Golf Courses ARE useful after all!

This morning I decided to walk home from church the long way round and enjoy the riverside path while the snow was still hard - it's going to be awfully slushy and muddy as the thaw gets under way properly. Walking up past the golf course at the end of the walk I could hear shrieks and shouts of pleasure and wondered what on earth was going on. I soon spotted the cause - children of all ages from 3 to a lot older than that enjoying sledging and snow boarding on the golf course. Now I'm one of those who can't see the point of golf so I apologise to all those who consider it a fine sport/leisure occupation. I'm pretty sure that the people who look after the grass on the course will be less than happy too. But all I could see were loads of people of a very wide age range thoroughly enjoying themselves on slopes of varying gradient, man-made and natural, out in the fresh air and not harming anyone. I was taken back over 50 years to my childhood doing the same thing in the nearby farm field and probably wreaking havoc with the pasture land but getting lots of fun and exercise out of it.
Foolishly, I decided to rest after my exertions by sorting through dozens of petition sheets and trying to get some semblance of order into them. When I stood up again every muscle in my legs protested - walking in the snow must have exerted them more than I'd realised.
Later I heard the news that someone had drowned in the river at Stockton, trying to save his dogs. What a tragedy for a family somewhere.