penandpatience

NEWS: “Edythe With A Y,” my non-fiction short story has been published in the quarterly-April,May,June 2012 issue of The Storyteller Magazine.  Information available at www.thestorytellermagazine.com

“Tattered Rose,” my fiction short story is pending publication in the quarterly-July/Aug/Sept 2012 issue of The StoryTeller Magazine. Information available at

www.thestorytellermagazine.com

        MISS-HITS         June 2012 Monthly Musing

A birthday gift for a close friend was the reason I ended up sitting in a golf cart. It was a brisk spring day at a beautiful resort in New York’s Hudson Valley. My eyes roamed the manicured hills and valleys while we rode over the course. Soon I was jumping out holding the flags on the greens–I was hooked.

Back home golf lessons began; Frustration at my inability to hit a ball in the air followed. Golf lessons and with continued practice, I improved enough to join a ladies’ golf league. I love golf and it’s a passion that has not dimmed with the passage of time. I persevere despite occasional arthritic flare-ups, dribbled balls off the tee, bogey holes with too many putts. However, when par or birdie putts land in the hole, I forget about the previous ball that plunked into the water hazard.  Miss-hits happen.

My miss-hits are not limited to golf. Just like a golf stroke misses the fairway, sometimes my writing projects stall; the appropriate words elude me. What sounded good yesterday reads terrible to my ear today.  I need to revise—again. I write knowing the story or article is still not ready for publication—a writing bogey. Putting the bogey project aside to rest for a few days, I move on to another project hopeful that a new topic will re-energize me.

Writing and golf have much in common. A good day on the course and a good writing day at the computer is a day that can’t be beat. The downside is that I must accept the lost balls that land in the water along with written pages that aren’t up to snuff–an off day.  What keeps me going is the occasional euphoria that comes with a birdie putt, breaking ninety on the course or a magazine editor that likes and accepts my story.   There is no greater high than a hole in one or a great story that leaves a reader breathless.