Spring has sprung.
The weather has turned in Connecticut, which means that when I’m not meeting with my business partner or consulting with European clients in the early morning hours, I can finally leave my home before sunrise and play a quick nine holes of golf before work each day at an executive course about five minutes from the school where I teach.
If I’m not hunting for lost golf balls, I can play a round by myself in just over an hour.
It’s an ideal way to begin the day.
Yesterday morning, however, the weather was less than idyllic. It had rained during the night, and a mist still hung in the air. Gray clouds loomed overhead. The temperature was hovering around 50 degrees, and the course would surely be drenched, so I decided not to go.
Better to spend my time dealing with email and editing my next novel.
A few minutes later, I turned to my cat, Pluto, and said, “Am I really going to be one of those sad people who lets less-than-perfect weather get in my way of doing something good for me?”
Pluto stared back. He didn’t move, but I knew what he was thinking:
“Hell no! Don’t you dare become one of those people who cancels plans because it’s raining! Get your ass out there!”
So I did.
It wasn’t the best round of golf ever played. I wasn’t greeted with the usual golden sunrise. I wore a jacket throughout the round to stay warm and dry, and even with waterproof shoes, I needed to change my socks before heading off to work.
But on the second hole, I saw two deer frolicking on the tee box. I also saw several geese, one hawk, and a truckload of squirrels.
But things got interesting on the third hole when a bobcat stepped out of the trees about 50 yards away and watched me hit my tee shot. Then it proceeded to follow me along the tree line and crossing fairways as I played the next three holes before returning to the forest as I ascended a steep hill to the sixth hole.
I’ve never seen a bobcat on the course, and I’ve never been stalked by a bobcat. I kept my nine iron in my hand at all times just in case it had mistaken me for breakfast.
Then I birdied the final hole of the round – my first birdie of the golfing season.
A memorable, and likely unforgettable morning of frolicking deer, a stalking bobcat, and a birdie. I almost missed it all because it was cloudy and a little damp outside. A little chilly and wet for my liking.
How stupid of me.
Plenty of things stand in our way and keep us from achieving our goals. Obstacles abound. Barriers persist. Hurdles are plentiful.
Life is challenging enough already. Never allow minutia like the weather to stand in your way.
Thank goodness Pluto talked me into playing yesterday. Smart cat.
