George Ferguson Column: Feels like it's time to let this summer go

To say the least, it’s been one weird summer. For starters, do any of us even vaguely remember what rain looks or feels like?

The drought we’re all going through is real and it’s bad, and yet, ironically, I get compliments on how good my yard looks every other day.

No, for me personally, it’s kind of been an ironic summer all the way around.

On one hand, my wife and I have been able to indulge in what has become a true summertime passion — hiking. We’ve done some fantastic hikes, and have a couple more left before the high country of Glacier National Park gives way to fall, and the onslaught of winter.

On the other hand, hiking this year did come with a price. I won’t go into details, but our first-ever true hiking trip to Yellowstone National Park ended with a pretty scary car accident, ironically, in one of the most scenic places on earth, the Beartooth Highway. Everybody involved in the accident was, and is OK. Only vehicles turned out to be worse for wear.

But no doubt, it was the start of an ironic summer. Like the fact that one of the things I love to see most are grizzly bears, and, literally just two hours before the accident, we saw one of the biggest male grizzlies I’ve ever seen, just inside YNP, in the Lamar Valley. What a thrill that was.

Summertime for me is really about three things. Hiking, golf and tennis, in no particular order. The accident aside, hiking has been great this year, and I’m excited for our last trip to GNP next week. Tennis and golf though, that’s been up-and-down.

Here’s some more irony for you on my summer. I feel as though I’ve played some of the best golf of my life this summer, including just last Wednesday night. But, when it came right down to mattering the most, I missed two short birdie putts that likely caused my men’s league team a chance to advance to the semifinals of the playoffs. That’s golf irony — because you have to execute a good shot in order to have short birdie putts in the first place. So, I know I hit good shots on those holes, and usually pars are just fine with me. But in the playoffs, they weren’t good enough.

Oh, here’s a little more golfing irony. Two nights later, while my wife and I were celebrating our anniversary, I shot four strokes better than I did in the playoffs Wednesday. Of course I did.

Tennis has also been kind of weird for me this summer. Weird in that, I have had a nagging wrist injury that really doesn’t allow me to hit the tennis ball the way I need to. So, I didn’t play a single competitive tournament this summer. That’s a first for me in a long, long time. Oh well, there’s always next summer, even though I’m not getting any younger.

On the other hand, we had another great Havre Tennis Camp this year. Great kids and great fun. My tennis camp is something I look forward to every August, and this year was, again, so much fun. Plus, there were plenty of kids working on their tennis game on their own time at our courts this summer, so even though my wrist injury is still killing me, there were bright spots in my tennis world, too.

So here we are now. Hiking season, golf season, summer tennis, it’s all winding down. At least for me it is. And I know that because, in the last week, I’ve been spending a lot more time at MSU-Northern football practice than I have at the golf course. That’s how I know my summer fun, as weird as it has been, is drawing to a close.

And yet, that’s alright with me. I love summer, I love playing golf and tennis, and I’ve started to love hiking in Montana’s back country more than I ever thought possible.

But, I love my job, too. I love high school and college football. Moreover, I love covering every sport, high school and college, that our coverage area has to offer. So maybe my ironic and weird summer needs to come to an end. Maybe the sight of footballs flying and volleyballs being smashed is a sure sign that this summer, a weird one indeed, has run its course.

Or maybe, those sports that are starting now, have me excited simply because I love what I do for a living.

Either way, I’m excited for the coming months. I’m looking forward to the fall. I’m still going to hike a few more times, and there’s still plenty of golf and tennis to be played yet anyway. Even though summer is winding down, I have a playoff run by the Cubs to look forward to, too. And, I’m still going to be inspired to keep my yard looking summer green and lush. I’ve worked pretty hard at that this summer anyway, and just because football is here now, doesn’t mean my yard still can’t look good.

Maybe there’s something ironic in that, too. Maybe for as weird as my summer has been, I could finish it off with a Yard of the Week Award. That would be a twist of fate if ever there was one.

Anyway, there is a point to this inane rambling and the look into what I’ve been doing the last three months. Basically, the point is, in my own weird way I’m saying goodbye to summer, and hello to fall. I’m looking forward to it and looking forward to seeing all of you at places like Blue Pony Stadium, the Armory Gymnasium, and all points in between.

I’m looking forward to fall sports, and maybe looking forward to a little less irony. We’ll see how that goes. But here’s something that will never be ironic. You won’t get a looking forward to winter column out of me, no matter how much I love basketball and wrestling.

If I wrote that, given how much I despise the word winter, that would be more ironic than anything that transpired this summer.