A Christmas Eve Tradition

I had never touched a golf club until we moved to Florida a little over 3 years ago.  Once fully settled in with the palm trees, Lincoln Continentals, and two-for-one drink specials, I decided that I would become a golfer.  It wasn't hard.  Hit the white ball, say a string of poetic profanity, rinse and repeat for 4 hours.  Then follow that by rewarding myself with cold beer.  My kind of sport!  Couple that with the fact that I have some limitations due to a couple of fused ankle joints, and this sport allows you to drive around to get to the next  point, well, it's a win-win!

Today marks my first golf outing post sub-talar ankle fusion, and I am so excited!  I could barely get through my last round of golf, 5 days pre-op almost 9 months go.  The love of my life have golfed every Christmas and New Year's Eve for the last three years, and I didn't want to break that tradition.  I feel strong enough to get through the round, and believe that my ankle will hold up nicely.

We'll be golfing at the world renowned World Woods Golf Club that's just a few short miles down the road from us.  They have beautiful grounds and friendly staff.  There are three courses to choose from, and even as a beginner there is something there for me.  

The weather is beautiful here in Florida today, and that will make my Christmas Eve round of golf that much better!!!


Edit:  The round wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible.  I survived without any major pain while hitting the ball.  I did have some pain/discomfort while walking around and general fatigue, but what do you expect when you have had a 9 month lay-off due to major ankle surgery?  I'm happy with the day.  And it was  beautiful!  The sun broke through the fog and turned my skin pink.  

The 5th Hole - one of my favorites.  Massive downhill with waste area to the right.

Golf Course Squirrel - a.k.a. fox squirrel or monkey squirrel.  These guys are so much fun to watch and they are totally fearless of the golf balls flying down the fairway.  

Ozello Arts and Crafts Festival

The "Festival" season here in  Florida kicks off around October.  Almost every weekend you can find an arts and crafts festival of some sort with a theme - from cooters to manatees to strawberries - you name it, we can probably find it.   This weekend we went to the Ozello Arts and Crafts Festival in Ozello, Florida.  

You start out on US Hwy 19, head down W Ozello Trail, along winding roads, across saw grass flats until you find the festival...they aren't very hard to miss.

While we were at the festival, we saw lots of interesting sights, such as:

You end up seeing the same vendors, the same booths, and the same crowd at many of these festivals, but each one is endearing in it's own way.  We did our obligatory lap, bought nothing, and instead of turning left to head home, we turned right.  This is where the road took us:

It was an enjoyable day, and we look forward to checking out more festivals as the season progresses.