Can you compare a pelican to a turkey?

A pelican is in constant watch for fish which is his source of food. My sister's turkey "The General" is in constant watch for dog food which is his source of food which he just loves. "The General" just goes crazy when it comes to dog food. He like it better than he likes the chicken's cracked corn. He turns into "The turkey monster" in which he looks as if he would attack you at any moment. The pelican mildly eats his fish catch in the water, but he also hangs around where humans have fishing lines in the water. A pelican has been known to come out of the water and beg for a fish catch on the shoreline. The pelican would follow the humans around with his bill wide open and his web feet ready to walk all over the humans just to get a fish dinner. This could be considered part of pelican's aggressive behavior. The pelican wants to eat now. This is also the goal of the turkey. He wants to eat now. I have to admire both birds, but I know I could never be really close to either one, because the nature of the bird could change in an instant. I have left "The General" to my sister's loving care. Mom and I had a pretty good trip home. Mom did the driving and I slept in the car most of the way. We ate at Friendly's restaurant in DeLand. I had the steak tips and mom had a fish sandwich with fries. I was all turkey dinnered out and I was craving steak. The steak tips dinner came with fresh steamed vegetables and a bed of white rice cooked with garlic. I ate a bit slower than mom, so she went over to the Goodwill store in DeLand which is bigger than the one in Pine Hills. She said, "there was a lot of stuff to look at." She was in search of a wood carrier which would be kept next to my sister Glendon's fireplace. She didn't find one at the GW Boutique. We did stop at a small vegetable stand and I got a small butternut squash. Mom also picked up a few items. It was nice to see the house almost the same as when we left. I did not take any pictures on the way home, but I did carry the camera most of the way in the car. The camera finally ended up in the trunk until we got home. There were some satin red wine color leaves on some of the back roads of the city of Williston which were worth capturing on film, but I didn't get the golden shots. However, I just heard the train whistle in New Smyrna Beach which I heard at Glendon's place and this you can only capture in words to create an image in someone's brain. The runaway whistle with a train speeding down the tracks. What an image this would create.

Leaving the farm

It has been a chilly night. Glendon's central heater has had trouble keeping the house toasty warm. I kept waking up during the night really chilling. I understand why the animals need the extra food. It helps protect them from the cold weather.Today Mom and I return to a slightly warmer climate. The central air and heat works real well where we live. This is a picture of one of Glendon's cats. This cat she named Mink. Mink has a lot of issues so she talks to you or anyone who will listen . Both Mink and Glendon's favorite cat Alley are outside begging to come in. The baby horses will be taken over by Glendon's friend Diana. She will feed and turn the horses out into the big pasture. The big horses Glendon will deal with when she gets home. The panoramic view of the night sky will be gone and so will the panoramic view of the sunrise. The country life will be replaced by pelicans.

cold morning

It is way before coffee time. I was asleep, but I woke up kind of cold. However, the heat has started up again. Thanksgiving is now over. All the turkey videos are history on the Internet. Now the attention is placed on the Christmas shopping season. Glendon wanted to put up her artificial Christmas tree up this morning. Mom and I have no plans to hit the mall today with their so called sales. We just plan to stay here for one more day and held back to the beach tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving

The rooster has started crowing. I had my first cup of coffee. This is a turkey dinner belonging to someone else, but we will have our all natural butterball turkey probably in the afternoon. The day will just be Mom, Glendon and I plus all the animals. Speaking of animals, Glendon's pet cat wanted in her bedroom very early this morning. He was very insisting of the idea. I tossed him out the front door, but I found him crying at the bathroom window. However, by the time I made my way back to the front door he had left for some other adventure. Today and tomorrow should be pretty good weather, but the weatherman on television said rain by the weekend. There is another cold front coming here to greet us. My sister Glendon will be working on the weekend. Mom and I will be back at New Smyrna Beach unpacking from our trip.

Special Greetings

This was the little horse that didn't make it here at Glendon's farm. He ran into a tree and tragically ended his life. His name was Press Secretary. He was named by my sister who bred his mom to a son of Secretariat the famous race horse. It was nice to find an old picture to occasionally remember what the past was like. Glendon, my sister. have two new adopted horses from her place of work. They fit in real well with the rest of the clan. However, they have nicer personalities and I think Glendon will get along real well with training them. When mom and I arrived yesterday at Glendon's gate, there sat her two dogs. One was named Soldier and the other was named Morgan. Glendon says Soldier is part wolf. I was greeted by Soldier showing his teeth in a growling fashion without really growling. I almost thought he had a bad tooth problem. This soon got resolved as mom and I made our way inside the gate. The dogs had to part a way for my mom to drive the car from the gate onto the house. Mom drove on, but the dogs hung around at the gate. They were waiting for my sister to arrive home from the feed store. Inside the gate was the driveway with a fenced in pasture on each side. One side had her pet horse Shooter who has a lot of training issues and on the other side the two new arrivals Gator and Velvet. I did not realize until Glendon arrived with the truck that a pandemonium wildcat race erupts between the dogs, Velvet and Gator and Shooter. The dogs follow the truck in a full throttle run. Shooter starts the wild gated run with Velvet and Gator following a close second up the pathways towards the house. I hear sounds of loud snorting following by uncontrolled coughing. Both Shooter and Velvet have serious respiratory infections. However, they would not let a little thing like a cold stand in their way of a big race. It is a matter of horse pride. They do it for the glory of the big snort. The" I dominate snort" because I ran the big race and did what I was required by my code of horse like conduct to accomplish. I just silently shake my head in disbelief. The horses would rather have a spurt of excitement than to cave into a cold. This kind of reminds me of Kahlua the Appaloosa mare and pride of my riding career's deep seeded motherly wisdom. She did not waste her energy chasing the young one around in the pasture because Rosie the baby had youthful burst of energy. Kahlua stayed in one place while Rosie ran around the pasture in a race like mode. When Rosie was done she would come back to her mother Kahlua and the mother and daughter would be reunited in peace. Glendon had a lot of chores which I was able to help out some. She had horse feed and chicken feed to unload. I was able to unload the chicken feed. Glendon also had me take the buckets of feed to the big horses. I used a little blue cart to carry the feed buckets. This worked out well for me. I also gave Glendon's turkey she calls "The General" some chicken feed. He ate it until he got kernels stuck in his throat. He didn't know enough to take a drink of water to wash the kernel down. I was a little leary of approaching him with some water because he looked like he wanted to attack me.The turkey is very territorial. He would give me a certain look if I crossed his ground. I threw a bit of chicken food in with the chickens. Glendon says the production of eggs is not up to standards. Maybe while mom and I are here we can figure out the reason why this is happening. Mom made the spaghetti for dinner and Glendon had some dinner rolls from the Health food place which had Hemp in it. Glendon thought the taste was pretty good. Mom and I brought the nine pound all natural butterball. Thanksgiving will be Thursday and it should be very good.

The new adventure begins

Have you noticed the Christmas music has arrived on some radio stations? I have already caught myself singing part of "Jingle Bell Rock" along with Berle Ives. Today mom and I pack for our grand adventure of spending time over at my sister Glendon's place. I almost called it Glendon's palace. This farm of thirteen acres are such a well blend of animals and trees. Plus she has a pool which she says is green right now. I will check this out when I arrive there. I heard from the weathermen that the water temperature here is sixty three degrees. Considering the weather changes of it getting cooler, I can understand why the water would not be warmer. This is a picture of the house boat before it was partially sunk. I would see only the top of the boat when I go see the fishermen under the South Bridge.

Weekend stuff

I was traveling along Atlantic Avenue when I noticed a group of pelicans traveling in formation and keeping up with the speed I was going. I looked at my speedometer and it said thirty five miles per hour. I figured no wonder I had trouble taking pictures of pelicans in flight. They were traveling on the wind currents at thirty five miles per hour. It wasn't until I turned off Atlantic Avenue I lost track of the pelicans. I stopped for lunch at Manny's, one of the last couple of Italian restaurants in the area. I had a real nice courteous waitress. She brought me my lunch order of spaghetti with garlic toast and unsweetened ice tea. The spaghetti was fixed by a cook who wore his baseball cap backwards. He didn't look like he had an ounce of Italian blood in him, unless he had a blood transfusion. He looked like a beach bar attendee who would hang out at Peanuts bar on the North end of the beach. He wanted to throw out the spaghetti because he stated there was too much of it. The hot spaghetti came in a small dish with a thick layer of mozzarella cheese melted on top of the tomato sauce. The spaghetti was buried on the bottom of the dish. The tomato sauce had a tangy acid flavor which I tried to get rid of with the Parmesan cheese the waitress left me. The garlic toast turned out to curb the acid flavor more than the Parmesan cheese. I consumed the garlic toast very slowly, so I could stretch out the garlic flavor. I ate the whole portion of spaghetti in the small dish. It seemed perfect for lunch. I was tired of Chinese food. I do like Chinese and the one place with the buffet has a lot of items to over stuff me. I like Italian a little better than Mexican. I still hold a resentment to DJ's Burrito for taking over Vincenzo's Italian restaurant. DJ's seems to be doing pretty good with the beach crowds and I guess they deserve the guest. I will simply have to cook my own Italian stuff at home. I will order Domino's pizza, if I have enough loose dollars to spare. However, lots of times frozen pizza with lots of loose side items like mushrooms, onions, olives and green peppers are added. In the times of great job loss, a courteous bag boy is someone greatly appreciated by me the customer. I got to sample two bag boys one from Winn Dixie and the other from Publix. At Winn Dixie I bought two double rolls of toilet paper in separate packages. I paid for the items and the bag boy who was kind of young and good looking tossed my packages into the shopping cart. I asked him if I could have them bagged. "Bagged ?" He placed the first package into the plastic bag the wrong way followed by the statement " Sweet." He bagged the second one and I said "Thank you." His reply was nothing. I made my way out to the car where another bag boy was picking up carts. He did not bother to ask me if he could help me out with the groceries and take my cart. Instead, he went by my cart with me placing my bags inside. I left my cart sideways in the next parking space. He came back and scooped up the cart and took off back towards the store. When I went to Publix, I got two items one was milk and the other was Karo syrup for making pies. The meat guy had to help me get the Karo syrup. It was on the third shelf and I was too short to reach the item. When I paid for the Karo syrup and the milk, the bag boy asked me if I found what I needed. I told him "yes." He asked me if I needed help out to the car. I thanked him and said "no I did not need help." He then told me to have a nice day. This bag boy was also mentally challenged. I could pick this up from his slowed speech. He did a far superior job than the bag boy from Winn Dixie. I left Publix feeling pretty good verses leaving Winn Dixie knowing I had been to the drudge of grocery stores. I also notice no one smiles at the check out lane in Winn Dixie. Speaking of smiles, this is a sunset picture from the North end of New Smyrna Beach. There were young high school students braving the cool weather in jeans and thin summer tops. Chasing each other and picking on an older guy by asking him for money. The girls claimed they hadn't eaten for three days. Mom knew this was a major made up story. Mom and I came home before it got too dark. Mom cooked scallops, corn on the cob and a green melody of vegetables. We settled afterward on television flip the channel watching.

Sunday light

If you could choose another meat for Thanksgiving instead of turkey what would it be? Would it be steak, ham, hot dogs, hamburger or maybe chicken? Would you go all seafood or would you be a surf and turf person? Fortunately, we have our turkeys, with gravy and mashed potatoes and stuffing. This is a picture of a Christmas tree inside Santa's boot. Mom says the temperature is in the forties this morning and it is starting to get light. I don't know what we will be doing today. It still seems a bit early.

Thou shall not eat cake

I fought off temptation. I actually did not crave a morning dosage of sweets offered by The Garden Club of New Smyrna Beach. This was their holiday display of Christmas trees and silent auction with a raffle drawing. I did put the camera to work taking lots of pictures of displayed trees. The goodies were little bake goods which some were complementary while others were being sold. Mom bought a loaf of pumpkin bread which I had part and she had part. There is still some left. Mom fixed the bread up with some cream cheese and it was pretty good. After going to the tree display,our neighbor Pauline took mom and I to the Golden Biscuit where I got a mushroom burger for lunch along with some fries. I split some of it with mom. Pauline had a chicken sandwich with potato chips. Mom said she wasn't so hungry after dining on sweet snack stuff at the tree display. One of the questions on the Millionaire show on television was where was the origin of the Hamburger? The answer was Hamburg, Germany. I don't know how right the information was, but I enjoyed learning something new once in awhile. I just went to the online Wikipedia and they say Hamburger is the pounded Hamburg Steak. In the evening mom decided on cooking hamburger for chili. The chili turned out pretty good with some Ritz crackers crumbled up. It was a nice way to tackle the cold weather.

Adventure in Osteen

I am enjoying my first cup of coffee with my new jar of Gall berry honey bought yesterday in the town of Osteen, Florida. The honey makes the coffee taste so good. The Gall berry honey is suppose to be good for allergies which I have quite often. I enjoyed mom's article about Bikes Inc. I found it to be very informative. She did an excellent job of gathering information from the bike group when they were outside the Osteen diner. She even told them I wanted to take their picture so they posed in a line. I thought the picture turned out real good. This picture was a bit less formal. I caught mom talking to one of the main people involved in the organized bike ride. He filled her in on all the details about the bike riding club and gave her the website which I checked out. It does look pretty formal. I liked lunch at the Osteen Diner which was fried chicken, french fries, apple sauce and bland green beans. They even tossed in some cold dinner rolls with a couple of pads of butter. Mom had an all vegetable plate with some spicy okra which she didn't like. She bought lunch and I bought the honey. I talked with the son of the lady who operated the honey place. His name was Jack. Mom had to search around the property for him. He was in the vegetable garden and he gave mom some sweet potatoes. He came back to drop off more jars of Gall berry honey. I bought three big jars and one small jar of Orange blossom to replace the honey I borrowed out of my sister's jar at home. I planned to give her Orange blossom honey because it is her favorite. Jack gave a little history which I will try to recall. It won't be as informative as the article mom wrote, but I will do what is possible. Jack said he was born in 1951 and the bee hive was started as a Future Farmers of America project in 1963 by his brother. When his brother left for the Air Force after High School the hives had multiplied many times over. The top count of hives they had was 4000. However, now it is like 300 with some located on the West Coast of Florida. When Jack's brother went to the Air Force the bee hive project was taken over by Jack's mom. She still is the main person, but Jack helps out where ever he can. He stated he was rebuilding the septic tank while we were there. Mom noticed he had a back brace and I noticed the big hole in the ground. He kidded about going to Deltona to shower up until this project got fixed to a former classmate who stopped by for some honey. Osteen seems like a small community where people look after each other. It is rare to see some new business pop up like the Dollar General which mom and I tried to see. The Dollar General was loaded with cars, but they weren't officially open yet. Mom saw a sign saying they wouldn't be open until Monday. She was looking for some spare cheap light bulbs which we usually keep on hand. I noticed the Dollar General had four fancy new air conditioning units outside the building. However, I was critical of the construction of the building. The building looked cheaply made to me. It had the siding and the aluminum roof which tornadoes love to destroy. Mom and I missed the Thanksgiving lunch group from her former office which met at the Holiday House in Orlando. However, I do think we had an enriching experience. We learned more about what makes a person's life full and complete. This is one lesson which doesn't get taught at a lunch in Orlando.

Bike Florida, Inc.

The bicycle caravan group stopping over at the Osteen Diner for lunch Nov. 20th are a part of a statewide organization originating out of the University of Florida and headed by an executive director, Linda Crider, a professor and a bicycle enthusiast. This group was just a part of a Bike Florida movement and consisted of a loop that started in Palatka to Titusville and back to Palatka in one day, approximately 50 miles. They averaged 10 to 15 miles a day this trip and included bicyclists who share the expenses and come in all ages and shapes. On this trip, a 78 year -old biker came down from St. Augustine on his bike and met the group at Palatka. They travel with a support vehicle tagging along to provide help if needed and the trip is premanaged so their stops for food and lodging are prearranged and planned ahead. The support vehicle carries a professional film maker and a professional photographer. There is a web site for this coop: bikeflorida.org. Anyone can become members if they have the time, a bike, the muscle and the funds to share expenses.. They ride in single file and wear bright splashy outfits, especially shoes that can grip the pedals, travel country roads, and see historic and native sites that's not seen from a whizzing by car driver. The excursions also serve as models of bike safety and travel pleasure,

Looking ahead

The word Hope is such a longing for a change for something better. I guess this is the reason I blend well with Barack's ideas of change. I would like to see the troops come home and no I don't believe our country will be slaughtered because of this action. In an eight year period of time, the war could have been completed and the economy could have been well on its way to a total recovery. However, this country lingered on with excuses of weapons of mass destruction which could never be located. War groups were used as objects of fear to justify why the US should stay in Iraq. It is time to stop being the Don Quixote of the world. The US can not slay ever dragon that comes our way. It is time to let the rest of the world share in the upkeep of the world's defenses. The job market is in a dire state. Also, too many people are unemployed and will loose their jobs which offer no living security. The optimist part is to bring the money spent on war effort back home to go into our nation's economy. Have jobs created here which will be kept here. Outsourcing would be a word of the distant past. This is where the word Hope comes in. It would make my wishes for a better government on the road to reality. I wait in time with others who think and feel the way I do.

Tuesday's adventure

It is nice to reach for a hot cup of coffee on such a cool morning. I brought the little key lime tree and the little tomato plant inside so they would be protected from the cold weather. We have four key limes on the little key lime tree. Yesterday, mom took me to Wal-mart to pick up the DVD of Wall-E. I was so thrilled and played part of the movie when I got home. We also stopped at Publix on the way home so mom could pick up a gallon of milk. Mom went into the store and I stayed behind in the car. Part of the parking lot was blocked off. There were pave people there from Orlando laying out fresh tar and pounding it down. Plus laying out the parking stripes of the newly redone portion of the parking lot. I noticed the loosely held string to mark off the territory where a car was not permitted to park or drive on. However, there were a few cars that tried to violate this demand and were scolded by the young men laying out the stripes in the parking lot. One lady in the car kept saying she was sorry as she had one of those" I want to crawl under a rock look" as she drove out of the forbidden parking area. I also saw Geico man ride his bicycle around the Publix parking lot with his hobo buddy riding on the handle bars. I also saw a guy on a skate board who looked like Cupie doll man. He was wearing worn faded blue jeans with a hole in the knee cap area. Plus his face was like an angry volcano. He had two silver nugget earring studs at the base of his nose. His hair was a wirely yellow blondish color and was standing in a formation of a slightly turned onion. I figured he hadn't washed his hair in weeks or maybe even months. I was actually hoping for the guy who looked like Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean. However, I don't think I will ever see this guy again. This is a picture of a content seagull. I took his picture the night before and the birds didn't seem to object for me to be close to them. As long as I didn't move much, I was considered to be OK. This morning mom's car goes into the shop so she can get some new tires put on. The mechanic plans to start work around 8. It seems early to me because I kind of gave up this schedule when I was no longer working. There will be other days I can kind of sleep in which I enjoy. I still haven't been able to load my video on to a share website. It seems to take to long to load. I would have to spend like half a day trying to get one video loaded. Right now, I don't seem to have the time or patients for this task. I did send some pictures out which I like to share with other people.

Reflections of yesterday and today

A friend sent a forward about someone who heard the sound of bees coming from their outdoor grill. If I knew they were bees for sure, I would have left them alone. However, this person had a sure way to get rid of the problem of bees by using a indoor fogger also known as a bomb to kill the bees. The bee bomb was administered and the bees died. This person opened part of the grill and a lot of dead bees spilled out on to the floor. However, this person opened up the rest of the grill to find several layers of honey comb partially filled with honey. We do have bees around my house pollinating the flowers. We have lots of flowers including some orange color flowers the bees like very much. I know the bees are producing honey for someone. I buy the honey from someone who raises bee hives in Osteen, Florida. She knows how to harvest the honey and it is always good. She is also full of knowledge about the lifestyle of the bee. The weatherman says cooler weather coming through tonight. Low will be in the upper 30's. I enjoy the cool weather because it makes the air so crispy clean. It is wonderful for deep breathing. Another plus is the joggers don't even break a sweat when jogging on the beach. Yesterday mom took me to the Flagler entrance of the beach again. The pirate captain Jack Sparrow guy who took pictures was not there. However, Geico man had his hair pulled back in a red scarf and still riding a bicycle. Mom originally pulled into the parking area in back of where Geico man was talking with his buddies on a bench. Both mom and I didn't feel comfortable so mom moved the car to the end of the parking lot near The Breaker's Restaurant. I went down the stairs and made my way over to where a large group of seagulls were huddled together on the shoreline. They seemed to accept me without much fuss. There may have been a few which took off in flight, but a majority stayed and huddled in a dazed look. They seemed to be in a world of animated movement. Their legs were like toy stilts mounted just to keep the body of the bird from tumbling over. Some seagulls were plopped on the cold dark wet sand with no legs showing. They weren't too concerned as long as you didn't get close in their invisible territory. They had an invisible fence once you crossed, the seagulls made the effort to get up and expand the wings into a flight motion lifting the body and legs off the ground to find a different location to settle down into a motionless time zone. I braved crossing puddles of sea water to live among the seagulls and had to recross again to return to my car. We couldn't stay, because our neighbor sent her Granddaughter's boyfriend Wayne to fix our furniture. He fixed things with the greatest of ease. He knew about fixing chairs and the bottom of the kitchen table and a drawer which did not close easily. He is a Union welder by trade and is in high demand for jobs all around Volusia and Brevard Counties. His salary is $27.50 an hour and he gets full health and dental benefits. He also cooks for his girlfriend Faith who calls and tells him to bring home a gallon of milk. He says "no problem." Wow, I hope she marries him. Meantime, we have someone handy to help keep our furniture together. Mom and I really appreciate unbroken furniture. Today my favorite character Wall-ee comes out on DVD. I hope I can get it and watch it until I am tired of it. I thought the movie was cute at the movie theater. The picture today is of a shrimp boat with some green color painted along the front of the boat. I am pleased not to take a picture of an all white boat. I think some other colors makes a boat look more real. I saw Dancing with the Stars. I guess the result show will be on tonight. It will be something to look forward to watch.

Monday a new start to a new week

Monday is the start of a new week. Garbage goes out today. Usually we have a lot today because it builds up over the weekend. The new movie Wall-ee comes out on DVD tomorrow. I saw it at the movie theater and just loved it. He is a cross between short circuit and ET. We will have plenty of leftover meatloaf for lunch and dinner sandwiches. I love the cooler weather. It is totally nice for sleeping underneath the warm blankets at night. It is also a good excuse for sleeping in late. It was too cool to get up. There were some photo shots from yesterday which did not turn out too clear. There was one of two girls sitting on top of a lifeguard stand. I took the shot from a distance and the picture was kind of fuzzy. Plus later in the evening the lighting isn't as good. The picture I did decide to use is of a sunset which has some warm glowing yellow colors which blend together nicely in the evening sky. I had a leftover piece of sausage biscuit which I heated in the microwave. It tasted pretty good. The coffee has been cut back to artificial sweetener. I had been using gall berry honey as flavoring. This brand of honey is suppose to be good for allergies. We are running real low and won't make a honey run until Thursday. Right now, I believe mom and I will be going to the Thanksgiving lunch at the Holiday House on Lee Road. This will be my first time at the new location. I do miss the old location next to what use to be Ben white Raceway where horses in jog carts were raced. My ex brother in law was a trainer there. He traveled the circuit down from New York. Meanwhile, I will just enjoy the changes to the new Holiday House and more than likely overstuff on the turkey dinner. I hope for a good future ahead and love the cooler weather now.

Life on the beach

Finally, the temperature has dropped from 80's to 50's and maybe even as low as 45. Mom took me out this evening so I could get some ideas of what to write in my blog. We went over to the North end of the beach. I got to see Geico man riding a bicycle so fast it looked like a smudge on my camera and I tried taking his picture twice. I struck up a conversation with a guy that looked like Johnny Depp in "Pirates of the Caribbean." He looked like Captain Jack Sparrow but with a broken foreign accent. He had a Cannon camera with a extended lens taking snap shots of people on the shoreline. He also went on to the shoreline and was shooting up and down the coastline. I also discovered he took nice shots of the shuttle taking off the other night. I shared my story of my amateur shuttle video. He chuckled and showed me pictures of a bright light ascending into the sky and traveling through a layer of clouds. His camera also pulsated light like mine did as I made my video. His secret was a tripod to hold the camera steady and to be in a quiet place. Both are sound pieces of advice, but sometimes I just act on the impulse. There wasn't many birds braving the cooler weather. I also think most of them settle in someplace at night to sleep. I did see the pigeons logged in the steeple part of the park structure. They were lined up like a counsel league in a square able to pass judgement on the world below. The wind was null or non existent. There was a camera guy from Channel 13 just getting some evening shots to use on the weather reports. I miss the wind blowing on my face. It also helps stir up the waves. There were some waves, but not too many. The ocean is still nicknames Lake Atlantic for it's stillness appearance. It looks like you could take a row boat and just paddle across to the Bahamas or Cuba . The wind helps me to reflect on the day's events. I also love to see the Pelicans and Seagulls ride the air currents. It is like art work in a large fashion. What kind of statement can a Pelican or a Seagull make riding an air current? The gliding motion of the birds wings expanding so long without any effort to flap and just to glide is such freedom only shared among birds or maybe someone who is crazy about flying. The fact they feel like no man can touch them and they can glide forever is something preserved through history. As long as the birds don't go extinct.

The weather is turning cooler

Organic verses non Organic, bleached flour verses unbleached or whole wheat flour, processed verses non-processed burgers and chicken. Organic burgers and chicken verses non Organic burgers and chicken. Does an Organic turkey really taste better than a Butterball frozen turkey? Is the meat anymore tender? I would venture to guess without looking it up that Organic is of the earth without chemical pesticides or hormones. I know some animals like chickens are given growth hormones to make a bigger more meatier chicken. Is this harmful to humans? I complained once to a potato chip company for putting MSG in their potato chips. They responded by sending five bags of chips for me to try and use. They defended the use of mono sodium glutamate as a preservative. Needless to say, I enjoyed the five bags of potato chips. My sister wants a Organic turkey for Thanksgiving. Mom agreed without any objections. I guess this will be our meal come turkey day.

Busy can be fun

I made this over excited video of last night's shuttle launch of "The Endeavor. " The launch seemed to happen so fast that my thinking process went out the door. I did not set up where to take the best angle shot for the launch. Instead, the first shot I get is of the moon and then swinging the camera over in a frantic motion I got the lights of someones carport across the street. Finally in a shaky fashion I focus in on the light merging in between two houses which grew brighter until the shuttle light emerged in full glory. Last night I felt I gave the worst spokesman a run for his money. I sounded like I was at a football game giving a blow by blow description of what play was being executed. "I heard this is the last shuttle ever," I stated in a frantic voice. However, after the shuttle made its rise to fame the light started to dim. The separation of the Solid Rocket Boosters occurred creating a smaller dimmer light which almost faded totally out. My voice followed in this fashion. It slowly sounded like someone letting air out of a tire. The power and excitement was being deflated and replaced by a disappointed drained the show is over personality. Yep, I was like the two year old who had his favorite toy taken away. The life and fun was gone. I am only hoping that I am able to capture the film on" You tube", so I can share it with all my e-mail buddies. It was an experience I wished they could have seen in person. It was like seeing some cosmic historical event which would never again appear in my lifetime. All the drama of the flapping door which NASA didn't latch seemed to fade away. I guess the next step will be to watch the television to see the astronauts land on the International Space Station and start their repair work. They plan on adding an extra module, installing an extra bathroom and kitchenette. Plus, they are bringing the turkey dinners to the rest of the crew of the International Space Station. There are four space walks planned. It does sound like an interesting time. I forgot to mention after the shuttle launch came the sound of the engines roaring down the coastline generated like giant helicopter wing spin noises. This was also fun to listen from my house. Today mom goes to the farmer's market. We need to go get some fresh honey which is located in the town of Olsteen. I don't know if we will make it today. Plus the picture on today's blog is what we will be missing. Today is the exhibit of World War 2 planes which they have every year. This year an admission fee is a can of dog food to help the dogs at the local Humane Society. There is suppose to be a K-9 show at 1 p.m. in the afternoon. Two other events are suppose to take place. One our neighbor Pauline is sending her Granddaughter's boyfriend Wayne over to bring back a broken chair which he fixed. The other event is our neighbor Laurel is suppose to be taken to the beauty parlor for her Saturday hair beauty makeover.

May the shuttle launch make us feel proud to belong to the USA

Tonight at 7:55 p.m. is the shuttle launch of the Endeavor. Hopefully it will launch without any mistakes. The flame in the sky should be a neat sight to see along with the moon. The flame from the shuttle turns night into day if only for a short time. It is also cool to see the light reflected on the ocean water. Afterwards, I will be able to hear the rumble of the engines traveling in helicopter sounding waves down the coast until it reaches us and moves past us to keep traveling further down the coast until the sound finally dies out. I wonder if anyone has ever measured the distance down the coast the shuttles engine noise travels. Last night, both mom and I saw the moon rise over the ocean from the car. Mom traveled across the main road to the end of our street. We glanced at the big orange ball rising over the ocean. Mom was only able to get to the sight quickly by car. We also had to turn around and come home. We had items like fresh chicken from the local grocery store which had to be refrigerated. I learned from Lillian in Pine Hills that the only moon she saw was a pale white light in the daytime sky. She did not get to experience a big orange ball rising over the ocean sky. Instead, her life is consumed with wedding plans and details to work out for her upcoming wedding next year to Aaron. Lillian is now wearing Aaron's engagement ring. It is a shiny reminder on how she has lost her independence. Her free days are numbered. Lillian will have to pack her belongings and travel to the land of Delaware where her private stuff has a place in Aaron's basement. Lillian won't be working for a while so her spending funds will be limited. All the local restaurants Lillian use to go to like Olive Garden and Red Lobster will be a thing of the past. She will have to eat her own cooking. I called her last night when the night and weekend rates applied to the cell phone. I got to tell her that her former co worker expressed an interest in attending her wedding. I think she was thrilled with the news. Meantime, she is trying to get the stuff to make her wedding dress and set up catering for the reception.

Stuff to do for Thursday and Friday

Tomorrow evening is suppose to be a shuttle flight. Providing all the weather conditions and mechanical conditions prove favorable NASA will launch the shuttle at 7:55 p.m. There won't be too many shuttle flights after this one. It seems another chapter of history is being buried. This picture is of just one pelican who decided to hang around to look for a fish dinner underneath the South Bridge. He seems to be doing OK by himself. Today, Publix is hosting a series of free samples this evening. The store will set up food exhibits all around different parts of the store. Mom says you can get a whole meal there. You can eat a main meal and get a small sample of wine. They usually have small samples of salad and dessert may be a small ice cream sample. Plus, there may be drawings for free stuff inside the store.

Talking about the moon

Last night I went out front to gaze at the full moon. I could hear in the distance the millions of gallons of water rushing into the shoreline like someone left the faucet running and there is a slight puddle leak just down the hallway. I actually went outside more than once and the moon was in an overhead position the second time which was later in the evening. I didn't stay out for a long time. The temperature was not as cool as I would have liked it. The breeze didn't seem to blow enough. I could hear the crickets in the background just not singing as loudly as other nights. I wonder if it would be this nice when the shuttle is suppose to take off on Friday at 7:55 in the evening after dark? I don't know where mom and I will spend Thanksgiving. Mom had me buy two frozen Hungry Man Turkey dinners from Food Lion. They had a buy one get one free special. I have enjoyed the cool weather we did have. I am also grateful the weather is not in the 90's. I remember going on organized moonlight horseback rides years ago when I had a pony which my parents paid to keep him on this farm called Windy Acres. They would have rides which I thought were fun. I also thought their hayrides were fun. I remember my mom and sister would toss hay at the young couples who would be smooching on the hayride. They would cease from their smooching because the hay would bother them. Do you remember moon pies? I remember they were very good tasting and very sweet. I remember songs like "Moon River and Fly me to the Moon." I remember a later song of "Moonlight seems right." On the e-mail, my mom got a song about a" Boogie Woogie." This sounded so similar to the theme sound on American Bandstand. I was amazed by the closeness of the melodies. I hope today will be a cheerful one full of positive ideas.

It is Veteran's day

Veteran's day means television will be dominated by war pictures. The banks and post office will be closed. A few restaurants like Golden Corral will be offering specials for Veterans. Yesterday was a pretty nice day as far as the weather was concerned. It was a little on the cool side, but the sky was so blue and there was a full moon high in the sky before dark. It was just a white image perched well over the South bridge like the Osprey perch high on a power line looking down to see what moves. The moon was soft and white in color without the glowing light you would normally see after dark. Yesterday there were hibiscus in bloom with both deep red and peachy orange outside my front door. It was a colorful sight to see when we arrive home or just when we stepped outside our front door. The picture here is a couple of pelican buddies on a quest for a fish dinner under the South Bridge. They would occasionally dive into the water and scoop up the fish with their beaks. They would drift only so far when they would start to fly off returning to their perchs along the underside of the South Bridge. The two pelicans eventually parted ways with one going one direction and the other going the other direction. I don't know if they will ever meet up again. On the way home, mom went by the North entrance of the beach. I looked in the sky and saw a whole long ripple wave of a line of pelicans flying over the shoreline in formation. They very rarely break formation when flying over the ocean sky. Mom and I did not stop at the North entrance of the beach. It looked very plain and uninviting. We went home where mom cooked a baked chicken dinner and we settled in to watch Dancing with the Stars.

Things to do on Sunday

Yesterday afternoon, I watched some of the movie on television again on Flight 93. This was the plane which landed in a fiery crash in Pennsylvania. The movie ignited feelings of anger, frustration, and helplessness. I have never traveled on a plane before, but I understood what it meant to be a victim on a doomed plane. The anger I felt was towards the traffic control people who were slow at deciding what to do with a hijacked plane. Passing the responsibility to the next person with no one making decisions used up a lot of valuable time. When they knew there was a hijacked plane, the other planes should have been grounded right away. However, this was a decision made further down the line. I felt anger towards the brainwashed robots who had no feelings towards preserving human life. The young men labeled terrorist who fed on the fear of others to benefit their unholy cause. The pain and anguish they caused a nation and people around the world to endure when the World Trade Center was demolished. The brave souls whom attempted to take back the plane on flight 93 stopped a plane from crashing into another place where more innocent people would have perished. The people on flight 93 were at least able to call some of their love ones to tell them goodbye on their cell phones. It was a small closure to a shorten life. The helplessness I felt was not to be able to change the past. I only hope the future I see is filled with positive feelings of good opportunities. I would like to see positive changes in being able to get a job and keep it. Plus, a good health care system with lower premiums. I would like to see the birds of the wild preserved like the osprey nest and the eagle's nest. I would also like to see more turtle nest preserved. I would also like to see growth limited to where it doesn't bother the trees and change the makeup of the land. I don't like seeing development carved into layers of dirt like a big giant hole in the ground. The people living there would have one giant indoor swimming pool. Plus mold,roaches,snakes and maybe a gator as move in guest. This picture was taken at a art festival yesterday on Flagler which is on the North end of the beach side. The dog was laying down behind the tent where the guy who won Best in Show with his camera shot was located. Mom and I only saw part of the show. When we started to look at the other half, they were closing up. We decided to go home for the evening, eat dinner and watch some television. It was a pretty good day.

Beach evening

I was happy to see the ocean at sunset last night. I captured a pretty picture of the sunlight reducing it's bulb wattage. The colors kind of softened in the evening sky and reflect the soften light on the palm leaves. Mom took me to the end of our street next to the new condominium called The Wave. The Wave looks like the comic book picture of " The Daily Planet " from the comic book character Superman. The color of the condo is a light blue with a lot of construction plaster along the base of the building. The building stands very tall and is the first line of defense if a hurricane should come from the ocean. This build would make a great wind breaker. I bet there will be some grand sunrises from one of those condo rooms facing the ocean. There were some pelicans flying overhead, but I could not capture a picture. My timing wasn't right. The picture I tried to take turned out fuzzy. The pelicans always seem to fly in formation. When I was trying to get their picture. They kind of circled around a condo on the beach and flew over my head. I felt this to be very entertaining, but I just couldn't capture the right shot. This morning all the political shows will give their views on the issues the new President Elect has to deal with leading up to his oath of office. I am also enjoying my coffee and playing online video games. I hope we get some nice weather to enjoy the outside, but if it rains I won't be upset. We also need the rain.

Let us look ahead

This has to be one of my favorite pictures of Lillian. She is at the Italian restaurant in Ocoee, Florida standing next to the owner. The food has always been good there. Mom and I had a good Italian restaurant in New Smyrna Beach, but they sold out to DJ's burrito. I don't think DJ's burrito would do a good job, unless they had some good liquor to wash it down. The owner in Ocoee likes Bocelli music and the restaurant usually plays opera and Italian music by different artist. The elections are over and a lot of signs have come down. There are a few which hang on. I also drive by the Republican headquarters on my way home from the movies and there is only one small sign posted along the road " Republican Victory Headquarters." It is kind of sad to look at. This is a want to be which did not happen. It is nice to have a young President elect who is willing to roll up his sleeves and really dig deep into different issues like the US economy, dealing with foreign countries, making the transition into the White house and establishing a cabinet. This is quite a tall order for someone new. Plus, getting a puppy for his two daughters. There will be some interesting times ahead for everyone.

My phone service is back

Thursday night my phone service went out. My sister got through on the Internet and they sent a phone truck out and fixed the phone line in some distant phone land. I don't have much to say today; except for, I talked with Lillian last night on the cell phone and she is going to pre-marriage counseling with Aaron over the weekend. She says she is overwhelmed with all the wedding plans. However, she is starting to get things together. I can see it all working out for her OK. I am Happy! Happy! Happy about the phone service being back. I can now play online games on the Internet and check the movie schedule for the weekend.

Would you date Geico Man?

Mom and I arrive late in the afternoon on the North entrance of the beach. We went to the overhanging structure. I can not call it a park because it doesn't have any grass or trees. The structure is a place with benches where people can sit with their dogs and birds. They can look out at the ocean and reflect on their daily lives. They can walk over to the railing and really hear the sound of the ocean waves crashing into the shoreline. They can feel the ocean air blow against their faces. I speak of people from all walks of life. Mom has been aware of a few unsightly characters whom she thought came from the local bar named" Peanuts." I guess they would work off the alcohol with loud conversation and other things you just don't want to investigate too closely. I walk past one of those benches where I see a backpack on the bench, sandals on the ground and a guitar case next to the backpack. I had seen an older guy with raggedy blond hair sitting on the bench. I just wondered to myself if he played the guitar. Maybe, he was a street musician who just liked traveling the country. I didn't ask. Instead, I took my camera and started my picture taking section with the shrimp boats out on the open water and the beach people braving the cold water next to the shoreline. I had worked my way from the place where this guy was to the other end where the restaurant" The Breakers" was located. At this end I captured the guy who normally comes down and feeds the pigeons with a big bucket of food. He likes to get the pigeons to take the food from his hands. The pigeons are willing to do this because they like to eat. After my share of picture taking pigeons, I kind of glance down at the other end and this big mated hair thing was wildly talking to the older guy and jumping around like some sort of monkey. This was Geico man. He looked like the caveman on the Geico commercials. I remembered the quote" It's so easy a caveman can do it." The mated hair, the face and the eyes. He wasn't your typical Joe the plumber guy. Underneath all the mated hair, I figured the guy was in his twenties. He was a white guy with a nice tan tattoo on his arm. The mated hair was a bad case of dreadlocks want a be with some real grey looking mated tubes of hair hanging down the side of his head. Personally, I do not like seeing dreadlocks on anybody. I compare dreadlocks to Medusa, the mythological creature who wore snakes on top of her head. I kind of looked at him and he kind of looked at me. He had the look of this is my territory do not tread. I sort of wanted his picture, but I did not feel welcomed in his territory. These two were street people or hobo living people. They were joined by a third person with a couple of rings in his nose. They all picked up their gear and were starting to leave. Geico Man had the guitar along with a backpack with a cooking pan tied to the back of the backpack. I saw them leave down the road where "Peanuts" the bar was located. The life of a street person or hobo is one of not being tied down to one location and has no oblicgations to anyone. They were three free guys with baggy pants and could go anyplace they chose. I guess they have a place where they can call home for the night. Mom and I went to our home and dined on leftovers.

A new adventure

The country has a new President Elect. His name is Barack Obama. He is a young African/American Senator from Illinois with a wife, two young daughters and a puppy ready to move into the White house in January. I saw Oprah Winfrey in the front row with her boyfriend Stedmon at the acceptance speech. I must have fallen asleep during the speech because it was well after midnight. Mom said this was to signify a new day. This means that Sarah Palin goes back to being Governor of Alaska and dealing with Trooper Gate. I have a feeling this issue won't go away until she states her position on why she made the choices she did. John McCain made the most gracious defeat speech I have ever heard. He thanked everyone who supported him and was willing to go back and be a servant of the people as a Senator. He did not understand why the election went the way it did, but he was accepting of fact the American people had chosen their point of view. The speech wasn't long , but the music was dynamic worthy of a couple of Mavericks which gave a good try at the run for President. The rest of the country understood what John McCain failed to grasp. It was the state of the Economy. The lack of security of Jobs. It is not only to get a job, but to keep the job for years to come. Plus, having a health care package which your job helps you to afford. If John McCain had grasp this concept he would have stood a better chance at being elected. Barack spoke my language as well as millions of other people. Money in the pockets of ordinary people speak very loudly. The trickle down economics of the Reagan years is a total failure. It does not work. The money doesn't dribble down to the working class. It either stays with the wealthy or gets shipped overseas. I am hoping Barack can stay focused and find ways to deal with undoing the money situation our current President will pass on to us. Meanwhile, the local races turned out the way I had hoped. Suzanne Kosmos defeated Tom Feeney and Ben Johnson got re elected as Sheriff of Volusia County. Jerry Demmings got elected as Sheriff of Orange County. The current Sheriff of Orange County Kevin Berry will be moving on to the private sector. He will also be able to spend more time with his family. Kevin Berry had a colorful past, but leaves the office to someone very capable to carrying on law enforcement to the highest quality possible. I made little pop in the oven tart dishes. These were little tart shells lined with cheddar cheese and white Amish cheese and a little onion cooked for about five minutes and topped with some roast beef. Plus smothered with mustard. I also made my own version of pigs in a blanket. The main ingredients were Pillsbury frozen Croissant rolls and Beef Ballpark franks. I rolled the hot dogs in the Croissant dough and cut them into slices. I baked them in the oven until the little mini rolls were golden brown and the dogs sizzled in the heat. There were lots more made than the six dollar pre made Cohen dogs. Plus, the taste was the same as I remembered the Cohen dogs to taste. I drank a little more coffee to get my mind thinking. It is the day after the election filled with new possibilities. I hope there are many more positive days ahead.

Is this the Superbowl or is this Politics?

There is a lot to the question from T-Pal in the old Star Trek series " Are thee Vulcan or are thee human?" The translation is what side of the fence are you sitting on? I have made my Political choices and now all that is left is to fix the food for tonight's returns. I bought a couple packages of small pastry shells. They can be cooked with any filling inside we want to eat. The packages were only a $1.98 each. The hot dogs Beef Ball Park franks are going to be cooked in a croissant type of roll. They do sell the all ready to pop in the oven version, but this was in the six dollar range which was way too high. I remember paying three dollars for this and I have principles. The merchants won't budge on raising prices , so I try to cut corners where I can. I look at it as being frugal. I paid $1.50 for baby shampoo from the Dollar Store. I think this was a pretty good deal. I also got a small box of Tyson's chicken tenders. I also got some Chunky Salsa and mild cheese dip from the Dollar Store. There may be some preparation for us to eat, but I think everything will work out. Glendon, my sister, works at the polls today. She is in for a long gruelling day. Mom wants to see if there are any long lines at the polls today. We may be riding around in the car to find out.

A reflection of the election

What gloomy rainy weather we had yesterday. Mom and I had our morning argument over going to church. I wasn't the one who wanted to go. She said she had to literally drag me there. I walked into the church and found a seat towards the back. I didn't sit at the end thinking not many people would have shown up so we would be alright. The music started on the organ and I thought "Halloween isn't over yet." It was like we had walked into a funeral pallor with the music looming in the background. We had one person on my mom's side take up the end seat and I saw the other side was still free. I thought if I had to go to the ladies restroom I wouldn't have to tread over people. I was wrong. The end side of my pew filled up with two people. Yikes, I am stuck here for an hour. There was a chorus of people in front who didn't have choir robes, but sung OK and on key. However, the first song they sung was fit for a funeral, I thought this is where to go when it is my time. I had totally forgotten it was All Souls Day. I was thinking the sermon would be something political in nature, because it was so close to the election. The priest reminded the audience which included me it was All Souls Day. This meant that all your departed relatives were remembered and kindly thought about. The priest who was originally from Ireland went into a story of when he took a sabbatical in the country near a mountain. He and thirty other priest held a mass in some old ruins of a church. This building was way old and had no roof. It just seemed to have a skeleton structure and nothing else. There was one extra priest who was the guide saying" the past was still there. " When the priest held their mass, people from the past were present to help them celebrate. This held deep meaning for the current Irish priest who runs the church mom and I attended. The way the priest describe the area, I had a mental picture of a mountain with a touch of fog and lots of green surrounding the area. I told mom I would liked to have seen pictures. Mom said maybe like the power point we encountered when attending a musical given at the Methodist church. They had a big giant movie screen and could put up words to a song on the screen. I would like to have seen pictures of Ireland done the same way. This sermon saved the church service. The rest of the day was still gloomy, but there was lots of good television. I lost my desire to see a movie with a bad rating in the local paper. According to the paper, there was nothing good playing at the local movie theater this week. Today is the day before election day. Mom said to load up on the goodies. I have a desire to eat crackers with cheese, meats, onions and maybe an olive or tomato on top. I also expressed an interest in the little chicken drumettes, patties or nuggets. I also like the little pastries with the tiny hot dogs buried inside. Maybe even a little pastry puff filled with cream cheese and a little spinach inside. Tomorrow is a celebration no matter how the election turns out. It will finally be here and it will be over. The decisions will be established and we will have our next President. The local races will also be decided. It should be a night of good television. Mom want to get a jump ahead on getting rid of the political signs in our yard. Today is trash day. Hopefully they will pick up these signs. This over sized sign in the picture will probably end up in the trash after Tuesday. Bush doesn't move out of the White house until the new President is sworn in. This should be January 20,2009 if the date is right. Bush will join the ranks of former Presidents before him. I see a library, book circuits and talk shows in his future. Plus, Texas gets their hero home to stay.

Political puddles

Yesterday, my last day as a political phone person was to call people in the Deltona area to remind them to get out and vote. These were people I never met or will probably never meet in my life. Most of the people I called were not home and had answering machines take their calls which I did not leave a message. I did talk to a couple of people who would vote on Tuesday. After my session was over, I walked out the door and felt free. The bonds of commitment were gone and what do I do? I go home and raid the refrigerator for leftovers. The picture here is of our local library where early voting is taking place. Last night was the last night for early voting. As you can see in the picture, the place was littered with political signs from both the Democrats and the Republicans. The trip to the library was our latest adventure before the sun went down. Mom wanted to see if any long lines were still there at the library. The lines were gone, but lots of people were still there. Mom encouraged me to get my camera out and take some pictures. She wanted me to get the one of the giant O'BAMA sign on the side of the SUV. I grab my camera leaving the camera case in the car. I place the carrying strap around my neck and walked across the parking lot to see several good camera shots. I got one of the giant O'BAMA sign and the VW car which had all sorts of signs on top and on the back of the car. Shortly after I got my pictures an argument broke out between two poll workers and someone I found out later was a McCain supporter. She was a short lady with long bleach blond hair and wearing a red cap which had the McCain emblem on it. The poll workers were scolding her and telling her to stay behind the lines. They threatened her with calling the cops to have her taken away. Both mom and I looked at each other and knew this was serious business. She mildly seemed to disagree with them as authoritative figures. She had my sympathy until she turned around and gave mom and I the stare. This was my first glance at her McCain hat which really stood out at that point in time. I was a little afraid she was going to rip the camera right off my neck. She soon went on her way. Mom and I went back to the car with mom stating she knew this gal was crazy. We got back into the truck and went home to a dinner of corn on the cob and spinach. Both were real good. There were more political ads and political shows on television. I just want it to be over. I want to go back to enjoying the pelicans,seagulls, and sandpipers. I want to see boats traveling on the water. I want to see pelicans traveling the wind currents. I want to hear seagulls begging for food. I also want the fishermen to catch all the fish they can hold. The simple things in life like family, environment and friends when they aren't too busy. Those are the treasures which hold no price.

What a catch

Halloween is over and November is here.

Here is the main catch

Lets cook it well and drink another beer.

How shall we cook the fish fried baked or grilled?

As long as it is cooked well enough then I am totally thrilled.

Food on the table a fresh ocean delight.You will find me ready, willing and able to enjoy a fish dinner tonight.

This is a picture of the fish which were caught below the North Bridge pylons. The fisherman have quite a wonderful catch to take home and eat.