Friday Coffee: 31 Mar 2017

Glorious sleep.

After a rough week or so of sleeping, I finally managed to get into a deep dream state last night. Despite those troubles I managed a fairly alert week with little daytime fatigue. A gorgeous week of weather probably helped my general attitude as well. Summer is knocking on the door. Florida springs feature summer-like temperatures with autumn-like humidity so it is indeed a magnificent time to be outside.

New Concept!

Apparently there exists a place at which one may “rent” (for the sake of simplicity) a few dozen golf balls and take them to a prepared tee area. Once there you are permitted to safely play shots into a large field in order to hone your golf skills. I am shocked such an amazing concept hasn’t gone gang-busters!

Seriously, I hit balls on the range at Streamsong every day this week after work. My mediocre ball-striking hit a limiting point last week in my round with Josh McFadden at The Winter Park Nine. I am tired of wearing out the bottom-third of the toe of my Mid- and Short-irons. Working points include using both hands at impact (I have a Vijay-esque tendency to let my right hand come off the club in order to prevent the snap-hook), correct ball position at address, and a more unified takeaway.

The results yesterday after having one of the staff look at me hit a few balls were very encouraging. Very little in sport feels like a crisply strick iron.

This Week in The Cross Fitness

The CrossFit Open hangover seems to have lingered through the week at the box. I am feeling it a bit as well and I skipped Tuesday’s WOD in order to play golf and recharge. Despite the hangover, I’ve had a good week of movement though my knee-to-hip tightness is lingering again.

In writing this, it occurs to me that I managed to hit not only all my percentages of the lifting for the week but also doing so with no failures. I did scale back the Back Squats on Monday because I couldn’t get my knee to release but that was a case of doing one less set.

I continue to make marginal gains (no Z) in Hand-stand push-ups and Pull-ups, breaking my unbroken PR yesterday for both HSPU and Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups. Very satisfying to get Gymnasty again!

A Re-charged Love

My dad and brother sent me Steve Hackett’s Genesis Revisted: Live at the Royal Albert Hall as an early birthday present. I am enjoying it famously. For almost two years now I had gone a bit lukewarm on Genesis, largely perhaps because of the influence of John Lyon and his tendency to heavier blues-influences music. This wasn’t a bad thing and I regained my appreciation for Led Zeppelin, among others, that I got away from in college.

Genesis Revisted is sublime. I am very hot or cold on Steve Hackett’s solo work but here he stays quite true to the energy and aura of a Genesis live performance and includes a few non-Hackett (read: Tony Banks) songs on the set list. I especially enjoy the middle bit of I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) with it’s jazz-infused Dave Matthews Band-esque saxophone work. Whenever Genesis took the song live, they played a variety of bits in that portion so Steve’s interpretation is both welcome and traditional. The extended ending to Supper’s Ready is everything that song needed to come down from the energetic “As Sure As Eggs is Eggs” portion and Hackett shows his considerable guitar chops and the sound of the beautiful, enigmatic and glorious Gold Top Les Paul.  No oxford comma.

Pianoforte

Concurrent with this rebirth of Genesis love is my tepid re-approach to playing piano. I hadn’t touched the thing since November which I believe is the longest I’ve gone in my life. I can’t comment much on this yet, but having the urge to make a joyful (or not-so-joyful) noise is nice.

Photograph of the Week

A recently-fed female alligator moving lakes in the early morning. Having to rely on temperature for energy she’d move a few feet and plop down to recharge. The more keen among you will note this is the path leading from the first tee of the Red Course to the fairway and as it is the dawn of daylight, a few minutes before the first tee time.

She had gone by the time play started.