Day 353

We love walking our trail. In the dry times of the year, we go out on a daily basis, often multiple times a day. Sometimes, we check on flowers. Sometimes, we do some invasive plant removal. Most of the time, we stop to look for golf balls.

Unless you are talking about mini golf, I am not a golfer. I don't think I have the time, money, or patience for this hobby. But if you looked in our barn, you might think differently. We have a large storage tote full of golf balls. Because we live next to a golf course, we are able to find a number of errant shots that have ended up in our yard. In fact, at an impromptu golf ball and lemonade stand my kids hosted, we had a gentleman come by and look through our gold ball collections. He asked what hole we lived by. Because I didn't know, I described it and he seemed pretty familiar. He said it is a hole many people overshoot and that he was probably buying back his own balls.

Every season provides different opportunities for a golf ball hunt. Spring is great in that there is not much green and balls are easy to identify. Summer is a bit trickier but usually more plentiful. In autumn, as long as the land is dry, it is fantastic because there are plenty of balls and less vegetation to block them from view. Winter is interesting. The land is frozen and occasionally covered in snow so searching for golf balls can be difficult. The frigid temperatures often also make my kids want to cut the trip short.

For the kids it is a healthy competition. I have tried to instill that we are working together but that message usually is forgotten once the first ball is found. While the white balls are more populous, the colored balls are more popular. Either way, whether it is during the heart of summer, in the splendor of spring or awe of autumn, or when the flakes are flying, it is not surprising to see a child walking back to the barn with a pocket full of golf balls.