A funny, heartwarming memoir about saying goodbye to your childhood home, in this case a quirky, one-of-a-kind, family-run miniature golf course in the woods of WisconsinWhen June Melby was ten years old, her parents decided on a whim to buy the miniature golf course in the small Wisconsin town where they vacationed every summer. Without any business experience or outside employees, the family sets out to open Tom Thumb Miniature Golf to the public. Naturally, there are bumps along the way. In My Family and Other Hazards, Melby recreates all the squabbling, confusion, and ultimately triumph, of one family's quest to build something together, and brings to life the joys of one of America's favorite pastimes. In sharp, funny prose, we get the hazards that taunted players at each hole, and the dedication and hard work that went into each one's creation. All the familiar delights of summer are here-snowcones and popcorn and long days spent with people you love.Melby's relationship with the course is love-hate from the beginning, given the summer's freedom it robs her of, but when her parents decide to sell the course years later, her panicked reaction surprises even her. Now an adult living in Hollywood, having flown the Midwest long ago, she flies back to the course to help run it before the sale goes through, wondering if she should try to stop it. As the clock ticks, she reflects on what the course meant to her both as a child and an adult, the simpler era that it represents, and the particular pains of losing your childhood home, even years after you've left it.

Contents / ScorecardThe Ticket Booth: Prologue 1Front Nine? 1. The Rocket 14? 2. The Castle 33? 3. The One With The Hill In The Middle 44? 4. The Colored Light Thing 67? 5. The Horse 77? 6. The Swinging Pole 93? 7. The Water Hole 110? 8. The Wishing Well 124? 9. The Windmill 134?Back Nine? 10. The Outhouse 153? 11. The Covered Bridge 171? 12. The Barrels 190? 13. The Airplane (formerly The Clown) 205? 14. The Purple One 211? 15. The Ferris Wheel 229? 16. The Weird Blue Pipe Thing 245? 17. The Paddle Wheel Boat 261? 18. The Clown Face 280The Ticket Booth: Epilogue 295?Acknowledgments 299