Ringing in Hope for the New Year

This is the last day of 2008. Tomorrow starts a new year 2009 and come January 20, 2009 we get a new President. The swearing in takes place at noon. It is like changing of the guards. I am counting the days until it is here. Meantime, before 2008 comes to a close NASA slips in the report about what happened to Columbia and her crew the last final moments of their lives. According to the report the crew was doomed. Their space suits weren't pressurized. The trauma of loosing control of their ship breaking up killed them. I don't know if it brings closure to the families after six years. I would believe the families would have moved on with their lives. If I were in the position of a family member, I would feel lots of hurt to know or see in writing my family member had suffered at the end of the flight. The television had the husband of one of the crew believing his wife didn't suffer at the end. I hope he can hold on to this thought to give him some peace. NASA thinks they can learn from this report when the shuttle program is going to shut down in 2010. The time to fix the problem is not after the accident. The time to act is before the tragedy. One good thing has come is an inspection of the body for damage after the astronauts arrive in space. If there were a serious problem, the shuttle could dock with the space station until a rescue shuttle was sent up to take the astronauts home. The Orion project doesn't sound much better. This is suppose to be the replacement for the shuttle. It is a return to the rockets of the late sixties and early seventies. I don't know if they want to recapture the glories of the past flights, but times have changed and NASA is behind in changing with them. I believe the spaceships should look more like the ones you see on television. There should be teams of engineers figuring new ways to propel the ship from earth to the moon and beyond. Space flight may need to rely more on Nuclear energy. It may also need to harness solar light and solar radiation. There should be lots more research done on growing plant life in space. Does growing plant life in space alter the genetic makeup of the plant? Can solar plant nurseries be a thriving businesses in Africa? Can solar energy be used to run a plant that converts salt water to fresh water? Can a whole line of these plants be started along the Coast of Africa? If these plants were successful, could this change the desert terrain to usable farm land? I believe we as a nation are in the infant stages of space exploring. We have not made use of all of our talents to improve world conditions. The economy can only improve through job growth. Job growth comes when people have a reason to explore uncharted growth areas. I would rather see the people improvement area be explored verses the people destruction area which is the building of killing devices which brings no resolution to war. The war on poverty is more important than the war on who is right or who is wrong. This is my hope for the coming year and beyond.

Reflections of sea life

Mom and I went to the North end of the beach on Flagler. The tide was out and there were lots of people on the beach. There were also lots of pigeons and seagulls on the beach. Mom went down to the shoreline with some popcorn and she was very popular with the seagulls. They all flocked around her squawking and begging for food. When the food was gone they still stood around with longing looks of hoping for one more piece of popcorn or some kind of food. I guess it would take a whole mountain of bird food to get them stuffed so they wouldn't be interested in another drop of food. I am glad my camera captures distant shots. Looking at this picture makes me wonder what it was like to drive the boat where capturing shrimp and other fish was a way of life. The preparation to get it ready to sell must be hard work. I wonder if the fish and shrimp has to be government inspected or state inspected? What kind of mark up price would they sell to the food markets? How restricted is the type of fish they catch? I love seafood, but I think what I get to eat comes from other places. There was suppose to be some whales swimming south off the Volusia Coast. I heard this on the television news. However, I didn't see any signs of this occurring in the waters today. I see quite a few young people just hanging around down by the beach. It is like they have no compass in life. They gather in small groups and occasionally the guys would tease the girls. Mom and I left early before the sun went down. As we were leaving, mom and I caught a glimpse of "The Breakers" grilled hamburgers. I don't have to taste one to know they are mouth watering good. Mom cooked a baked chicken dish which required mushroom soup. It was pretty good. Tomorrow will be New Years EVE. This meant champagne, food and lots of talk.

Tuesday is drifting along

I got Gator's picture to be posted real soon. I was playing Hip soft placing presents into a cargo train and be timed . I play until I loose the game. When I loose I give up and say "that's it." The game is very additive which I don't want to take up that much time. I picked up the Champagne yesterday at Moe's liquor down the street from us. It is a Taylor's brand which means the grapes are grown in New York. I figured it was time to support New York verses California. Plus Taylor makes a good Port wine. The coffee this morning is eight o'clock coffee in a Folgers plastic can. I will use it up and then open the new Folgers coffee and switch the lids. The Colombian comes in a black lid so I switch it out for the gold one because it looks prettier. Velvet is in the background. However, the picture cut out her head. I was focused on Gator and I got him. Pretty soon the new calendars go up. It should be kind of neat looking at a new calendar. I only got to visit CVS to pick up some medicine. I cooked a roast and potatoes and apple pie. Mom and I dined on leftovers last night. Bits of roast on crackers with cheese and bits of onion to top off a mini treat. I think I will be caught up in the new Bachelor show about a single dad looking for love out of 25 young girls with super figures. There is no one on this show even slightly over sized. I guess it is better than the Survivor show where the contestants are malnourished on rice for three months. Richard Hatch who won the first show of Survivor was overweight to begin with. He slimmed down without loosing much energy. He didn't seem to suffer as much as the rest of the contestants. 2009 is looking like it will be an interesting year.

Getting things in order

I am so happy. I finally figured how to get back into my icq mail account. I have an icq number which I never paid much attention. I always thought my icq address would gain me access to my account. I was wrong. Over the weekend I could not gain access and grew frustrated. I could not get any direct tech help. They have a tech board full of other icq lost customers. This is especially due to AOL taking over the operation. There are a few bugs in the system. I had my coffee and feel pretty perked this morning. It is still too early for the sun to come up. This is garbage day and we found out there will be no pick up on New Year's day which turns out to be Thursday. Mom and I had the second day beef stew with a big salad for dinner. I am hoping for the roast in the frig for today's dinner meal.Cooler weather is suppose to come back starting tonight. I would like it a little bit cooler. I haven't thought as far as New year's eve or New years day. I just hope it will be a good one. Lots of new stuff coming like a new President, the Casey Anthony trial, and maybe some new movies. This is a picture of Velvet drinking water from inside the mini pasture.

Sunday Morning

I can not believe how time seems to fly. I try and sleep for a few minutes and it seems to turn into hours. The sun is up and the neighbor across the street just went down in her pj's to get the newspaper. Mom is making breakfast and I don't know if I will go to the movies today. There are two movies I would like to see. One is "Marley and Me." The other one is "Nixon/Frost." The weather is warm this weekend, but the weatherman says it will turn cool next week. I am looking forward to it.

Back at home

I am back home in New Smyrna not listening for roosters crowing or the train whistling down the tracks in the distance. The one window I have to look outside has the blinds pulled shut. The reason is so the world is locked away. The weather is suppose to stay warm over the weekend and turn cooler next week. This is a picture of Glendon's baby horses. The one next to the camera with the red mane is Gator and the black one in the background is Velvet. Gator is a gelled male horse and Velvet is a filly. Gator was playing with Velvet yesterday before we left to come home. Gator rared up and pawed at Velvet in a playful fashion and then rolled on the ground after Velvet rolled on the ground. The roosters would have a crow off around 4 a.m. in the morning. Glendon has two roosters Golden Boy who sleeps in the trees with one hen and Feather duster who sleeps with the other hens. They both would set off crowing in response to the neighbor's roosters crowing.

Last day at Glendon's place

Today, the day after Christmas when you normally take stuff like clothes back to the store, mom and I will be returning home to the beach. Mom will be taking us back to the beach. The days of farm life will be gone for now. We will take some eggs with us and maybe some chicken manure. I can never get enough pictures. The time just seems too short. Glendon goes back to work this morning, but will be home this afternoon. I made a pot of coffee good and strong. Everyone including me will have the extra kick they need to start the morning good. Come to think about it, my strong coffee even gave Joe the extra kick he needed to start the morning. I will take my Gator stuff back to the beach. I love the gator stuff. It is so fitting before the final game to get loaded with gator stuff. This is a way to show my support for the team. I hope they cream the "Oklahoma Sooner team." Glendon just got up and grabbed a cup of my strong coffee. She went into the living room. I know she will turn the fan off ,because she doesn't like the fan blowing on her. I love to sleep with the fan blowing on me. She just turned on the Christmas lights and I may hear the television in a minute. She probably wants to catch the weather to see what her weekend will be like here and at work. She leaves here so early. It is barely daylight when she gets to work. She says it is a holiday weekend so she can park closer to her work place. She normallyparks down the hill so she won't have to pay for a parking sticker. I guess parking fees can get expensive. The turkey seemed so well behaved this time around. I made sure the chickens got food so they would lay some good eggs. Glendon has a small garden planted with some tiny plants. There is so many projects here it seems like a full time job and then some to keep on top of everything or even ahead on improvements. I would love to see some interesting shrubs placed along the front fence line facing the road. I like to see stuff with lots of flowers making almost a hedge so the traffic is not visiable from the road. They can not see you and you can not see them. I would like to see the same shrub line the fence along the entrance to the property. The road would have a flowery hedge along each side you looked. The horses would barely be able to peak out. Glendon has been playing nurse maid to her sick horses with runny noses. She gave Shooter her last antibiotic shot last night. She now only has to deal with Tumbleweed. Tumbleweed is the oldest of all the horses. She is like the Great, Great, Grandmother to all the horses. She also has selective hearing when you call her. She seems to go where she wants no matter what you say. Mom and I have a lot of stuff to pack and take back with us to the beach. It will be sad to leave the animals and the country way of life, but it will be good to get home and unpack and take my shoes off and relax for a short time. I know there will be lots of stuff to do at home, but I can take a short break to recharge my inner energy battery. I think mom will do the same.

Christmas 2008

Merry Christmas to Everyone in 2008. May you be blessed with a wonderful New Year and good health and safety. May the New Year bring lots of paying jobs and wealth back to USA.

Merry Christmas Eve

Christmas eve has been good so far. We have just returned from looking at Christmas lights in Williston. Glendon, Mom and I drove by the North Florida Memorial Hospital and saw a spectacular display of lights around a man made pond. There were all sorts of lights and Christmas figures like the Nativity scene and Santa. We also used Glendon's two gift cards to Carabbas for the spaghetti dinner both Glendon and I got. She got hot spicy Italian sausage with her spaghetti and I got meat sauce and mushrooms with mine. Mom got butter saute scallops and a couple of shrimps done on the grill. Joe our friend and secondary adoptive family member left for his daughter's house around noon today. This is an earlier picture of Joe holding his daughter's baby. His daughter Theresa is standing kind of in front of him. Theresa's husband John Mark is in back. They are in the front yard of his old house in Pine Hills where Joe grew up. Joe has changes since he has moved to Minnesota. He lost his thin figure and is more robust. He fixed the best steak on the grill. He purchased the top variety of meats from Winn Dixie. He got New York Strip, T-bone and Sirloin. Joe wants to return to the way he looks in this picture and maybe in time this would happen. However, it is so easy to slip off the wagon when someone presents you with 2 pounds of chocolate candy or you sister gets some grand chocolate cookies. There was no pecan or key lime pie this year, but chocolate was our main theme. Joe said he would take the turkey home with him if he had his head chopped off for turkey dinner. Fortunately, this did not happened. The turkey " General" will live to gobble another day. I found he has been on his good behavior since I have been here. Joe brought us political debate, opinions of women's place in society, a sharp to the point image of Pine Hills the way he remembers it. He leaves with a revolted world view, but deep inside Glendon Mom and I know he loves to debate and come back for more. He has another week left in Florida. I hope Joe soaks up all the atmosphere Florida has to offer and takes it back with him to Minnesota to last him the rest of the winter season.

Finding distinctions in music

This morning is Christmas Eve early when the roosters crow and the sun isn't up yet. I doved into the world of the Internet You Tube music to find some Classical/Christmas sounding songs to place me in the mood for a traditional Christmas. This morning I started out listening to the lady singers; instead of, my Andrea Bocelli or Pavarotti almost operatic songs. The first one I picked was Renee Fleming. She is a pretty blond middle age lady with always a smile on her face. She wears deep red lip stick to off set her fair skin features. Renee is an Opera Soprano that has sang at the Met and does world wide concerts. She has very distinctive pronunciation of the words she is singing. Her tone is a bit heavy set on the lower range , but can flow with the greatest of ease to the upper range. She hasn't gone exceptionally high into her upper range like Beverly Sills, but she has Beverly Sills highest respect as a singer. She is very traditional in her dress and not flashy with the clothes she wears. She doesn't depend on pyre techniques to put on a show. She sticks to the core of the music and presents it the best she can to the public audience. She did make an appearance at the University of Gainesville awhile back and I was sorry to have missed her performance. I think it would have been a treat to see how she interprets music. Renee did a nice rendition of Shubert's "Ave Maria." It was pretty straight forward singing. Afterwards I jumped over to Sarah Brightman videos. I caught Sarah's version of Shubert's" Ave Maria" and was greatly disappointed. Sarah has two distinctive voices. She has an Opera Voice which she has done a wonderful job on some French songs. She also has a Broadway thin sound which served her well when she was doing the musical Cats. Sarah used her Broadway thin sound for the "Ave Maria" which just blew the quality of the song away. I know Sarah is capable of a deeper richer sound and she needs to return to her Opera roots and depend less on the pyre techniques to carry her show. She is always beautiful and has the flashiest outfits. I think Renee could use a little of Sarah's flashiness, but not a lot. I think both singers could benefit from a duet together which I believe would never happen. They live separate lives and never cross paths on their traveling journeys. This is just a wishful thought from someone who enjoys listening to music.

Pre-Christmas memories made to last

The lights on the tree extend almost all the way to the ceiling in the living room. Mom has the television on in the kitchen. She is digging out some silverware for our dinner. Joe our company is cooking us steak and grilling us some shrimp wrapped in bacon on the grill. Glendon is talking to my mom in the kitchen. She helping prepare the wrapped shrimp for Joe to take to the outside grill. I don't have to go outside to know it is pitch dark. There are probably a whole sky full of stars. The sun set in the evening sky has a soft yellow and orange glow. The glow got smaller until finally it just vanished. This is opposite from what it did this morning. You started with a soft orange merging into a soft yellow and finally bursting into a pure glowing radiant white which sucked most of the cold air out of the morning mist. This is country living. Quiet fills the air with the soft blowing wind. The chickens have their own routine of laying eggs. There is one rooster called Golden Boy and one golden hen which stays outside the fenced in chicken yard. At night, these two birds fly up high in the bushes hidden away from the chicken hawk to sleep at night.The turkey sleeps underneath the tree and he pals around with the chickens during the day. The news has been placed on mute because my cousin Franklin called from San Jose, California. Christmas is a time for relatives to catch up on what is going on. Joe brought us a two pound box of old fashion chocolates. We have caught up on stories about our families past history. Politics was only lightly touched. Joe is fixing us dinner so we will be eating real soon.

We have arrived

Mom and I are unpacked at Glendon's place. We dined on Glendon's different cheeses she got with some crackers. Glendon and mom watched an old Betty Davis video while I watched Andrea Bocelli videos on You Tube. This morning I let her cat Mink inside to eat some cat food. She gets a bit fussy. She meows very loudly. She wants a little milk on her food and she wants you to watch her while she eats. I soon grew tired of her crying, so I gently tossed her back outside. I presumed she went off to the barn area where she could chase creators like mice and small birds or the other cats.This is a picture of Mink the cat. She is a good subject for the camera. She doesn't mind getting her picture taken. It is nice and warm inside the house. I believe it is suppose to be warm the rest of the week according to the weatherman. We are suppose to get a visit from our friend Joe today. I can anticipate the arguments now. He is the kind of guy who doesn't argue out of meanness. He believes in what he is saying and just likes to drive his point across. The rest of the week should be warm. I guess it will be good weather to hang out clothes for laundry. Be sure to check out You Tube for Dewolfe 44. I added a couple of new videos about Glendon's friend David riding her horse Shooter. One video he is singing Happy Trails and the other Shooter is coughing at him. I also have my beach videos on this site.

Departure day

I leave the beach for almost a week. Today is travel day to go to my sister's house. It is also garbage pickup day. Mom and I will leave the two Italian families with their Disney like lighting displays. They make the rest of our little displays look good. The Christmas cards we get won't be seen until after Christmas when we come back from Glendon's place. I have a lot of clothes to pack. Plus, I have to remember to bring my daily medication. Plus, I have to remember to bring a tooth brush, tooth paste, tweezers, nail clippers, and baby shampoo. I will pick up on the Casey Anthony stories over at my sister's house. I can not imagine what the Anthony's Christmas must be like.

Applause for Arnold Schwarzenegger

I saw a story on "Sixty Minutes" concerning how Arnold Schwarzenegger is turning California into a more environment friendly state. He wants to use more solar energy in the Mojave desert. He likes the use of the wind farms to generate electricity. He wants tighter emissions standards on cars. He drives a Hummer running on vegetable oil. Florida and Alaska could use this example to improve their states. At least he has two more years to make improvements to the state. I hope he does well.

Fly me to the moon

Today, I took a couple of hours out for me time to enjoy a movie which was a remake of "The Day The Earth Stood Still." I will catch it on the Turner Classic Movie channel every once in a while. This version stars Keanu Reeves as Klaatu the alien sent to earth to save the earth. This version gets a bit more detail on how the alien saves the earth which is getting rid of the humans. This is a plot that has been done by Star Trek 4 where an alien craft was set to destroy earth just to talk to a whale. Keanu Reeves has a certain look which doesn't age with time. He is eye candy to the middle age female. His fans falls into the group of the Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and George Clooney fans. However, Keanu's personality and warmth is not as charming as his looks. The special effects in the movie seemed to be a little too much for my taste. I did like the warm interaction between the main female character and her stepson. I felt this to be the highlight of the movie. I miss the traditional spaceship. I thought the little globe like earths were a bit much. The robot wasn't any better than the one in the first version of the movie. The movie makers only super sized him to make him look more scary. I also thought him turning into bugs was like "The Mummy Movie" which was reusing an old plot. I also didn't care for the ending of all the lights going out. I was waiting for the lights to come back on which they didn't. I would have the alien have a love crush on the main female character. I would have them go out dancing together. I would have him discover what love is all about. I would have them have the all out debate on which planet to live on. Do we live on earth or do we visit other galaxies and worlds? I would have Keanu Reeves sing "Fly me to the moon." I would have the Klaatu character create harmony amongst the nations of the UN. I got my free ticket this time. I belong to a card club at the movie theater which after so many movies you get a prize. The prizes include: drinks, popcorn and a free ticket. This time I got the free ticket and just blew my money on the popcorn and drink.

Saturday road travel

Yesterday, I got to eat lunch at Kentucky Fried Chicken in New Smyrna Beach. I haven't been there for a long time. I ordered two pieces of dark crispy chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. Plus, a biscuit and baked beans. I drank unsweetened tea with sweet and low in it. I enjoyed the food and I had some quiet time before going on my adventure to Wal-mart to do some Christmas shopping. I wasn't sure what I would encounter in the way of mingling with people at Wal-mart. I got a real good parking spot close to the store when I arrived. Kentucky Fried Chicken was next door so I walked over to have some lunch. After lunch, it was the big plunge into a sea of customers and trying to find the bargains they were advertising which would make good Christmas presents. There is a lot of going up and down the aisles in Wal-mart looking at every little piece of clothing and mapping the layout of the store.

Christmas traveler

I like the picture of Lillian with a hibiscus in her hair. It looks very Island like. She is just missing a sarong. I am looking forward towards the cooler weather from the cold front set to arrive tomorrow night. This is such a nice change from the heat of the summer or the summer storms. Mom and I were planning to go to my sister Glendon's house on Monday. I talked with Glendon this morning and she stated she has a leak at the sink. She tried to get us to come up on Tuesday. I kind of nicked this idea because our friend Joe is suppose to show up on Tuesday and we don't know what time he will arrive. Glendon wanted organic food on Monday. I wanted to pick up barbecue takeout. She is against take out now because it doesn't come with the word organic. We will do what we can to survive the week. I feel like the happy road traveler.

Christmas Lunch and Engagement Ring

I told Lillian I would do a close up on her ring the next time we meet for lunch or something. I didn't understand this was what she truly wanted. I thought she wanted a good picture of the ring on her finger which we set up some poses which I thought were flattering. She was suppose to rest her hand on small pillow that looked like a bridal pillow. Flowers were placed around her hand. The ring was the center piece with the flowers to balance out the picture. I got about three shots with one I thought was fuzzy. Plus, I got two pictures with her and a red hibiscus in her hair. The Christmas lunch was very nice with roast beef as the main course cooked by John Williamson the chief boss. There were other types of meal dish sides to compliment. There was a green bean casserole with the fried onion bits and cream of mushroom soup. There was cheese potatoes, dirty rice, salad from the Olive Garden, rolls and bread sticks from the Olive Garden. Mom made a rum cake for dessert. Plus there was a key lime pie, pecan pieces, chocolate chip cookies and regular white frosting cake to go with the rum cake.

Today is the Christmas Party in Orlando

Today is the party in Orlando. This will be at my mom's former place of work. She has retired, but still attends the office parties when they occur. I am looking forward to her rum cake which is a sign of perfection with the Marciano cherries on top of the cake. The main dish is suppose to be roast beef. I wonder if there will be mashed potatoes and gravy or something else. I won't know for sure until I get there. My friend Lew says he and his wife Mary are bringing the coleslaw. My friend Lillian will show off her engagement ring for everyone to see. I am hoping to get a picture of it. I am also hoping to attend her wedding April 5, 2009. I also hope a lot of people will be there. Plus, I am also hoping she gets as many sights as she can in of Orlando before she moves North to Delaware. I truly believe she will miss working in Orlando and the warm weather. I don't think Lillian will miss the crime. I know both mom and I will miss her around here locally. I figure all the rest of her friends from work will miss her charming ways.

Outside Adventures

What would happen if we could cure all our problems and ailments by going to the beauty parlor? This question is a far cry from reality, but it seems to have a feel good answer for making you feel at least temporarily like a new person. Yesterday, I went to the beauty parlor with my mom to get a new hair cut and look nice for the Christmas party on Thursday. The first thing I am faced with after walking through the doors is to pick out a new style of haircut in a short hair style book which my hair would be cut and shaped. There were so many styles in the book. There were models of red heads, blonds and brunettes. I knew I didn't want anything too short. I was a bit afraid of looking like a guy. However, some girls wear short hair really good. I am not sure I am one of those girls. The models with the really short hair usually have high cheek bones. I think mine are average. I have had bowl or page boy cuts so many times in the past. However, I did see a somewhat page boy cut with lots of layered look in the book which I thought was kind of cute on the blond model. The beautician was named Heidi Anne she is a close friend of my mom and was giving my mom a perm. She started my mom with her perm and would tackle my hair cut later in the perm process. Meantime, I started out in the front talking with the receptionist whom I found out later does hair removal through waxing and had offered to wax my chin. Unfortunately, I found out when I went to the room where she pours the wax that the hairs weren't long enough and I would have to let them grow. I decided to put this wax business off until maybe after the holidays. The receptionist name was Mary and she told me she had a pet turkey growing up named Turkey. She now has a husband, son and stepdaughter. She also has a small parrot and a gerbil. She says the parrot follows her around the house and talks with her and calls her mom. She really didn't seem old herself and she seem to have a very sweet nature personality. The name of the beauty shop was called "Java Hair Company." The shop was located in South Daytona on Nova Road. The owner and hair stylist is named Heidi J. Luby. She made a little pamphlet talking about her Indonesian heritage. Heidi's father was born on the island of Java on a tea plantation and Heidi's mom was born on the island of Sumatra on a coffee plantation. The beauty shop is very tastefully decorated in the island theme. It was also super duper clean. Even the restroom was super clean. Heidi Anne gave me a flattering hair style which involved washing, blow drying, cutting, styling and the finishing touches of hair spray to hold the style in place. The hair part was slightly over to the left which I normally part in the middle. She says I have a natural tan line there. There was Christmas music playing on the stereo radio. There was a Christmas tree in the front receptionist area. Plus a tree full of small Christmas balls in the back. Both mom and I had some of the food treats Heidi Anne brought in for everyone to eat. There was turkey cut into cubes. There were cubed cheese which was kind of spicy. I was watching mom get her final touches of hair designs by Heidi Anne when I felt something crash, crash behind me. I was sitting in a chair attached to a hair dryer. Somehow the hair dryer got knocked into a couple of displays of hair and facial supplies that tumbled onto the floor. I felt so embarrassed. The stylist assured me everything would be OK. Heidi the owner picked up the display and placed everything back into order. Mom and I came in the morning and there was lots of laughter coming from the stylist and other customers. They had no televisions playing so you really didn't know what was happening to everyone in the outside world. I asked Heidi Anne if she was keeping up with the Casey Anthony case. She nodded and kept to a silent yes response. This was kind of a tabu subject because of the negative energy of people's opinions this displayed. I picked up on this unspoken response from her. The rest of the time was happy. Heidi Anne gave both mom and I watches to wear for Christmas. There was a guy who came in to have a hair trimmed and he was the subject of gentle razzing because he did not go to a barber. He came to these ladies and they teased him by saying " you just like the foo foo treatment." This was followed by laughter by all parties there. After mom and I left with our new hairstyles, mom stopped at the Publix in Port Orange and I went next door to the Chinese takeout for something to eat. I got Chicken Low main, Won Ton soup and a diet coke. I got to hear the cashier and the worker speak Chinese as if they were speaking everyday English. I thought it was kind of neat to hear. Afterwards I waited for mom by the car and we went home for the day.

It is time to get pretty for the Christmas party

Today mom and I are going to the beauty parlor to get pretty for the Christmas party at my mom's former office in Orlando. This should be a fun time for the both of us. Mom is also making a rum cake for the party. Yesterday, mom and I went to the beach in the evening. Mom brought the leftover popcorn and fed it to the seagulls. They were very hungry and devoured the food until it was gone. Maybe, the gray weather made them extra hungry for food. This was a pretty nice sunset picture over the barbecue place on the North end of the beach. This barbecue place is not as nice as Sonny's, but it is there when I have the urge to eat some barbecue. Mom drove over the North bridge on the way home. At the time she drove over the North Bridge, the sunset was pretty much gone. There may have been one streak in the sky, but that was it. I was amazed when we passed over the North Bridge how dainty the pelican flight of gliding on the air current occurred . The pelican made soft circular glides with his wings spanning out to touch no end in sight. I also saw two water birds in flight on my way back home. Mom said they were heading towards bird island to settle in for the night.

My how things change

Christmas time is a time to reconnect with old neighbors and friends. Sometimes this is successful and other times it can turn out not the way I planned. My former next door neighbors The Cardys were kind of a wild rebel bunch when I was growing up in a suburb called Pine Hills. I moved away to Oakland, Florida and they stayed in Pine Hills. We both got a bit older and they seemed to settle down. The kids my next door neighbor buddies got married and had children of their own. I stay home with my family, rode horses and went to a two year college which I never finished. My dad passed away while mom and I lived in Oakland. We sold the house and moved to New Smyrna Beach. Mom and I stayed working until mom retired. I worked afterwards until I was sick and was laid off for a second time by the same workplace. I had a chance to reconnect with Mr. Cardy and found out he is doing volunteer work as part of the Citizens Patrol for the Orange County Sheriff's Department. He says he gets a car to ride the streets near by and look for crime. He said the crime had risen greatly in our old neighborhood. Hopefully he could put a curve on the activity by reporting crime to the authorities. He wants to take back the streets and make them safe. I figured if there were more people like Mr. Cardy, Pine Hills would loose it's Crime Hills reputation. On a kind of sadder note, I lost contact with The Jameson family who also use to live in Pine Hills on my old street of Medford Drive. I was best friends as a kid growing up with a curly blond headed girl named Karen Anne. The older I got the more our lives became separate. Karen was married in Altamonte Springs. I went to the wedding. Karen moved to Georgia and had three kids. The kids are pretty much grown up, but I never heard from Karen. I may have talked with her once or twice when I called. However, she had a full life of raising kids, marriage and nursing. I sort of would just occasionally check in with her mom to get an update on how she was currently. Unfortunately, with time her mom lost her memory of me and became dependent on a hearing aid to jump into the mainstream of daily activities. I couldn't maintain a conversation with her. I could not convince Karen's mom I was a big part of her daughter's past. Meantime, I also worried about Karen's mom who lived alone. She had lost her husband to Cancer not long ago and I wasn't sure how often the family really did visit. I can only hope they are more plugged in than I realize. This is a picture of Holly, one half of the Holly and Berry dog team that would come visit mom and I when their owner Howard would do repair work around our house.

plans for Christmas

This is a picture of a real tree we had in the house during 2002 at least this is what is dated on the picture. This morning I am looking at the neighbor's Christmas lights across the street. They were putting them up yesterday and the cardboard snowman out front kept falling over. The snowman is standing up straight with lights decorating the shape. There are a cluster of white lights on the front door that looks like an electric guitar. Different color lights extend from the bush next to the front door to the over hang above the front door. This year mom and I will be over at my sister's house for Christmas.

Christmas Poem

These Christmas lights are not meant to be

for over at my sister's house

mom and I will have presents under her tree

I will admire the Christmas lights across the street

and thought the work they did was really neat

Down the road the two Italian families have light displays no one can match

for one guy he said it took five to six days to hatch

He did it for his children he would say

after Christmas it would all be packed away

Meantime mom and I will be arguing Politics with our friend Joe

who will come to visit us from out of the snow

Only for a short time he will stay and back to the snow

on a jet and not a sleigh

This will be a special time for mom and I to stay

playing with the animals will occupy our day. We

will be back at the beach to welcome our new President

next year. We enjoy the time now before the time draws

near

Cruising into Saturday

Here is a picture of someone taking a reflective walk on the beach. This was taken before mom and I went to the boat parade show on the Intercoastal Waterway. Yesterday, mom went shopping and I stayed home doing things around the house like laundry. I also worked my new extender rod to help clean some mold off the back of the house. I also tried on the chimney, but it seems harder. The mold is fighting to stay on the chimney. I will go back and fight again, but not until I know when the wasp have left from the wasp nest I knocked down last evening. When I knocked it down a couple of wasp jumped on the end of my extender rod and didn't want to leave. I let my extender rod drop to the bush below and final the wasp left.

Positive and Negative things during Christmas 2008

This picture was supposed to be a Santa pirate ship which would make sounds like a cannon blasting every once in a while. I am still amazed and astounded by Christmas lights. Last night mom took me down the road to look at the Christmas displays in front of the two Italian houses. One had real white lights displayed around a water fountain in the middle of the yard. The other had different color lights and different displays like Santa and the reindeer and the manger scene. Plus a statue of Mary surrounded by a soft green light. Mom talked with Angelo the owner who spent five to six days connecting lights and placing his displays so his kids could admire it. Those two houses were the best displays on our street. Where do you start with the Casey/Caylee story and where does this end? The remains of a little girl was discovered yesterday by a County meter reader guy who had the got to go feeling in the woods. What a gruesome sad situation for the meter reader guy who called the police. What a story for the news media to display to the public. What closure this may bring to the police working on the Caylee case. The mystery of how she died would be discovered. The Grandparents would have to accept the fate of their Granddaughter and bring closure through a funeral. I could only hope she didn't suffer before her death. How easily would it have been for Casey just to give up custody of her daughter so she would have a chance to live? Anyone would have been glad to raise her as their own. I wonder how much her attorney really believes in Casey's case? Will he stick it out until judgment is passed on her or will he want out? There are still quite a few chapters to be written in this deceitful tale of a forgotten little princess who was murdered by " this is yet to be established" a jealous party mom who seems to be a monster in disguise.

Ready for Thursday

I was playing Holiday Express which is a strategy game at Hipsoft.com. You fit the presents in back of the train car in a timed fashion. Meanwhile, the twelve days of Christmas is playing in the background. I am very addicted to the game. I was watching PBS hoping to see Bocelli sing last night. Instead, I first watched a rerun of Pavarotti which I don't mind. I especially like the part where Luciano Pavarotti does a church duet with his dad. They both have unique voices which blended well together. I fell asleep after the duet and woke up in the middle of a Roy Orbison concert. Mom liked Roy Orbison because his music had an upbeat tempo. I looked for something interesting on the computer, but there wasn't anything. I got ready for bed, but didn't even watch Jay Leno who is moving to ten in the evening. In my book, he will only have to compete with the local news. Today is the big day of the terrible weather according to the weatherman. Thunderstorms and possible twisters if the weather is unsettled. Mom and I missed the George and Cindy Anthony interview with Larry King live. Maybe we can get little bits off the other shows like "Entertainment Tonight. " I am not sure what this picture is suppose to represent, but it is a boat with some lights at the boat parade.

Christmas stuff

This is suppose to be Santa Claus with his reindeer. It also looks like a snowman in the background. You can see the lighted reindeer and the lit snowman with their reflections in the water. What goes on behind the scenes is a big mystery to me. Even with my close up shots with the camera, I can not spot the real boat driver or how the exhibit is being operated. I mailed off two old records to my friend Dick Brunelle in Orlando. One was the Trapp family singers. This was a real recording of the Trapp family which were portrayed in the Sound of Music as the Von Trapp family singers. The other record was Tex Ritter which was the old country singer. My friend Dick Brunelle has a record player and will enjoy the music. Meantime, I probably have more Christmas cards to send. I need to start on the Christmas shopping which I really have not tackled. I saw the weatherman say that Thursday will be some strong storms. It looks like the worst would be in Kissimmee area. I guess the weather will turn cooler after the rain. I like the idea of Jay Leno coming to prime time. I use to listen to his show for the political jokes. They have a summary of the jokes by the late night comedians on The George Stephanapolus show on Sunday morning. I also wanted to mention I have a Polaroid camera. The news about Polaroid stopping production of their instant film kind of floored me. I always thought I could get this type of film for my camera. It seems like a crime for something you depend on to suddenly vanish. I am hoping maybe some film company would step in and take its place as a substitude. I hope today is one of possibilities.

Short thoughts

I still have pleasant memories of the boat parade. There were lots of good boats all decorated. I think going to the parade was something worth while mom and I did together. I believe she enjoyed it as much if not more than I did. I don't believe Disney could do much better. Maybe they would have added some fireworks, but that could be too flashy. Yesterday was kind of a chore day with my doctor's office visit and taking out the garbage. Mom sent out a couple of Christmas cards. I paid for health insurance for the next couple of months. Today, I will call my sister Glendon and see what she is doing. Plus I will probably sleep in a bit. I heard rain was coming around Thursday.

Monday starting a new week

The boat parade is over and the lighting of the tree on top of the Bert Fish Memorial Hospital in New Smyrna Beach is over. It is back to a usual routine of morning Doctor visit. Paying health insurance to be covered into next year. Renewing my prescriptions, so I don't run short on medicine. Take out the garbage and hang up the clothes. Take my vitamins and eat breakfast and getting dressed. Last night mom and I got to see the New Smyrna Beach Show dolls. They are a dance group of young ladies either in High School or Middle School. They wore black, kind of sparkled outfits and danced to the toy soldier. Both mom and I got bored so we didn't hang around for the final lighting of the tree. The entertainment couldn't hold our attention for two hours. Mom just wanted the tree to be lit and go home. I also wanted the same thing. I was more impress with the boat parade. Both mom and I had a good time watching boat parade.

It's Pearl Harbor Day

Mom and I went to a Christmas boat parade after dark last night. We went to the Riverview restaurant and watched from the outside bar area where there were young late teen, twenty year type people with their drinks rallying up claps and hollers every time a boat came up and turned around in front of them. They had their camera phones and enjoyed the lights and shapes like mom and I did. I still have a lot to learn with my camera. I used the high speed photo option which I had not used before. Some of the pictures turned out blurry and I think this is the reason. I thought the boat show was lots of fun. I thought it was better than the regular Christmas parade which they had earlier. The traffic was heavy and people were leaving after the regular Christmas parade. Mom found a parking spot on a back road next to a fence. She turned the car so it would be facing out when we came back from the Riverview restaurant. When we got home, I found the Gators football team won the game against Alabama. The score was 31 to 20. My sister Glendon said "Alabama was ahead a couple of times during the game."She said " it was a very exciting game." The Gators are the Southeastern Conference Champions. They only have one more game to be number one in the nation. The game is suppose to be played in Miami.

Saturday is the big Gator game

This is a picture of my sister Glendon on a tractor at her work place. She will be listening to the radio real close to see how the University of Florida Gator football team plays against Alabama. I am hoping the Gators win. This is almost the final. If they win, the final will be played in Miami. I guess this game is for the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Mom and I also have a boat parade to go to this evening. Hopefully, I can take some nice pictures there. Doesn't my sister look very official in the company riding tractor? She feeds cows and horses plus clean out their drinking water tubs. She also cleans barns sometimes along with certain stalls. It is a very hard labor type of job but it gives my sister Glendon an extra income.

Casey's jailhouse video sessions

Gone are the days of the Andy Taylor policeman. Throw out the episode where Andy tells Opie he can't use the recorded tape of a confession of a jail house criminal. The private life of Casey Anthony is all exposed for the general public to see.The video conversations of Casey talking with members of her family are on public television being analyzed by reporters and so called expert psychologist. The video recordings are filled with raw emotion regarding finding Caylee. The reports focus in on how self centered Casey was about the attention being placed on Caylee rather than Casey. I wonder how a jury will view these video recordings and how much influence the recordings will have on the decision the jury makes about Casey's future? In my opinion, the videos are hear say evidence and not rock solid hard evidence. What I mean by hear say is her words are open to judgement on what she meant by stating certain things about herself and her daughter. Casey's daughter Caylee has never been found alive or dead. There has never been a body recovered or even traces of a body recovered. Casey has also not told the truth about where she last dropped her child off. What evidence the State does have is Casey's car with a body fluid stain in the trunk. Test from the Body Farm in Tennessee stating this is a decomposing body stain with traces of Caylee's hair. What wasn't stated is if the stain was the positive DNA sample from Caylee. The defense has brought in Dr. Henry Lee who was a primary witness for the OJ Simpson trial which helped with the finding of the not guilty verdict for OJ Simpson. I wonder if the trial will take place in Orange County or be moved to some small place where Casey might be less known? I wonder what kind of people will be chosen for a jury?This seems like the plot for a good movie. It will probably be made.

Today is garbage day and recycle day

The garbage men picked up the garbage this morning and in the afternoon the recycle guys will pick up what is to be recycled. The recycle guys work fast sorting through plastic and aluminum placing each in their proper bin. They toss the container afterwards hopefully making it back into the yard. I have seen the container fly all over the place. The sun is playing peek a boo with the clouds. I hope it will be a nice day.

Wednesday is kind of cool

I imagine the weather to be quite cold outside. I haven't been outside to find out. This morning I get blood drawn for my doctor's appointment which comes after the eye doctor appointment. I skipped the coffee until after I have the blood drawn. I do take my required medication, but don't eat until I get the blood drawn. Afterwards, I can have a nice breakfast that can start my day on the right way. I saw on the news last night that Orlando was having the lighting of their Christmas tree. It was cool outside , but people still came to hear the Christmas music and see the tree lit up. I had hope there would be vendors selling hot chocolate and hot coffee to keep the people happy.

The pet turkey

I found a picture of Glendon's turkey named "The General" by Glendon. I haven't seen him since mom and I came home, but I kind of miss the bird. I spent part of yesterday traveling with my mom to the post office to pick up our mail. The post office looked pretty busy and the people behind the counter acted so official. They were asking the customers things about the packages they were sending like are the items breakable or are the items hazardous material? I found out a roll of stamps of 50 cost $21.00 dollars. I did not see any exciting new featured stamps. I saw some Disney cartoon stamps. I saw some baseball stamps. I saw some movie stars I didn't even recognized stamps. I inquired about the stamps because I am getting into the mind frame of starting the Christmas cards. I haven't pulled any new ones out yet, but I have pulled out some old ones to look at the addresses. I find this is a way of making connections to people from my past. I would find out details like a close friend had been in a nursing home for two years which I thought would never end up there unless he was visiting someone else. His wife said he had dementia. Inside my memory, I still see him as a strong hard working person with endless goals ahead. I find it nice to be tucked away inside where the outside rain seems far away. I had my first cup of coffee and it is barely after 5 in the morning. Maybe the weather will clear later. I hope it does.

Today is December 1, 2008

This is the beginning of the last month of the year 2008. This is the end of the 2008 hurricane season. This is also cyber Monday, the online shopping discount day. Also, 25 days until Christmas day which will probably be celebrated over at my sister's house. My sister has her artificial tree up. I didn't locate the lights in the boxes she brought, but she said the lights were in the boxes. She will have to be the one to put up the lights and other decorations. Mom and I will be there just to enjoy the view. This is a picture of the first keylime pie mom made with the small keylimes from the little keylime tree located outside in a pot. I enjoyed a couple of slices and it tasted real good. My sister Glendon said she wants one for Christmas. I guess we may have to buy the keylime juice at the store, if we don't get anymore keylimes from our tree. The crust looks like you could almost just dive into the pie. This isn't the kind of pie you would use to give someone a pie in the face. The material is too good to throw away on just one person. Mom also cooked a roast which we have leftovers for roast beef sandwiches. The night before mom and I left Glendon's place and the first night we came home, I pointed out to mom the alignment of two stars in the evening sky. They were brilliantly bright right at sunset. However, the stars seemed to be in slightly different locations from Glendon's place to the beach house. The two stars were suppose to be the two planets Venus and Jupiter. The news about the alignment was on the Internet. Mom figures this must mean something good because it seems like such a positive sign. I am getting into the Christmas music for the 25 day period. I am also looking forward to working on sending out Christmas cards. I would like to write a little inside the card and maybe send a picture or two. I like to send the personal touch, so our friends will think kindly of us the rest of the year. I also would like to find some time to recall Christmas in the past. I would like to remember people I treasured in my heart and the special times we had together. Plus, I want to create some new memories with people I got around me.