Winter, Holidays and the Cold
As one of my friends always says, when there’s nothing to talk about, people in Canada will talk about weather. I doubt that’s a Canadian thing, but probably a North American thing. In any case, I will write about the weather as it has changed drastically over the last few days in Toronto. The temperature has dropped to below zero, snow and ice cover the ground like frosting on cake. The cold signifies the coming of Old Man Winter, or rather, it’s evidence that Old Man Winter has come, set up camp and is here to stay for a good 6 months. I didn’t mind the winter that much when I was younger, but now I’m finding it makes me long for sunny California. I used to love the brisk morning air and the sound of snow crunching under my feet, but these things have now just become mnemonics to my years past and only bring out feelings of nostalgia, let alone a smile.
I look forward to the spring and summer for another great season of golf. This year was the year that I had my own set, sized and fitted to my specific swing and height. This was also the year that I started golfing with people who were really talented. Put these two factors together and the result is a much improved golf game for me. The equipment helped me achieve a level of comfort with my swing and provided tremendous forgiveness. My friend and de facto golf coach was a member of the Canadian national team a few years ago and played varsity golf at Queens; his insight and advice really helped me, especially in my drives. My short game and putting still has a lot to be desired, but at least I can be fairly confident with my drives now. A turning point in my young golf career was when I won the long ball contest at a company tournament. I had been consistently hitting the ball really far for a few weeks prior to that, but it wasn’t until that moment that my improvement had been validated. It’s a great feeling to hear the *ping* and watch the ball fly straight ahead 280-310 yards. It’s amazing what a few simple adjustments can do to your game. Now, I need to really concentrate on my short game as it’s much more important than just being able to consistently launch the ball off the tee. What a wonderful excuse to buy one of those putting greens for my cubicle at work!
Back to the reality of winter. Skating and snowboarding are the order of the day. I’m a decent skater at best and an absolutely terrible snowboarder but these are the activities that I’d like to do a bit more of this year. I haven’t been on the slopes since my first year of college, and haven’t been on a rink consistently since my 3rd year. Hopefully some outdoor activity can allow me to embrace the great Canadian winter. I remember when I was young, I loved snow (like all kids really) and went tobogganing and sledding once or twice a week and went to the local hockey rink to skate every Saturday morning. Those days were really fun and who says a 20-something year old can’t have fun like that anymore! So here’s to a brighter winter.
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