Monday wakeup time

Living close to the ocean gives me a chance once in a while to go and reflect my thoughts in front of the waves. As mom would phrase it, "glaring out into Lake Atlantic." I see other people out there probably reflecting on their own lives with loads of stories and problems they temporarily release into the wind to float like the pelicans on the air currents of their thoughts. Mom and I compared notes yesterday on ideal foods. When she was growing up in Indiana, for the noon meal, my mom would just eat corn on the cob with melted butter for a meal. Indiana grew corn stalks taller than mom and I together. The corn was full and juicy. I liked the white corn the best. The white corn was also very tender. I was recalling how when I spent time in Indiana with my Granddad, he would fix fried round steak with tomato sauce gravy from tomato paste. The gravy would be served over mashed potatoes and the round steak. Plus, the round steak would be cooked with mushrooms big and juicy. The mushrooms would squirt in my mouth when I took a bite. Dessert would be a blueberry cheese cake. The cheese cake part would be made from a box recipe and chilled. The blueberries which were the topping would be picked from an Indiana field. The blueberries would be huge and full of flavor worth the time and effort of picking. Florida blueberries are plenty and some are sweet and some are not, but this is comparing a true contender to a want a be blueberry. In Indiana, while the cows were being milked morning and night, Mom got to carry the pails of frothy, warm milk to the milk house, drink it and save some to feed the barn cats. Here. she buys milk for a little over four dollars a gallon. Mom was recalling how in Indiana through the tough economic times the railroads would help people out by throwing coal off the trains so the town residents could use it to stay warm. Here in Florida, programs to help the poor fall under much criticism. There are state and local government regulations and the paper work is probably done where you don't even know what you are signing. One truth remains between Florida and Indiana is the way you design a building regulates how it holds the heat and the cold. When mom and I went to a Catholic Church in Logansport, Indiana, this church had high dome ceilings and stayed very cool on a warm summer day. This was during the time my Great Uncle Forrest passed away. We stayed at his house which was small one story and had no air conditioning units. It was oven hot and unbearable at Forrest's house. On the way back home to Florida, it was a welcome sight to stay in a air conditioning room at the hotel. Normally, Forrest's house wouldn't be so bad. I had stayed in it before when the weather wasn't so hot outside and inside it was ok. The small house just held the heat real good which would make it great for the cold winter's months. The house we used to live at in Oakland, Florida. had high ceilings which was great in the summer with the fans blowing. It did not have air conditioning so in the winter time it could be extra cool if there was no heat available. Trees also help in keeping houses cool. Mom has planted extra trees around our beach house to bring shade to our roof. On one of the stories on the tv show Sunday Morning, it was about the cars downsizing to deal with the economic strain of today's gas prices. They showed over in France where the government is renting bicycles for a day and over there the cars are so small they look like clown cars. The half cars are cute to look at, but they are not practical in transporting. There is barely enough room for the driver to fit into the seat. It makes me wonder how soon do we go back to the horse and buggy. The only highway would be the information highway.