Susan Writes

When Husband and his friend invited me and his friend’s wife to join them while they played golf for a few days, we quickly accepted.

“Wanna’ ride along and watch for balls?” Husband said and I knew he meant when he and his friend teed off, hitting the first shots for each hole, maybe, just maybe, the ball wouldn’t go exactly they expected and we wives might see where the balls landed.

I also knew my friend and I could sometimes ride in golf carts and we could sometimes walk along the fairways (the mowed grass areas between tees where golfers hit the first shot for each hole) to the greens (the well-manicured areas where the holes are) and we’d get in our steps for the day.  And, golf courses are perfect environments to take in Florida flora and fauna. 

            Husband and I spotted a turtle before he hit the first golf ball.  Using her hind legs, the turtle threw soft dirt under a landscape shrub and buried her rump into the ground.  Her head and front feet were extended and she didn’t move for several minutes. Then she wiggled out of position and kicked dirt and landscaping pine needles to cover where her body had been. 

            Did the turtle lay eggs?  Probably not, because she wasn’t in position long enough, and turtles dig to hide parts of their bodies underground for comfort or when they are bored.  This turtle ambled across a sidewalk, onto grass, and, at my last sighting, across a fairway.

             A lost ball led us near a marsh area, the rough (tall grasses and weeds.) Two ducklings, with bright orange bills and black eyes, circled with white, stood perfectly still until we were within an arm’s reach, then they waddled toward water.  Later, I identified these as black-bellied whistling ducks.

            We spotted blue herons, red-wing blackbirds, geese, northern cardinals, blue birds, egrets, woodpeckers, and pelicans.  A utility pole provided a safe place for a bird nest and an osprey’s head appeared looking down toward us.

            When I saw a young turtle riding on the back of an adult sized turtle in a pond, I wondered if the five-foot long alligator close to it was lying in wait for lunch.  

            I mistook a saltmarsh mallow, a shrub-like wildflower with pink trumpet-like blooms, for a hibiscus.  Several fairways were bordered by water (a golf hazard) covered with water-lilies, and for a time I was mesmerized by their beauty, forgetting my responsibility to search for golf balls.

            I did forget why I’d been invited to ride along on the A. C. Read Golf Course, located at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, because it was the Blue Angels practice day.  How could I watch golf balls while Boeing F/A 18 Super Hornets flew in tight formations overhead?

            It’s said that golf is a good walk spoiled, but golf is a good walk if you’re only watching for balls and take in all the outdoors has to offer.

Filed under: Nature | Tagged: golf, golf is a good walk, outdoors |