The value of variety

I think I've made it clear that my golf has been rubbish all year. So I've made more of an effort to do things other than golf and house chores. I went to Mount Stewart one Saturday in late August for a lovely walk.

The next two Saturdays I went to Rowallane and Lady Dixon rose garden with Patricia and her two grandchildren. Patricia is nearly 70 and finds it tough going to be in charge of a 5 and 8 year old all day. They spend a lot of time at her house on their devices. We've had some lovely weather so I have been chauffeur to get them out and to give Patricia some reinforcement. Patricia says Alexander likes me because I'm a big kid. No argument. Here we are playing king of the mountain.

I've mentioned before Ben, the Queen's student whose grandmother I knew in Pennsylvania. He stayed with me at the end of August/beginning of September, awaiting opening of his dorm. He spent most of his time with friends at Queen's so I saw little of him.

On cultural matters, I saw a brilliant play called The Man who Swallowed a Dictionary about David Ervine. He got caught up with the UVF in the 1970s, when a lot of teenagers did likewise. He served 5.5 years at Long Kesh, during which time he became more of a political philosopher – looking at Northern Ireland's issues from a class perspective rather than a sectarian one. He emerged to lead the Progressive Unionist Party and was heavily involved in the peace process.

I also saw a film called Kneecap about a West Belfast rap band that sings in Gaelic as well as English. Lots of drugs and sex and violence – but also lots of humour.

On 11 September I went to the funeral for the much loved and greatly missed Cindy Loughins, an excellent golfer and a funny, generous, warm, big-hearted woman. At 5'2", she was described as "tiny but mighty." The funeral was exceptional, just like her. She selected the music and her family wrote an essay about her life, read by the minister, with whom she was very close. More than 500 people attended her funeral. The first speaker was May Henderson, handicap secretary at Shandon. Cindy loved her golf and May read an appropriate poem:

Life is like a Round of Golf

Criswell Freeman

Life is like a round of golf
With many a turn and twist.
But the game is much too sweet and short
To curse the shots you’ve missed.

Sometimes you’ll hit it straight and far
Sometimes the putts roll true.
But each round has it’s errant shots
And troubles to play through.

So always swing with courage
No matter what the lie.
And never let the hazards
Destroy the joy inside.

And keep a song within your heart
Give thanks that you can play.
For the round is much too short and sweet
To let it slip away.

Late August/early September