I was on the golf course this past Saturday evening enjoying a quiet round by myself. I teed off around 4:30 p.m. and made my way around the front nine with relative ease. There were a few couples playing ahead of me in carts and a group of four teen boys playing behind me.
As a walker, that’s the perfect scenario: the groups in front of you are small enough to move along quickly, while the group behind you tends to be slower due to four people playing. If you’re lucky, a bubble of privacy forms, which makes it that much more enjoyable because no one is pushing you or slowing you down.
I generally play two balls, which means that I tee off twice and then play each ball as a separate score. It gives me double the swings and double the opportunity to improve. It also gives me double the opportunity to tire myself out, which is half the reason I golf.
Once I got to the back nine, the groups in front of me bowed out as did the boys behind me, which left me completely alone. I’m not positive, but I think I was the only one on the entire back nine holes.
So, there I am — the sun is setting, the temperatures are cooling, and the crickets are chirping. The sky was piercingly blue and devoid of any clouds, so when I launched a ball into the air, it stood out against the colored backdrop.
Somewhere around the 12th hole, I started noticing the environment and how pleasing the scenario felt. In one of those rare moments, the idea of God, or the universe, or an eternal oneness popped into my head as I mentally embraced everything around me.
I took a deep breath and absorbed the experience, reminding myself that these moments are beautiful and fleeting and that I should embrace them whenever they happen. I then selected a club from my bag, hovered over my next approach shot, and proceeded to chunk the ball about 25 feet ahead of me.
In that precious moment, all the joy that I was experiencing came crashing down. I actually laughed out loud at the irony of what happened, which was helpful since those shots generally send me into a tiny rage.
I grabbed my bag and journeyed onward. The beauty of the evening was still palpable, just slightly less metaphysical.
A few holes later, as I was deciding what club to hit, I noticed a slight breeze. It caught my attention because it was cooler than anything I had felt previously. As I looked up in recognition, the light around me seemed different, as did the moisture in the air. It was at that moment that I was overwhelmed with one thought: Fall is coming.
It happens like that every season; that one moment when you realize that the things are about to change.
I love summer and I love the fall — but I don’t like the transition between the two. I’m happy when fall arrives for all the reasons that make fall great, but I’m genuinely sad to see summer fade because of the great joy it brings me.
I got melancholy for a moment thinking about the diminishing daylight and how that would affect my opportunities to play golf. I also became disheartened about colder temperatures. I stay active in the winter and appreciate what that season offers, but my heart is securely rooted in the summer months.
I finished my round and packed my clubs into the truck. Given the empty parking lot, I was quite sure I was the last guy on the course. By the time I got home, the sun had set and the sky was darkening.
I walked into the house and told my wife about “hint of fall” experience. She told me to stop talking because she didn’t want to face the prospect of fall approaching either. This summer had been particularly fun and she didn’t want to see it end.
One thing I did want to see end was this week’s feature, “Meg 2: The Trench.” As far as summer blockbusters go, this was anything but. And while it was inspired by the original summer blockbuster, “Jaws,” it played more like “Sharknado.”
I’m always game for a good monster movie as long as a few things happen. First and foremost, the monster must be believable. Unfortunately, everything about the creature in this film is unrealistic, from its size to the lame CGI that was used to create it. Add a sorry storyline and pathetic acting and you’ve got all the makings of a flop, which is exactly what “Meg 2” is.
Don’t waste your theater dollars on this one. I’m confident it will be available online for free in short order. But even then, it won’t be worth watching.
A biting “D” for “Meg 2: The Trench,” now playing in theaters everywhere.
Got a question or comment for Dom? You can email him at moviediary@att.net.
