Maple Is Fine. The Nachos Are Not.

Apparently, I caused a little unnecessary panic this week.

During golf Monday night, I hit a drive that sent one of my Maple golf balls into the trees near the green. These aren’t ordinary golf balls. They were a gift from Aspen, with Maple’s face printed on them, so losing one felt a little more personal than losing a regular ball.

A friend created a hilarious missing poster for it: “LOST: ONE GOOD GIRL,” last seen taking a shortcut on Hole 14. I posted it, assuming everyone would understand that the missing “good girl” was a golf ball.

They did not.

People started replying, genuinely worried about Maple and ready to come help search for her. So, before we go any further, Maple is perfectly safe at home. The golf ball bearing her face is the one still missing somewhere in the trees.

The flyer mentions a slice, but that was a little creative license on my friend’s part. The ball actually disappeared after my drive went into the trees near the green—which may not sound much better, but I would like the record to be accurate.

Thankfully, the missing ball wasn’t the only surprise of the night. My partner, Kim, and I each won $20 for the lowest net score.

Admittedly, that may have had something to do with our very generous handicaps, but after not playing for a few weeks, we actually played pretty well.

So I ended the night one Maple golf ball down, $20 up and feeling much better about my game than expected. I’ll call that a win.

Although, after what Maple did last week, “good girl” may be up for discussion.

After returning home from Colorado, I rolled right into another stretch of summer activities. Last Tuesday began with Mahjong, and Wednesday was the final show of the Okoboji Summer Theatre season, 9 to 5.

It’s hard to believe the season is already over. It seemed to go so quickly, and there were so many great plays and musicals this year. The final production always feels a little like the official end of summer, even though we still have another month left to enjoy it.

On Thursday evening, a couple of girlfriends and my sister came over. The Okoboji Women’s Club was holding an event next door at Block Party, so we decided to walk over, have a drink and listen to two Nashville artist that came in for the special ladies event.

Afterward, we came back to my patio. We could still hear the music, but we could also sit together and actually have a conversation. It ended up being the best of both worlds.

Unfortunately, before we left, my sister had brought nachos and a quesadillas. We left the food sitting on the counter while we went over for our drink.

When we returned, we discovered that Maple had helped herself to the nachos.

Maple is almost six years old, and until that evening, I had no idea she was a counter surfer.

Apparently, she had simply been waiting for the right opportunity and nachos were worth ending nearly six years of good behavior.

Friday brought another easy summer evening, this time sitting around the fire pit with my sister. Then Saturday was a full day on the road. We went to Sioux Falls and Mitchell to cheer Jared on at the Amateur Baseball State tournament and we got to see his team come away with a win!

There’s something about summer baseball, the drive, the people in the stands and the simple joy of showing up for someone you love that makes the whole day feel special.

By the time I made it back home, I was ready for a Maple kind of morning: nowhere to rush off to, nowhere I needed to be and a chance for both of us to recover from our recent adventures.

Mahjong, summer theatre, music drifting over to the patio, appetizers with friends, a fire with my sister, baseball and a round of golf that ended with half the internet thinking my dog was missing.

And somehow Maple managed to become the main character without ever leaving home.

First, she stole the nachos. Then a golf ball with her face on it went missing. I lost a little trust in what can safely be left on the counter, but I gained $20 on the golf course.

All things considered, I think I came out ahead.

And just to be perfectly clear one more time:

Maple is fine.

The nachos and the golf ball are not.