I spent the morning of May 16 fishing with Bobby and Martha Altom’s grandson, but unfortunately rain spoiled the fishing outing.  We came in the house and he tied his first fly, and is a natural.  In the evening, Kay and I attended Bluejeans and Libations, a small gathering for PEO members and their husbands.

Again, this week was filled with medical appointments.  I got cleared on new cholesterol medicine and Kay got released from the cataract surgery.  And, book club was this week as well!  Of course, lots of golf was played.

On May 19, we drove to Bella Vista, Arkansas, to join Ed and Linda Richmond and John and Sandy Simank for a bream fishing trip.  Former neighbor Bill Ackerman was kind enough to guide us with the help of his good friend Tom.  We fished Friday and Saturday, and despite a cold front, caught fish.  The fish were definitely the largest bream I’ve ever seen.  We returned home on Sunday in time for golf Sunday afternoon. 

In between rain events, I took opportunities to fish our lake, Lake Estrella, and ventured to Lake Isabella one afternoon—only 10 more to go!  Fishing has been decent, and nothing beats catching fish on a popping bug or foam spider.

We have been blessed with an abundance of rain this spring, and when weather permitted, lots of golf was played, despite being limited to the cart path.  On May 24, Kay and book club girlfriends traveled to Oklahoma for an evening of gambling, and returned the next day in time for us to host Karyn, Matt and the kids here for Memorial Day weekend.  I smoked a couple slabs of ribs, and they were good, but not my best effort—wrong type of ribs and wrong rub!

I played hookie from church on Sunday morning and took a golf lesson focusing on hitting the 6 iron and putting.  Mike Socha is a fantastic instructor, and such a positive person.  He moved the ball forward a couple inches in my stance, had me rotate my shoulders slightly clockwise, and move the right foot closer to the ball. 

We ended the month with several days of rain, keeping us inside.  I worked on #6 and #10 popping bugs, and now have about 5 dozen ready to be tailed.

We are immensely enjoying living in Hot Springs Village, being close to family and old friends, and making new friends.  Though neither of us is big on clubs and organizations, we haven chosen to participate in a limited few.  I attend the Village Mac Users Group and Audubon Society meetings monthly as time permits, and Kay attends PEO, Naomi Circle, AAUW, and Book Club meetings.  We stay so busy that there is little time to take photographs, write blog entries, or watch television!