations with her parents regarding the basic nature of dogs and rabbits, I think Alex understood that she didn't have a psychotic pup on her hands, just a dog doing what any dog would do when confronted with an opportunity to get a bite of rabbit.
Subsequently Alexandra made the decision that with Easter just around the corner, she had to make sure the Easter Bunny knew what he might be getting into with a visit to her house. So she drew up a nice poster, complete with Easter decorations, that explained in no uncertain terms that there was a dangerous dog on the loose in the Tennyson house and that the Easter Bunny should beware.
I think that was very considerate of my oldest granddaughter, don't you?
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My Dear Sweet Sainted Wife left earlier today for another trip up to where the granddaughters live in Columbia, Mo., to help keep an eye on them over the weekend when both their parents are at work.
This situation has arisen every other week now that their father, middle son Kit, has finally found himself a golf job as the head pro and bottle washer at a city-owned course in Fulton, Mo.
Their mother is angling for a change in her work schedule at the hospital where she is a nurse, so maybe that will work out and long-range babysitting will be on more of an optional basis.
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Fulton is a town about the size of Blytheville about 20 miles southeast of Columbia, and Kit tells me they have a pretty decent golf course and that, weather permitting, it's crowded with players from can 'til cain't. He also described a situation his first Sunday on the job, with nice weather and a crowded golf course resulting from 8-minute tee times (more on that later).
Anyway, in the middle of the afternoon players started complaining about slow play, and following a trip out around the course, Kit discovered that the two foursomes of cart boys (teenagers who work for the golf course for free play) had teamed up as an eightsome and were the biggest problem leading to the slow play. So he had to break them up and fire them from their part-time cart boy jobs and tell them that any more eightsome stuff would lead to even harsher penalties.
Ah, the reigns of power.
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I've got to wax and wane a little bit about the Cardinals, who have won five straight series since the Ryan Franklin debacle in San Francisco a few weeks ago.
I guess the success of Lance Berkman is the biggest surprise, but for 10 years he was just as big a threat at the plate as anybody in the game, until a bad knee messed him up for more than a year. He got out of shape, gained weight and just couldn't do it with the bad knee. After surgery, it took him a while but from what he's been doing this year, he's all the way back to the top as a hitter.
Their pitching is still a little questionable, although by and large (with the notable exception of Franklin) it's been acceptable.
I'll have to get up there for a game or two before long. The only one I've watched so far this year was a blowout against San Diego when Westbrook couldn't throw a strike.
For years I was a good luck charm for the Cardinals; they won every game I watched for 10 years (usually only two or three a year).
Lately, it's been the other way around.
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Back to the eightsome/eight-minute tee time situation.
It's understandable for people waiting to tee off to want to get started as soon as possible, but eight-minute tee times are ludicrous. If you played 18 holes in eight minutes per hole you'd be on the course for just under two and a half hours.
A twosome on an empty golf course with two carts could play in two and a half hours, but three and a half is very optimistic for a course full of players. 12-minute tee times would still be pushing it.
dtennyson@blythevillecourier.com