Arms Against Atrophy

Another long weekend comes to its inevitable end...and it was a good one. We finally seemed to shake the cycle of crappy rain-soaked days and had a couple of real beauts. On Friday, I got up and joined a friend from work and his buddy for 9 holes of golf at Wenham Country Club. It was only my second golf outing of the year and I started out strong. It was cloudy when we got there but the sun quickly warmed things up. I hit the ball well the first few holes and struggled a bit the last few, but finished with a 49, which ain't bad for me. Came home and went for a run and then hung out for a while. Later in the day we went a few streets over to a cookout with some friends and I ate and drank way too much. It drizzled for a bit but then seemed to pass. Saturday was much nicer. I got out for a 7-mile run to sweat out the toxins of the previous day and then lollygagged around for a few hours, even getting a short nap in. We grilled up some tips and had dinner before heading over to Marblehead to watch the Fourth fireworks with some friends. We actually parked a ways from the harbor and made our way with the kids to some cliffs overlooking the causeway to watch the display; as it turned out, the fireworks were a little further away than we expected, but it was still pretty nice. Unfortunately, we got stuck in the post-fireworks traffic hell that is Salem and it took twice as long to get home.

Today, I got up and met a couple of high school buddies at The Meadow in Peabody, a relatively new course that I hadn't played yet. It's tucked away near downtown Peabody, but it's so huge and expansive, you'd think you were in the boonies somewhere. It was a tough course and there were some high winds that didn't help; I struggled on the front nine and shot a 62. I played a little better on the back with a 58. I had some great shots, some decent ones and a lot of crappy ones. I like to think I got my money's worth. At any rate, it was good to reconnect with those guys. And other than the wind, it was a great day.

Speaking of blasts from the past, we're heading up to Toronto in a couple of weeks for a vacation. We're going to catch a Jays game or two; of course, the way they're playing, they could be 10 games out by that point.

Drip by drip:

• If Sarah Palin's got any kind of presidential goal for 2012, she's got a funny way of showing it. Bailing out on your gubernatorial term in the middle of it doesn't exactly send a strong message of leadership, don'tcha know.
• Hey kids, it's Barack Robama!
• In a week full of bizarre stories, this one stands out: Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair was found murdered in a Nashville apartment with four bullets to the head, while a 20-year-old woman he was believed to be dating was found dead nearby with a single gunshot to the head and a gun nearby. Police have yet to come out and say it was a murder-suicide, but it sure looks that way.