Perspective from the 19^th Hole is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

My wife put it this way:

“Well, now, we have been to a polo game and a hockey game.  What’s left for us here in the California desert.”

Good point.

This came up because a couple days we attended a hockey game here in the desert.  Yes, hockey!

There is a farm club hockey team here called the Coachella Valley Firebirds, which is an owned-and-operated affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Seattle Kraken. 

From what I can tell – I am a not a particular hockey fan, nor an experienced one – the Firebirds are a good team that competes well.

The team plays in a facility named after an insurer – Acrisure Arena, which, itself, is something to behold as it sits along I-10 in Palm Springs.

It is an impressive place, both for farm club hockey, as well as for musical events – and, for the latter, my daughter told me that after she attended an event there.

We headed to Acrisure the other night a bit early to get a parking place – there is a huge lot there — then have dinner where a number of take-out restaurants serve you with, if you can call takeout this, style.

Then, we found our seats and watched for a few minutes as workers fixed the ice for the game.  Strobe lights continued and music blared loud in the area.

A lot of hoopla, but, of course, that happens in other sports, too, as game-time draws near.

Truth be told, we stayed only for the first of three periods because:  (a) it was hard for us as beginner fans to follow the hockey puck around as skaters for both teams sped back and forth up and down the ice, and (b) it was cold.

Still, all in all, a good diversion here in the California desert as we added hockey to polo and, in both cases, don’t feel inclined to go again.  Though, I suppose, we might if the spirit moves us in one direction or the other.