News Update

We spend this week away from the shore of Lake Superior—mostly in Regina. As usual I have been on-call with my schools, so I have several to work with. I manage to help two of them get signed off for June, and several others are close. Some others—not so much!

Sunday morning found us in Vernon where we enjoyed catching up with even more people in the congregation there. Then, I enjoyed another game of golf with Randy in the afternoon. We played a par-three course, and even with four holes over 200 yards, I golfed my ball well, and scored a very satisfying +4. (Could it have been because my driver never left the bag?!)

On Monday, we began our trip back to Regina. This time we headed west first, through Kamloops, then north and east to Edmonton where we enjoyed staying overnight with Randy and Margaret. They have a beautiful home in an eastern suburb of Edmonton. On Tuesday, we stopped in Lloydminster, so we could visit with Diane (Margaret's mom). Diane is suffering the effects of an automobile accident that has left her paralyzed from the waist down, but she continues to express optimism about her eventual progress over this injury.

On Thursday we enjoyed a visit with some relatives from BC who are in the province at this time. Then I got in another golf game with three friends here. I can't remember the last time I played so poorly off the tee! Somehow I didn't manage to loss a golf ball, although it certainly seemed I was trying to do so! The game was certainly trying and I reflected on my daily verse: "Therefore I will not keep silent; I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul."—Job 7:11 It sounds like Job understands golf! Rain and darkness ended our game early, but I had managed to score +17 in only 14 holes—and that was with four pars! I was scrambling well, and always! Two aching shoulders and a black right palm may indicate that I was gripping and swinging too hard (my usual errors!).

Friday was cool and rainy in Regina. Province-wide people were digging out after tornadoes touched down in Yorkton and Carlyle, while in semi-arid Maple Creek the streets were awash after a torrential downpour. But don't worry about it; there's nothing to this climate change nonsense!

As I end the week, I am also getting the Cougar ready to head east. I have a permit to drive it back to Ontario, so I plan to get started early next week. Kerry calls and invites me to golf with him at Deer Valley. It's a beautiful, but difficult course in the nearby Qu'appelle valley. This is the kind of course where once you reach the green, the challenges still remain! My usual courses pretty much guarantee a two-putt at worst—here two-putts are an achievement! I play much better off the tee, but still only about half way back to my expectations; I score 94 (91 after adjusting for three triples! Still my handicap rises to 12.9). We also enjoy watching the Riders win in Hamilton and move to 3-0 for the season.

And that's about it for this week.