Discovery

If you know me, you know that the only "sport" I play anymore is disc golf. I put the quotes there because I'm not 100% sure you can throw it in the sport category. I guess if golf is a sport, disc golf gets to be a sport as well. I use to play quite regularly, but life over the last few years has made that a bit harder. I have decided that I'm going to make an effort to play more often, including getting up for just that purpose on Saturdays. Baseball season is starting next week for Mason, so some Saturdays will be difficult, but I'll see what I can do. I don't do anything for me, so it's about time I start. This past Saturday, I got up at 7am and headed to a course north of town that I really enjoy. When I arrived, the gates to the park were shut and locked, not a good start. There is another course about 15 minutes away, so I decided to hit that one instead. This is my least favorite course in Des Moines because the fairways are so narrow, it doesn't bode well for my throwing style, which is wing-it and pray. I've found on several visits, that once you put it in the thick weeds on one side, your are pretty much guaranteed to be going back and forth across the fairway instead of down it, towards the basket. I have a knack of turning a par three hole into a 15 shot hole, which really screws up your score card. Once you've gone 12 throws over what you should have, on just one hole, the rest of your 18 holes just aren't going to be able to make that up. The course is at Big Creek State Park, and it is 18 holes that run through some really thick tree/bush areas, then opens up for the last 6 holes, right by the lake. As I approached the second hole, I noticed some thing in the tree's, so I decided to investigate. There, hanging from a branch, was what appeared to be a liquid caring device, I'm guessing left by some ancient Indian tribe. On further inspection, I noticed that the tribe had actually labeled the container with their tribe name, "Budweiser." I'm guessing this is some sort of German Indian tribe, but my searches on the Internet have since sent me on a whole different trail. I snapped a picture, here it is:

My original thought was that a local person who was so lazy, that he couldn't carry out of the park this said container, now void of it's contents and therefore lighter, so he stuck it on the end of a branch. No, that wouldn't be right, so I tossed that theory and stuck with this one, which I will now unfold to you.

I continued my trip onto other holes and realized, this wasn't an isolated incident. On nearly every hole, I saw evidence the the Bud's had been there. I knew this was the tribes nickname, because it was on several of the containers. Here are a few shots, I hope you can see them in the tree's.




You may have noticed that there was a second kind of container, this one made of a thin type of metal, I'm assuming they pounded on a stone to make flat and then shaped it into the useful caring device.


I found all of this fascinating, as you can tell by the number of pictures, so I continued on and realized something. The Budweiser's weren't alone. As I found out, there were several other tribes, which I can only guess left their own containers as a warning to the Bud's, "We are here, looking to take over." I couldn't say that for sure, I'm not up on my Iowa Indian tribe history, but here are a few of the tribes:

There is the Miller tribe


The Premium tribe


And the Smithwick's tribe

Since the Indians were no where to be found, I assume there was a battle, and from all that I can tell, the Budweiser's won, just on sheer numbers. It's funny that all of the tribes chose to display their containers in the same fashion, I'd love to know the reason behind it, but alas, that was from a time long ago and the Indians were not around for me to ask. I know what you are thinking. "This guy is an idiot, he thinks these were Indian tribes?" For those that mock, check out the Indian bracelet I found that must have been lost during the Big Earth Ending Rumble.

Ya, that is what I thought, apology accepted. Try to do some research before you judge my exploring and observations, it makes you look like a fool.

If only the Indians would have known that there is a $.05 return on all containers in Iowa, they could have turned in all of these and been $.45 richer.

The rest of my time spent there was quite enjoyable, but was a roller coaster of emotions. I'm glad I play, but when you toss a disc and it goes know where near where you had wanted it to go, you say a few things that might not be appropriate if the kids are around. Like a golfer, I know what to do, how to do it and the best and proper way to get the disc where I want it. It's the fricking execution that I can't seem to get right. Then I get so frustrated, and I play this game to RELAX! I actually do find a great sense of relaxation walking in the woods on an early morn, just me and the fox I saw, the deer I saw and the rabbit crap I put my hand in when I squatted down to take a shot from under a tree.

This might not look so bad, but you have to remember, I'm squatting down, so that bald spot at the bottom of the tree is about 3 feet high. The picture makes it appear that I am standing and the clear area is 7 to 8 feet, but I assure you, it isn't. Of the 27 holes I played, it took me 18 holes to get warmed up, then I threw 2 good holes and then the remaining 7 were a complete embarrassment to the sport. My best shot of the day? A disc flew what I walked off as 24 paces, so about a 48 foot distance, and went into the basket. I yelled to celebrate, but was alone, so you will just have to take my word for it. Here is a picture from where I threw it, I hope you can see the basket I actually landed in.

My heart breaker of the day? A 21 pace shot that landed here:

Oh well, I still par'd the whole. At the end of the round, I noticed that I was bleeding, an injury do to the fact that I haven't played in awhile, so my lady like fingers are a bit soft.


As a public service, I'll also identify and post pictures of lost items I find along the course and post them here so if the item is yours, you can go claim your lost treasure. First item, a sippy cup.

It looks like it's still in pretty good condition, but appears to have been chewed on by a beaver at some point during the winter. However, it could have just been your kid chewing on it, so don't give up on this quality item. It is located on the left side of the fareway on hole number one, about 30 paces south of the rabbit crap I put my hand in.

And finally, the cutest fire hydrant you'll ever see.