One strange standoff

This is one of those photos that begs for a photo caption contest. So, if any follower of Evey and Boyd's blog is brave enough... BOLD enough... submit a caption. I'll even give away a prize: a hat, or some souvenir, from the next golf course I visit. Really!

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Evey had a great birthday weekend. It started off with me returning home from a week in Orlando (she was happy to see me, OK?), then a sleep-over birthday party at Khali's, followed by her own birthday party on Sunday.

Evey was thrilled to receive a pair of roller skates from her friend Khali, and a NextBook from her Noni, and a bunch of other cool gifts from everyone else (full disclosure: I went downstairs and watched football during the gift-giving part). She's a good girl; I'm glad we celebrated her birthday to her satisfaction. (She's always satisfied with her birthday... but I think this year she was really happy to have so many friends over here at her house.)

Attendees, L to R: Sadie, Evey, Marina, Adira, Khali and Amelia... with Boyd.

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Got a nice compliment from Khali's dad. After I went to pick up Evey from that sleep-over, as we were leaving, he told me, "Evey is always the most polite."

That makes my day.

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I just got back from the Golfdom Summit, and it was another career highlight. I had 45 golf course superintendents from around the country there as my guest... another 25 or so sponsor attendees... and my staff of about seven.

Doug Ferguson, head golf writer for the Associated Press, was my keynote speaker... and he killed it. Treated the event like what it is -- a true "insider's only" event and told a few stories meant for a small, non-media crowd. Also hung out for a little with our group after the event, telling a few more stories.

The best part for me was being on the microphone, introducing the speakers, making the occasional joke. As well as the nice things the attendees said to me, including one guy asking to take his photo with me. It seems like things are coming together at Golfdom -- four years into it, people are starting to know my name and recognize the work I'm doing. And that re-energizes me.

I remember four years ago, when I first accepted the job, I was so excited that I just wanted to not get hit by a bus for two weeks, so I could survive lone enough to actually sit in that chair.

Four years later, I've been in that chair for 1400+ days, and sometimes it wears me out. But events like this one remind me of the excitement I had in those first days... got to maintain that feeling.

One inspirational message I have written to myself reads: What do you want Golfdom to be today? As a journalist, if you have the opportunity to answer that question, that's awesome... I've got to take full advantage.