[caption id="attachment_703" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The par-three second hole at SCP"]<a href="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/20101210_7.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-703" title="20101210_7" src="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/20101210_7-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" /></a>[/caption]

It was warmer today, and except for a little drizzle in the morning it was dry, so I got out onto the golf course for the first time in eight days.

It actually isn't the weather that keeps me from playing. We have a lot of things going on with workmen at our house, so I have needed to stay close to home.

Today was the third time I've played Sun City Peachtree, my home course, and I'm starting to get a feel for some of the quirks. I still haven't played the first hole, a 380-yard par four with a dogleg, in less than six strokes. That's annoying, but today I parred the second hole for the first time, which was nice.

I've been playing alone, which is sort of interesting. I got into the habit in Texas this summer at Utopia and Flying L, and this is a nicer course than either of those two.

I hook up my iPod and listen to it throughout my round. I've been joking about how eclectic my iPod is, and I think today I listened to Frank Sinatra, the Doors, Pete Seeger and George Strait within about a 15-minute period. I particularly enjoy it when I'm waiting at the tee box; the music keeps me from getting impatient.

I'm pleased that I have been fairly consistent. Today I parred four holes and only double-bogeyed three, which meant I broke 90 for the first time on this course. That was nice, and it was warm enough today that I was able to play with just two layers of clothing instead of three. That meant a few of my shots actually topped 200 yards, and since a few of the par fours are short -- 301, 308 and 274 -- I was able to get on in two with my pitching wedge.

The toughest thing about this course is the greens, which are really challenging. That really bit me on the ninth hole, which is only 98 yards. I hit my tee shot two feet from the hole, but it was on a sloping part of the green and rolled 40 feet away. I three-putted for bogey.

One thing I really enjoy about playing alone is that being out on the course gives my mind free rein to wander and think about all sorts of things. The music helps with that; a lot of the time a song will get me thinking about what my life was like at the time the song was originally popular.

Today I heard Alan Jackson's "Remember When," which has one line that always resonates with me.

<em>"Remember when thirty seemed so old, now looking back it's just a stepping stone ..."</em>

I never felt older than when I turned 30. It was a month before my first wife and I separated for good, and my life was a shambles. I hadn't even started my first full-time job in journalism, and I felt like the whole world was slipping away from me.

Things started getting better soon after that. I became editor of my college paper, president of my college fraternity and started dating someone really special.

But I don't think I ever felt young again.

I have, however