Stories from the Road

November 28, 2013

Bermuda

    

Hamilton Harbor

The rains swept across the Island around noon today. WE played golf early and were lucky to have sun with manageable wind. Vicki shot a 51 on the front nine today. That is an excellent score.

On the fourth hole today I ran across a man selling golf balls he had found. Being a long time ball hawker, I was interested in his story. He told me he had 5000 balls he had collected from several golf courses on the island. He lived behind the fourth green, and because errant balls frequently hit his house or car, the Belmont Hills course allowed him to sell his wares to golfers as they were passing through. Whereas new balls in the clubhouse were selling three for $15.00, he was selling used balls in mint condition 6 for $5.00. That was a hard deal to pass up! He said he had customers from all over the island. Some people parked nearby and walked to his spot to purchase golf balls. I told him he was a good salesman after buying a dozen balls, before we moved onto the next tee box.

There is no natural water in Bermuda. Every house is equipped with a tank in its basement. The roofs are specially constructed to funnel rainwater down to the basement where it is filtered. Some homes can use desalinated water. Our friends Barb and Chris until recently only used rainwater stored in their 22,000-gallon tank. The island gets about 55 inches a year.

I am reading my final Daniel Silva novel, “ The Messenger”, which I am enjoying. The hero Gabriel Allon is on the trail of terrorists again. If you haven’t read one, you should give one of Daniel Silva’s books a try, as they are absorbing and fun to read.

Tomorrow is our last day here. We are hopping to play golf again, but it all depends on the weather. My I Phone says clear skies, but we’ll see. We’ll be up at 7 and hopefully on the course at 8.

Happy Thanksgiving.