shoes and feet

As a kid, how often did you go barefooted? Were you raised to go fishing in bare feet like" Opie Taylor" on the "Andy Griffith show?" I remember going horseback riding with bare feet and shorts and no saddle. I remember the Mexican men in their pickup trucks with their frilly tassels hanging inside the cab of the truck would yell out the window at me " Capasa Chiquita" which I asked my dad. He said that meant "whats happening little girl?" I was a little annoyed, but that did not stop me from trail riding bareback with no shoes on. I got my share of stickers or sand spurs which required tweezers to pull out the fine little needles lodged in the foot. I never got glass or a rusty nail caught in my foot. My feet were free and happy. Things like school,church and just going to the store required me to wear socks and shoes. I wore flip flops until they wore out. Tennis shoes were a bother because the shoe lace always had to be tied and the tongue of the shoe always had to be pulled out. I was so glad when the shoe lace was made an option by the Velcro. I jumped on that bandwagon real quick. Unfortunately the quality of the heal wasn't good and I wore many tennis shoes out. Fortunately the shoes weren't real expensive. They were made by K-Mart and sometimes they were on sale. I had my dress pump shoe phase, but now it is strictly tennis shoes.

Farewell to Jay Leno

I must have fallen asleep during the last "Jay Leno" appearance as host on the "Tonight Show." Monday starts "Conan O'Brien" as new host of the "Tonight Show. Jay Leno will be moving to prime time in the fall. These two pictures I can not connect together to give the illusion of a ship sailing into a storm. Last night I went to 27Th. Avenue to look at the ocean and what I saw was a storm which is the second picture. The boat picture was taken about a week ago. I did not see any boats out on the water during the storm. I did see extra people with cameras trying to take pictures of interesting things like birds and shoreline. I went home when the no-seeums started to bite.

Bird picture

It is fun to watch birds in flight. I keep hoping for that dynamic shot of the pelican in flight or diving into the ocean. However, this hasn't been achieved yet. Meantime, I just watch and observe the speed of the bird and the wind currents they choose to travel. Yesterday, I went over to the North entrance of the beach and the waves were very small. The surfers could only sit on their surf boards. There wasn't enough wave for them to stand on their surfboards. I did see a white dot out on the ocean at the horizon line, but I couldn't focus it into a ship. I took the picture, but it wasn't worth keeping around. At least with the digital, getting rid of a bad picture is a lot easier then the camera where you have to get the film developed. Plus, with the digital you can see the results of the picture you take. The other one you pay for the picture and then decide on whether you like it or not. I don't think we threw out our old Polaroid camera yet. I remember my dad's black and white Polaroid he used to take pictures of young couples' engagements for his weekly paper called " The Sun of Pine Hills." My mom said he was an artist at making young couples look good in his newspaper. He knew how to set them up for the perfect pose, so everyone would be proud of their picture.

Just passing through

This is a picture of a turtle that passes through our front yard almost everyday. The turtle isn't really a social creature. He kind of likes to keep to himself. However, he does munch on the dollar weed which is good for mom and I. I do remember trying to make pets out of turtles when I was younger. It was never with any luck. They were always more problems than what they were worth. A turtle in the box is an unhappy turtle and one that will not be a good pet. They are best enjoyed as a free reptile. Today it is back to the store to restock on what we used up in the kitchen. Last night was cold tuna and seashell macaroni with cut up onion and spiced with lemon, green goddess salad dressing and mayonnaise. Plus, we had some cream of mushroom soup as a side dish.

Sunflower

It sure is sunny over here at the beach. Mom and I had Chinese food last night. I got a big container of won ton soup. I also got chicken with Chinese vegetables. I also made a container of tapioca pudding with the Agave sweetener. The sunflower doesn't last long ,so I took a couple of pictures. It shows me how it looked in the peak of bloom. My friend Dee told me about the movie" Up" which is kind of a cartoon, but is a very good comedy. I will probably also see the sequel of "Night at the Museum." I got a birthday coming up in June and Lillian does also. Mine is on June 8 and Lillian is on June 16.

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Enjoying Memorial Day

The scrabble blast game has quit working and I would like to find out why. This turns out to be my only major problem for now. I opened one of my window shades to reveal the blackness of night outside my window, but the neighbor's porch light is shining brightly across the street. I wonder if one of the family members had to go to work before daylight? Maybe one of the kids had to catch the bus before daylight. Those are all guesses when the only noise is the sound of the refrigerator running the motor located someplace I don't know about. The ribs yesterday were so out of this world luscious. I enjoyed about four of them. They were slightly charred with a sealed in barbecue flavor that tantalized my taste buds with every bite. I had buttered bread with season salt. It was sort of like my dad use to make, but mine wasn't basted. He would melt some real butter in a small pan along with season salt and spread it over the bread that was toasting on the grill. I buttered in the house the bread and sprinkle season salt on top. I really had to watch the bread because the butter would melt into the coals and fire would flame up to burn the bread. Fortunately, I saved the bread before it was totally blackened. I only cooked three pieces, but they were real good. Mom cooked two ears of corn, a sweet potato and two white potatoes on the small grill. The little grill produced a lot of smoke which I had to get out of the way ,so I would not be blasted by the heat of the grill. After the main meal, mom placed the rib bones into the freezer, so we could take them with us to my sister's house to feed her dogs. I am sure they will gobble them up in no time. Mom did some house cleaning after watching "Bonanza" later in the afternoon. I took a snooze of a nap. Towards evening, mom took me to 27Th. Avenue where there were people playing in the ocean and digging to China in the sand. I tried to take pictures of pelicans flying overhead and down the coastline. I did get this picture of the ship with three sails. Plus, I took several more shots of the ship. The wind was cool and the lifeguard got a piece of food from someone cooking with their grill on the beach. As we were leaving to come back home, this heavy set Hispanic guy was carrying on a conversation next to our car with his wife and kids. He had dread locks in his hair and a ring in his nose. He looked like a prize bull that escaped from a pasture. The wife and kids did not say anything, but I would have been slightly embarrassed to call him daddy. I could not see taking him to a school conference. I wonder if the teacher could keep a straight face? I am sure it would be tough. We got home and on went the television and the computer. The day was finished.

Memorial day

I am ready for it to be light enough to put out the garbage. I don't attempt it before daylight because the raccoons love to get into garbage and spread it around. I don't want the cleanup duty that goes with it. Mom got the ribs to cook on sale at Publix. Yesterday was lemon pepper chicken from Publix. It wasn't fried chicken like the one in the picture. I figure Lew must be on vacation. He didn't write in his own blog or commented in mine. The coffee started perking again after it told me it was done by the orange light. Now the light is back on and the perking has stopped. I hope everyone has a lot of good food to eat and a safe Memorial day.

Cell phone conversations

It is early Sunday morning and I just got done talking with my sister Glendon. This is her final day of work this weekend. She will have the week to recover and go back to work next Friday. She has made friends with one of the horse vets named " Dr. Momo" from someplace in Africa. I forget where he lived in Africa. He told her that some of the horse vets were leaving for good. One was going to North Carolina. He told her he has three more years of vet school before he leaves. I let Glendon know that at least she has planted the seeds of friendship. It is a unique experience just being a friend to someone and this connection remains with this person the rest of their lives. Glendon told me the weather was threatening and she did get some rain. I told her how we were spared and the dark clouds just loomed off the coast. We ended the conversation at 5 am. She continued with feeding the horses before taking off for work. She also prepared her meals which included a snack and lunch for the day. Yesterday, I talked with Mrs. Voss, whom I have known for years when we lived back in Oakland, Florida. She talked about attending a funeral of someone fairly young around her oldest son's age who died from lung cancer. The person whom passed away had kids and a husband, plus lots of friends. I just remembered something I forgot to talk Mrs. Voss about. There was another funeral which I didn't attend, but I got to sign in as a guest on the electronic guest book. I thought this was so neat. People like me who moved away from the area could send their thoughts of remembrance to the grieving family. This was a way to show that she was appreciated in the community. Mrs. Voss also talked about her daughter "Jenny", the school librarian, who goes into the classrooms of teachers who don't return the school library books and retrieves them. She also said that sometimes Jenny would leave garbage bags full of library books outside the classrooms to be picked up and returned to the library. I did get to tell Mrs. Voss about seeing the movie "Angels and Demons." I also told her about the graphic killing scenes and we had a short discussion about how kids see everything these days. She got a short chuckle when I told her " I was raised on Andy Griffith." Sad but true, I didn't even know what a Poke man was. The daughter of Mrs. Voss "Jenny" has a birthday on the sixteenth of June. This is the same day as Lillian's birthday. Jenny is one year younger than me. Lillian is like three years older than me. I think I had a nice conversation with Mrs. Voss.On the other hand, Lillian is a big mystery. She kept her cell phone number and answers" Lillian Tanzer" on the message. I left a short message and I am sure it probably went unanswered. I don't see Lillian on the instant messages anymore and she doesn't answer the e-mails I sent. I did leave a short message on my friend's cell phone " Dee" she told me in an e-mail she would call me on Sunday to catch up on what is going on.

Bad verses Good

I did see the movie yesterday" Angels and Demons." I had not heard any bad reviews, so the temptation was great. I knew it would be a heavy subject, so I was prepared for something not light and humorous. My general impressions of the movie was the acting was good, the scenery was good, the plot was not boring and did capture my interest in intrigue, but the killing scenes were too graphic for my taste. The killing scenes in my opinion brought the movie down to the level of a slasher movie. I would not recommend this movie to young impressionable kids or older adults who normally are use to Turner Classic Movies. I like Ron Howard as a director. I liked when he directed Splash with a younger Tom Hanks. I liked when he directed Cocoon. It was Andy Griffith that kind of warned the public about this movie before it came out. I think Andy thought it would be not favorable towards the Christian beliefs. The movie did treat the Catholic faith with the respect it deserved. I just think the movie went overboard in the killing area. However, I did enjoy " Ghost of girlfriends past." I found this movie to be light and fun. I liked the characters. It followed the plot similar to Scrooge, but with comic twist.

Do you think the shuttle will return to Florida?

This issue is like one of the main horse races. Will they or Won't they? The rain has done a job at keeping the shuttle away. I bet it has kept a lot

of tourists from the beaches. Maybe even changed some of the plans of tourist thinking about going to Disney, Universal or Sea World. The Florida sunshine has been replaced by some much needed rain. If I were gambling with money, I would say California was a better place to land the shuttle. The news keeps stating how fragile the shuttle's heat shield is to rain and how lightning can knock out the flight control panel to the inside of the shuttle. It would be easier for NASA to just pay the extra amount of money it takes to carry the shuttle back to Florida. The astronauts get home safely and all is well for the next mission.

Improving local drainage systems

With all the rain, I hope it clicked with the top officials that water drainage needs to be improved. The flooding featured in Daytona, Holly Hill and New Smyrna due to low line areas needs better design to let water run off into retention ponds . Deeper gullies and underground storm drains should be top priority to carry water away. Stimulus money could be used in this direction versus a six lane road on State Road 434. Along with roof repairs, should we as citizens look after those whose houses face potential damage from flooding? Plus, the cars that get stuck in roads covered with water. Plus, reducing the health hazard from backed up sewage drains and creatures like snakes showing up where they don't belong. It isn't even June yet, but let us see if the state officials pick up on this issue.

The feel of air and the closeness of water

I know the Jacquie Lawson card takes forever to load onto my computer, but I am willing to wait. I think it will be worth it. It was! It was a nice beach scene where a seagull chases a crab, but the crab gets away. The seagull does take a small piece of bread from a picnic basket. I know the seagulls here wouldn't do that. All the bread and everything else edible would have been gone. The seagulls here are either starving or they will totally ignore you. Most of the time they are starving. Mom and I ended up going to the park on the North end of New Smyrna before the draw bridge. The pelicans are more noticeable, but they usually don't land. There is no reason to land, unless they see a bundle of fish. They land around the South bridge because the fishermen have caught a lot of fish and they want to mooch a fish from the fishermen. I can see why they would end up with fish hooks in their necks and beaks. It is a sad sight to see , but it is apart of their nature to eat the fish. I walked out on the fishing pier where there was no fishing people. I did see someone had left a few shrimp along the ledge. I guess maybe they hoped the next fisherman would use the bait. Sadly, I just think the rain will knock the shrimp into the water and that will be the end of the shrimp. The feel of walking out onto the fishing pier was like being on a sinking boat. The water seemed like it was rising up to greet me with it's sloppy, slap wet action. I did walk out to the end of the fishing pier to get my pictures. I got a sail boat traveling through the raised drawbridge. I notice they don't give the horn signals like they use to when raising the drawbridge. The boat would make a signal with it's horn and the drawbridge operator would answer back with his horn. Now it is about four crossing beams descending with loud chiming bells and flashing red lights which signals traffic to clear off the section of bridge that is about to raise up to greet the boat. It is kind of like a salute to the boat passing through. Once the boat is gone the bridge is lowered for traffic to resume the normal routine of traveling to the shoreline and back to the main part of town. As I was leaving the park, I saw water covering the roots of palm trees in a retention pond. The pelicans still owned the skies with their air glides close to the water and back up where no one could reach them. Who would think I would clock a pelican traveling the wind currents at 45 miles per hour. I felt the coolness of the wind blowing and sense of closeness to the ocean more than when mom and I traveled to the North end of the beach afterwards. The sea was still rough, but was starting to settle back down. I did not see any boats out on the water and the two surfers were quickly forgotten after being in the water for awhile. There were two young high school looking girls. One sitting on the ledge. They both were bored after awhile and took off with a look of the ocean was nothing. It wasn't a party with their young friends. A moment so quickly forgotten. This morning I talked with my sister for about a minute or two. I have heard some thunder and I think there has been some rain. I am doubtful the shuttle will come back today. I could be wrong, but it looks like it won't for now.

Still raining on Thursday

I had really gotten into the sleep mode because I was awoken by mom turning on the lights. She started unplugging the television. She moved into the kitchen and unplugged the telephone answering machine and the computer. I remember thinking this was funny. I told her as she finished " Good night you sleepy head pull the covers over your head." As I was saying this, I heard the crash boom of the lighting. The weather radio never fired off a flashing announcement of a tornado or thunderstorm warning. The other night it sounded off when there was a tornado in Brevard county. It just makes me wonder, if they really are on the ball. Once she went back to sleep, I made a trip to the bathroom and when I got out I started plugging the television back in. I also plugged the answering machine back in and reset the recording. This morning I plugged the computer back in and here I am doing a blog and drinking Maxwell house coffee. Mom got the coffee on sale. I still like Folgers better.

Here comes the storms

On the weather radio last night the announcer talked about storms in North Brevard County. Some how Southeast Volusia County was mention in the tornado warning. I don't know if the town of Mayfield is in Brevard or Volusia County, but I got a blow by blow description on what to do in case of a tornado. According to the announcer, I was suppose to go to the lowest place in the center of the house. Abandoned my car and not take shelter under an overpass. I felt like I was listening to chicken little. "Yes, the sky is falling." What is a girl to do when she is tucked under her covers at night going into that deep sleep mode? I went to sleep and did not give the announcer a second thought. I figured if this affected me, the radio would start off screaming at me again. It is morning and according to the news, Brevard was the one with the tornado damage. I wonder if my sister misses her cat inside sitting on her lap? I guess I will find out later when I call to talk with her.

Rain, Rain , Rain

Lots of rain coming down in our front yard. The weather sounded like riding a ship in a gale before dawn. I could hear the wind moan, while I was in the bathroom. I guess this house is like the ark. It keeps mom and I safe and dry. I feel protected against the harshness of the outside rainy environment. The rain brings out the earth worms onto the driveway. They wiggle around looking for dirt to tunnel through. Yesterday, I stepped into a big puddle of water after leaving the Dollar Store. I got my shoe and leg wet. There is a tiny bit of leftover steak from a Porterhouse steak we had last night. The steak was pretty good and we had to throw away the bone because we had no dog to feed the bone. I had leftover tuna salad sandwich and some Tyson chicken patties heated in the microwave.

Recalling the past

I grew up in the suburbs. I rode my bicycle around Pine Hills without worrying about guns, knifes, or drugs. I just watch out for cars and they watched out for me. I guess the highlight of the afternoon was to go get a Slurpee from the 7-11 close to where my parents had a local weekly newspaper business called "The Sun of Pine Hills." Most trips to Indiana were taken on the Amtrak train. However there were a few taken by car and one picture of my dad with his Chevy pickup truck parked at my granddad's place outside of Logansport. This Chevy truck had a topper in the back, so I could along with our dogs ride back there and crank the windows open for outside air. We would never go up to Indiana in the peak of Winter. Thus, I have never really experience seeing snow. Mom was asking me yesterday, if I remembered taking a candy bar when I was little. I told her" I could not remember." She said" I felt real bad and she took me back in to pay for the candy bar. " I had no recall of this incident. I asked her how old I was? She told me three or four. I did the math and that would be forty one or forty two years ago. She remembers the details well and I have no recollection at all. I have seen pictures of my mom bundled up in a winter coat in Upland, Indiana. I do have recollection of the farm she spent her summers growing up at. I recall the country road running up to the farm. I recall the land she was supposedly promised by Annie, but did not get because of her niece. I recall the trip my Aunt Jean, mom and I took in a rental truck to pick up stuff from the estate sale after Annie had passed away. It was like the show "Two and a half men" but with women and a kid in the reverse roles. I recall the little hand pump water well outside the house. There was a picture of me as a little girl holding a tin cup under the pump faucet. I thought that was so cool. I did not have as many memories of this place that mom must have experienced. However, I did hate to leave it because I thought I was leaving a place full of treasures. At least to me being a city girl seemed like a world full of treasures. I wonder now if this country road is a road leading to a subdivision. I can envision the farm being gone and a bunch of houses in it's place. This would have been the result down in Florida, if this had occurred in Florida. If we do happen to return to Logansport for a visit, I would want to try the Spanish hotdogs my Uncle had talked about before he died. He insisted these were the best hot dogs he ever ate. I wonder if they truly live up to their reputation? Today is trash day and I have let my coffee get cold. I am also trying to improve my game score on Scrabble Blast. I still have time to improve.

Trucking away

This was a big old truck with big wheels. I wonder how much gas this person has to put into the truck? Do you think it could run on diesel? I am sure this cost a lot to maintain. I saw a neat feature on a Ford Explorer in the Publix parking lot the other evening. The running boards on the side of the vehicle would fold out when the person was getting out of the car and would fold back in when the person walked away. When the person came back, the running board would fold out again so the person could climb into the vehicle. I thought it was cool to watch. It looked like something very futuristic. This truck looks like you need a step ladder to climb into and the first step down could be a disaster, if you aren't aware of the drop. I have seen pictures like this on the monster truck show television commercial in Orlando which happens once a year. I bet this truck could haul a yacht. Maybe these people have oodles of money. I am just guessing.

Saturday before the sunrise

Last night, I watched a television show" Becker" about an inner city doctor who runs a clinic and has a bad attitude. It was OK, but it wasn't one of his funnier episodes. I guess my favorite would have to be where he swallows the cigarette he had been smoking, so his nurse Margaret would not find him smoking. Although, the night before where Reggie from the diner gives Becker her leftover Christmas tree and it explodes and catches fire in Becker's apartment was an unexpected humorous moment. The show Farrah about Farrah Fawcett's cancer story got too emotional. I knew it was heading that direction when she talked about the things she wanted to do and could not. It felt like this would be a real tear jerkier of a show. I know it probably was real good, but I was in the mood for happier things and didn't want my whole outlook brought down by sad reality. This is a late blooming Easter Lilly. My mom loves to see it in bloom. Speaking of bloom, our gardenia plant is loosing that nice white flower coverage. The nice gardenia smell is disappearing along with the pretty white flowers. They don't seem to last long enough.

What a hot Friday

It is a hot sticky Friday. You can feel the humidity in the air. The weatherman says a low front is coming from the South on Sunday. This means more solid rain. It would be nice if the weather would cool down a bit as well. I am glad a 23 year old kid from Edgewater named Danny won the competition for number one Chef in the television show "Hell"s Kitchen." Danny won $250,000 which is not a bad salary. There is a lot he can do with the money. This is one of the motorcycles the Turtle sells during bike week. He has someone make it out of homemade parts like spark plugs.

Turtle

Mom and I went out for an evening adventure to below the South Bridge of New Smyrna Beach in search of some wind and some pictures and a pleasant evening. Mom struck up a conversation with this 57 year old man loaded with a slew full of medical problems like arthritis and diabetes. However, Phil ( The Turtle) lives free on the road like my sister's organic chickens live free outside the chicken house. Out in the open where no one sends him any bills. If he goes to the hospital, he goes in as a homeless person. He knows they can not refuse him. He stated that he weighs over 300 pounds and peddles his bicycle with the trailer at six miles an hour. He didn't seem to have any rubber grips at the end of his bicycle handle bars. He claims to have a solar panel on top of his trailer. His trailer does have lights including a strobe light he can use when he travels by night. He says he prefers to travel at night because he can see the headlights a half a mile away. He carries a hand crank double stone wheel which he uses to sharp knifes, scissors, and machetes. He usually is in the area around Daytona during bike week. He sells little knick knack items like miniature homemade motorcycles for twenty or even twenty five bucks each. He claims he can live off of 1,200 to 1,800 a year. He has been to Key West and got his nickname by his buddies because he was so slow walking a certain street named Duval. This is a street that runs from the Atlantic to the Gulf and is fourteen blocks long. He says it takes him two hours to walk it. This is why he is called "The Turtle." Phil has been bike riding for 29 years and stated he has been to every state of the union except for Hawaii. He claimed to be in the military when he was younger and had a yacht that was destroyed in Miami during hurricane Andrew. He claimed to have found part of his boat 3 miles inland. He also claims to have sunk the rest of the boat. If he had such a boat, why didn't he try to get insurance on it? This was a question I wasn't bold enough to ask. He seemed more like a story teller than anything. He claims he has twenty nine tapes of his adventures which he would make into a book when he was ready. He also told of being friends with" Eileen Warnos" nickname " Lee ." She was executed by the State of Florida for killing guys. Phil claims the bar in Daytona called " The Last Resort" is haunted with Eileen's ghost. He claims they have her voice on digital camera cussing and wanting another beer. Plus, she unlocked a door where it was dead bolted and she relocked it again according to Phil. Phil claims to have told his friend "Lee" to quit cussing and behave herself. It was like she listened to what he was telling her to do. He was stating this information with a kind of wild look in his eyes. It was starting to get kind of creepy. He started taking about the sci- fi ghost watching show which he claimed a lighthouse in St. Augustine, Florida was haunted with a female ghost. Mom and I left " The Turtle" around 8 in the evening. I assumed he went on to other adventures. Mom was amazed house he carries most of his clothes and other belongings in the trailer. He only sparingly replaces things like shoes and clothes when they wear out.

Middle of the week

I like AC and a place where you have some quiet time. The time is now with my coffee and whatever is coming into my e-mail box that takes forever to load. I have taken my synthroid, beta carotene, lutein and vitamin D. I take the rest of my stuff later. The political issues seem petty. Cheney hit the airwaves complaining how Obama is running the office. The news media is making an issue over which political dog is smarter. The Vice President's dog Champ or Bo. I can not see arguing over either issue. It seemed like the rain hit the interior of the state yesterday. Today, I think I saw the doppler say the coast would get some rain. The rain sure makes our yard in need of a lawn trim. The yard trash gets picked up today. It will be nice to see the big pile in front of our house gone. Speaking of gone, our neighbor Pauline leaves for the Carolinas today. She won't be back until June 7 of this year.

Rain, Rain, Rain

I was the domesticated diva today. I hung out clothes on the clothes line and took them back in folded. I helped cook a baked chicken dinner with homemade dressing inside. Mom made the gravy and put the dinner together. I ran the vacuum cleaner in the hallway, my bathroom, living room and kitchen. I helped load the dishes and mom started the dishwasher. I haven't seen the evening news reports on the weather, but I can look outside and see it overcast. It looks like a prelude to a storm. It looks like a repeat of yesterday's lighting storm which didn't let up until after 9:30 at night. Mom made a pretty good salad with croutons and ranch dressing. I like those two things on the salad. I am seeing stuff appear on the kitchen floor after I used the vacuum. Tomorrow, the yard trash gets picked up and I might be taking my neighbor to do her cardio-therapy. I didn't commit to it yet. She said for me not to make a trip out of my way, but I will see how I feel tomorrow.

The shuttle is the little dot in the picture

There wasn't much in the way of a shuttle view today. Mom and I were able to view the launch from a roof top loft thanks to our neighbor Pauline, who arraigned with a friend from her church, a place for us to watch. I got more views of the birds on the wires than a bright light ascending into the sky. I didn't even get to hear the sonic rumble of the engines after a launch. It use to shoot up the coast like the blades of a helicopter taking off. The tiny little speck in the middle of the picture is the shuttle. It was threatening rain at launch time, but now it is hazy and overcast. It still looks like a very hot day. The neighbor kid across the street just dragged in from a hard day at school. I bet he would want something cool to drink and a television set to forget school for awhile. Maybe a better launch next time. I hope.

This is shuttle launch day

This is Monday May 11, 2009 shuttle launch day at 2pm. It is also garbage day. The weather seemed extremely hot because the sun gets so intense in the afternoon. Mom and I did attend a picnic in the evening at the park in Edgewater, Florida. We met our neighbor Pauline, her granddaughter Faith, Faith's boyfriend Wayne, Wayne's mom Cathy, and Wayne's son Wayne junior. I also failed to mention Faith's dog Rex who is featured in the picture going after a football. Apparently, this is Rex's weakness. He loves to catch footballs. It looks like he wants to swallow them whole. My mom received a bit of sad news about her brother Perry Haynes. He suffered a massive stroke which the doctor's don't expect him to recover. He also did not wish to be maintain on life support when it would not make a difference in his recovery. It is a difficult cross to endure, but we do have each other for support. We will miss not hearing his voice on the phone and the stories about him growing up as a lifeguard in Indiana. However, his wife Vera and son Franklin have lots of friends for support. Mom has Glendon and I for support. I also have my Aunt Ruth which I didn't contact over the weekend. I hope to talk with her more and maybe get some stories of past adventures from her.

Happy Mother's day

I can see the full moon outside the kitchen window. The weathermen promise rain around Tuesday and Wednesday. It should be interesting to see if we get some much needed rain. Last night the people were out playing on the North end of the beach. One young guy brought his guitar and was just strumming a few chords while another guy was hitting his leg trying to imitate a drum to play along with the guitar chords. The guy drumming his leg for pretend was being criticized by the drunk guy for having a bathing suit way to short. The guy in the bathing suit kept quiet with embarrassment. The drunk guy tried changing his target to others who pass by him. My mom passed by him and totally ignored him. He may have been mumbling something behind me and I did not pay attention. His last target before mom and I left was a guy driving a red roadster car. The drunk guy went over to his car and wanted to drive. This is when two other roadsters pulled up. One a light blue and the other a dark blue. The guy drunk guy moved on. The guy in the red roadster was talking with the guy in the light blue roadster. Sometimes there are such a mixture of people on the beach. They are young and old. Long scraggly hair thin or heavy set with kids or without kids. They all have fun by the ocean. I did see a few pelicans which were hard to capture on film. When mom and I were going to the North end of the beach, a group of pelicans passed us in the air. Mom's car was traveling at 30 miles per hour. I estimate the pelicans were traveling either 40 or 45 miles per hour in the air. Today, mom and I have a picnic to go to later in the evening. Plus, the "Celebrity Apprentice" final is on tonight. I think it is a great way to finish Mother's day 2009.

Saturday at home

The evening has come and the temperature is still warm. I made potato salad today and mom cooked up knockwurst mixed with broccoli and peas. The sky is a solid light blue and the sun is lowering in the West. The day went pretty fast and I am not sure where it went. I only know that I took a neighbor to her beauty saloon appointment and picked her up and took her home. I haven't seen any pelicans or other sea creatures. It has just been a suburb day next to the beach.

Friday is here

Time seems to pass more quickly then what I can imagine. It was well after five this morning when I very briefly talked with my sister "Glendon." She had to get ready for work at the University as a ranch hand. Today she would only work a half a day, but tomorrow and Sunday are full days of work. Yesterday evening, mom and I went to the entrance on Twenty Seventh Avenue to look at the ocean. Not all the waves were kicking up this much, but this looked pretty good. There was a surfer out in the water, but we lost track of where the surfer was located. He had a big long surf board and no ankle bracelet to tie himself to the surf board in case he got knocked off by a wave. I did take a picture of a small baby sitting on top of someone lying in the sand. The baby was a cute typical baby that people gush over because all the facial expressions are cute. The only trouble is babies grow up. It is the same with puppies when they grow up. They both loose their cuteness. After reading the reviews, I don't know if I will truly like the new Star Trek movie. The plot sounds more confusing than anything I remember recently. However, it will get me out of the heat of the day for a couple of hours.

Boats that float

I thought this boat looked kind of interesting. It reminded me of "The African Queen" from the movie with Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn. The sunken house boat is still there. I heard on the news where Volusia was going to clean up the abandon boats, but I haven't seen evidence of it yet. The birds really chirp early in the morning and late in the evening. They kind of quiet down in the heat of the day. I guess they may be looking for a cool dark spot until it actually got cooler. I wonder what this boat must have been carrying? Do you think it might have been a fishing boat? Do you think this was privately owned or used for commercial use? I wonder what they named the boat? This is just interesting stuff to think about.

Welcome Raisin

This is a picture of "Raisin." She is such a cute puppy. You can barely see her eyes. She is a soft ball of fur. She is a replacement for "Berry" who died from cancer. Howard's dog Lilly the greyhound likes her and plays with her, but Holly the dog we kept hasn't accepted her yet. She may be jealous of the competition. A new dog gets all the good credit and Holly would loose her rank as the number 1 dog. Maybe Holly will come around and enjoy the new puppy like the rest of the people who encounter her.

boats under the bridge

I have to say a special Thanks to Libby Mitchell who gave us some coupons for a free grilled chicken meal with two sides and a biscuit from Kentucky Fried Chicken. This is in conjunction with the Oprah Winfrey show. I will finally get to try the grilled chicken. Mom and I went to the South Bridge where there was quite a wind blowing. It was like being in a wind tunnel. I only saw one pelican perched way out in the channel underneath the bridge next to some fishermen. This guy in the picture looks more like he is in a bath tub rather than a boat. The water was really choppy due to the big boats passing under the bridge and the wind blowing really hard.

Happy Cinco De Mayo

Pull out your taco salad. Pull out your Chimichangas and your Chilupas and enjoy the Mexican 5th. of May. I use to do the Margarita thing, but now it is just crushed ice and water from the frig. I hope this Swine flu outbreak comes under control and life can turn back into a more normal routine. I miss the shaking of the hands in church when the sign of peace is offered by the priest. My mom says it is enough that you just verbally offer it to another ;however, I feel like something is missing. I guess I had been condition to this from early childhood. I find it hard to change. Mom and I didn't get to the coast last night. We ate dinner and the weather turned overcast and kind of dull looking. Maybe today if the weather holds out nice, we can see the pelicans dive into the water in search of a fish. dinner.

Monday is garbage day

I did hear from Lillian last night on instant message. She thinks she might be done unpacking by winter. She said she can't even find her socks. She helped Aaron take out the garbage last night. I guess she doesn't get bothered by raccoons like mom and I do over at the beach. Raccoons are very active in the dark, so we learned through broken garbage bags not to place the garbage out front until daylight. I have had my first cup of coffee and could hear the night crickets chirping away. I also hear the slight chiming of the wooden chimes. It has a nice clanking wooden sound. Tomorrow, Howard will come by with the new little puppy named "Raisin." I am looking forward to getting a picture of the new puppy. I saw what picture Howard kept and it looked pretty cute. The weather here will be in the 90's, so I will be drinking crushed ice and cool water.

Movie Review of Wolverine

I like science fiction and action movie adventures and for the first rendition of Wolverine this movie shows lots of potential with the special effects. It broadens the scope on how talented Wolverine is with his special mutated abilities. It was never clearly stated how he was a mutant to begin with ; except for, his father wasn't his real father. It was the man that talked mean to little Jimmy Logan. Jimmy Logan and his brother Vince were both mutants who wouldn't die. They started out in the old West and went to fight together in the Civil War. The scene keeps changing from World War 1 to World War 2, the Korean War and then the Vietnam War. Jimmy who was just know as Logan joined a special unit along with his brother after being shot for killing a Senior Officer. Jimmy's brother "Vince" turned bad after the special unit disbanded. The special unit was disbanded because Wolverine didn't want to kill any longer. Jimmy (AKA: Wolverine) went to live in the Canadian Mountains and had a girl friend who was secretly setting him up , because her sister was still being held by the leader of the special services. The girl looked like she was killed by Jimmy's brother Vince, when she was really hiding out at "Three Mile Island" along with the other mutants to form a Super New Mutant. Jimmy Logan (AKA: Wolverine) allowed for an indestructible substance to be placed in his body so he could do extraordinary things. Jimmy later figures out who the bad guys truly are. He also saves a bunch of new mutants who are taken away by the future Patrick Stewart character who is a Doctor. At the end of the movie, Jimmy looses his girl friend again and destroys one of the reactors, but leaves an opening for the Super Mutant to come back and make another movie. I like Hugh Jackman as an actor and a good looking guy. He plays the part well. I enjoyed the movie and it leaves room for future episodes to occur. It seems likely Hugh Jackman will be back for another "Wolverine."

Sunday looks hot

We get sunny weather in the 90's and up North they get the rain in the 60's. Mom has the sprinkler on wetting down the front yard so the plants won't dry out. I am thinking about going to the movies this afternoon. Mom will stay here and have a guy who is dating the granddaughter of a neighbor down the street do some trim yard work outside. This is a fuzzy pink picture of Holly with a stuffed rabbit toy draped over the top of her. It is still kind of cute because she looks so sleepy in the picture. The owners came for her yesterday and today they go pick up their new little puppy. I also learned yesterday that Holly is ten years old. She looks pretty good for a dog that age.

I like pelicans

The patterns of pelicans amazes me. I love to see them fly in formation and I love to see them dive into the ocean to capture a fish. This is what the pelicans were doing last night when mom and I took Holly down to the entrance on 27 Avenue. They would fly in circles like circling vultures and do a dive like a bullet being shot into the water. I would see a splash of water off in the distance. I was just sorry I couldn't take the time to study them with my zoom camera. I wonder if they caught the fish they were seeking. At least they didn't hang around a boat looking for a handout. I cut a bouquet of roses out in the front yard and mom stuck them into a vase of water. The bottom is layered with gardenias. The rose and the gardenias have a sweet odor.

It is Derby Day

Holly goes home today and the Kentucky Derby gets decided today. Holly, is the dog, mom and I have been watching all week long while the owner was on a cruise. Holly takes all her treats home with her. She also gets a new puppy on Sunday. Holly should be happy with the new dog. Hopefully, she will be like a mother to the new dog and show the puppy how to be a proper doggy.

Friday has arrived

Holly is eating her gizzards. I guess she got the early morning munchies, after I took her out to take care of business. She was upset with us for leaving her and not taking her on a car ride. I took her for a short truck ride afterwards which she enjoyed, but it didn't make up for what happened to her. She cried and sulked when we got home. She wouldn't even eat the pieces of steak we gave her from the Outback restaurant. Mom and I stopped at Outback and got a Porterhouse steak dinner to go and split it when we got home. It was a ten ounce steak ,so we both got five ounces. Plus we split the potato, bread and salad. We took a twenty six dollar dinner and turned it into two thirteen dollar dinners which we both liked. There was no cooking and we got free plastic ware afterwards to use with other foods. The test I took was with the Division of Forestry in the edge of Palatka on the outskirts of Bunnell. It claims to be on the North side of Bunnell, but it was a bit further than expected. The lady distributing the test said one guy's GPS broke and he just couldn't find the place. He plans to try again next week. Mom and I arrived at one in the afternoon. I went in to use to restroom, but went to work on the test right afterwards. Two ladies joined me a bit later. I was glad to finish and get the work behind me. Mom and I went home traveling a bit on A1A ; instead of, US1. We got to see the ocean next to the shoreline. Houses were right across the street and the pelicans were flying overhead in formation of maybe six at a time, later three at a time. The ocean turned into Condoville when we got to Ormand in Volusia County. Mom went back to US1 and we finished the trip in good time. Today is my last full day to play with Holly. I hope it will be fun. She will forget about us when her owner comes for her tomorrow.