On a Saturday Roll

August, I can not believe it is the first day of August. I had to separate my blood pressure pills and water pills for the week in the pill holder. The pill holder makes it easier to take because it assigns a day to take the pills. When the day space is empty then the pills have been taken. I looked outside the kitchen window to see a dark mysterious looking moon that even would be described as creepy in a Dracula novel. Leftover storm clouds from yesterday's shower were drifting over the oblong shaped almost white spot in the blackened sky. My last bit of burning the mid-night oil energy is running down. I am not in an I can clean everything mood.

My sister has to put in a full day at work today. She only has today and tomorrow to do this. She gets the rest of the week off to recover from her physical labor.

July goes, August comes, THEN SEPTEMBER

Friday, July 31

July went out with a boom-boom as the shuttle landed at the Cape in sunny, still weather, and all was well. The re-entry was perfect for the late morning landing signaled by the breaking of the sound barrier heard all over the coastline. Astronaut Wakata returned to Earth with the underwear he used during his 4 -1/2 months space station stay. He kept them on for a month at a stretch. They're experimental high-tech undies, designed in Japan (where else) to be odor free. Will these droopy drawers end up in the Smithsonian?

August will bring us another month of hot steamy days and much rain in the forecast. Then comes beautiful September when the beach is abandoned by the summer crush of inland sunbathers and left for the residents, the turtles, the birds and us. September is the best beach month of the year for residents - nights are cooler, the beach is bare of people and returns to nature. Yesterday a supermarket bag boy of probably 60 years reminisced about his three generation of family born and raised in New Smyrna Beach. As a boy, he and his family put up large tents on the beach, camped out overnight, built bonfires, cooked and fished, and New Smyrna was just a smidgeon of a city.

The good news this year is that El Nino is active in the Pacific, which lowers the potential for Atlantic hurricanes so let September hasten and winter set in. If you look closely at the photo above, you will see a boy sitting on his Dad, buried in the sand.

Thursday progressing ahead

Mom made a shrimp salad for dinner last night. Plus, we had leftover little hot dogs reheated in the microwave. The shrimp were the little tiny shrimp. I had also got some salsa which I was dipping the shrimp in. The salad had Marie's ranch dressing. Plus, there were some croutons in the salad. We did get some rain and lightening last night. I felt so tucked away seeing the storms come and me in my house where I have shelter away from the rain and can almost totally cut out any lightening shining into the house. I wonder where the creatures like the raccoons go in a rain storm? Where do they hide out until it is over? I think of the raccoons because they are the ones trying to get into our garbage cans at night. We have to make sure the cans are securely tied and not to take the garbage to the curb for pickup before daylight.

It's Wednesday

Coffee was good and so was last night's dinner. We had spaghetti which I always love. Mom also took me out to take some pictures. I got some boats and few other shots. I didn't get any pelican pictures in this batch. The pelicans just seemed to fly too fast. The neighbor across the street has their porch light on. They leave their light on all night long and turn it off during the day. They must be making some good money because I can only imagine what their power bill must cost. This is kind of the reason we have one of those motion sensors that will trigger the light to turn on, if we need it. Most of the time we are home after dark with the television on and not a worry about the outside world.

Tuesday has arrived

I got up not as early as the other days. I had my necessary vitamins. The air is pleasant inside the house. I probably won't see a full moon for awhile. Last night mom and I had little hot dogs wrapped in a dough blanket. Mom really likes this dish because she can dip the little hot dogs in mustard. I like it because there are a lot of them to eat. Mom made some squash to go with the hot dogs, but we filled up fast that neither one of us could eat the ear of corn she laid out to cook. We did not get the rain we expected yesterday. I wonder if it will come today. It might be nice this morning. We shall see what it is like today.

It looks like another stormy day

Mom and I are going to try to go to the movie "The Proposal." The show starts at 1:05 p.m. in the afternoon. I saw the weather report and the weatherman says sixty percent this afternoon. At least the water will keep the grass green and whatever else might be growing green. I can at least use this past picture of shrimp boat to add to the blog. I wish they would not cut school programs in college. However, this request could not be granted because the local college in Orlando already decided to cut major programs which made the college worth attending. However, the scaled back version may not be so appealing. Time will tell.

Doggy Daycare

Mom and I went to Food Lion and saw this place called "Doggy Daycare." My mom checked it out and the owner and his dog Coco was there. They had no other customers. Coco is a Yorkie and she doesn't have a lot of self confidence yet. Coco is on the business cards as Coco's Canine Club. She is kind of the Star of the show. I think she looks more like a terrier. It is a stormy afternoon and mom and I got done eating grilled cheese sandwiches and potato soup. It does look dark and rainy. Mom is watching the "Miss Florida beauty pageant.

stormy weather

It looked like a big storm show last night. We were not able to get outside and explore the ocean. The storm with the thunder and lightening came rumbling into New Smyrna. We had a forty-five minute tornado warning. The weather radio kept blasting while the weathermen tried to talk on television explaining where the storm was located and where it was moving. They even showed us pictures of funnel clouds from Ormand Beach and Port Orange. It turns out there was mobile home damage in Port Orange. Tonight it is starting to cloud up from the South. I don't know if we will get any major storms, but the sky is worth look at.

Encounter with a young person

Do you ever wonder how much information a young person really knows? When I went to the doctor's office yesterday, the receptionist was born in the 1980's and did not really know about the singer "George Michaels." It made me wonder, if young people are born with giant erasers on their brains? How much past have they never heard of? My mom was worried about keeping information straight yesterday, but imagine if you were information deprived. I remember baby sitting a boy and girl many years ago and the girl did not know who Richard Nixon was. I was amazed and floored. She wasn't taught this information at her age. The kids of today really would not know about the Apollo moon flights or Mercury or Gemini astronauts. They wouldn't even know about Skylab. I guess with the intended return to the moon in a capsule this would look all new to a young person. This would look like it has never been tried before. Do you think we would progress a lot further by forgetting the history of the past? This is a subject where many people would have different opinions. This is one of the ghostly looking shrimp boats out at dusk.

Friday is here

The evening on the coast has many different images. This picture I took is of the clouds. One looks puffy white while the other is a dark stormy cloud. They are connected together. I don't know what connects them. The shrimp boat pictures are grain because there is no sunlight shining directly around them. One of the shrimp boats even has a night light which shows up pretty brightly in the pictures. These shrimp boat pictures look like ghost ships cruising through the night. Maybe a secret stash of gold some place on a sunken ship that they only know the location. I watched the Discovery show about men catching crabs up around Alaska. It makes me appreciate being home. Somehow those high prices at the grocery store for crabs doesn't seem too bad.

Thursday on the steps to the weekend

Today is drink the coffee, get the garbage out to the curb before 8 this morning. Also, get the recyclables to the curb. Tonight's dinner will probably be hamburger. Last nights dinner was cube steak with mashed potatoes and a salad. I also fixed cold tuna and sea shell macaroni to enjoy for lunches. I watched Obams's health care speech last night. I didn't see it all the way through. I hope it works out for him. I still would like to see more creation of jobs. Both mom and I agree the job market in Volusia County is pretty poor. I don't see much better for Orange County at the present time with the website" My Florida." This is also the time for political unrest with the Governor's race. Plus, the current Governor is running for the Senate. Maybe, in time things will work out. This is called hope.

Lets get some coffee

I got my Maxwell house Colombian coffee and it seems like all is right with the world. These pigeons were just settling in for the night. I took their picture because they looked so relaxed and charmed with each other. They do have pigeon fights, but this is kept out of open sight. Underneath the structures the pigeons have nest and territories. The pigeons do get into a heated battle over territory. Who owns the territory and who owns the female pigeon. It seems interesting to see how structured this pigeons exhibit in a home environment.

Tuesday is it going to rain?

The Maxwell house coffee was pretty good this morning. Last night's dinner was turkey with peas and noodles topped with an Alfredo sauce. Plus, served with a buttermilk biscuit. It was very filling. This is an old picture of the South Bridge at sunset. You can see the cars descending down the roadway with their headlights on. I don't know what we will have for dinner this evening, but I can pretty much say it won't be scallops from Publix. They were serving a scallop meal at the Apron which is a sampling bar located inside Publix. The last scallop meal from Publix, mom broke out in an itching fit. There was something connected with the scallops that made her allergic. It could be just a nice bacon lettuce and tomato sandwich for dinner.

Food from the past

It is amazing how food can tie us to events of the past. Mom was recalling the Swiss steak recipe my Granddad made with tomato paste and mushrooms and a little flour for gravy. This all seemed to tie my mom, dad and I traveling to my Granddad's place in Buffalo, Indiana which stood along the Tippy Canoe River. The meal came with mashed red potatoes fresh from my Granddad's garden. The skins were usually left on. It was thought more vitamins would be consumed, if the skins were left on. We also had fresh corn on the cob where the stocks would grow to at least a height of five to six feet. We also had blueberry cheese cake made on a graham cracker crust base. The blue berries were freshly picked and I guess some people would call them huckleberries based on the size. They were so large and sweet to eat. I remember we would usually go up in September when there was a ting of coolness in the air. The summer holiday would be over. I remember the earthworms which were called night crawlers. How long and squiggly they were to pick up. I remember the yucky squishy substance they would leave on my fingers when I baited them on my hook to go fishing. I remember catching the small sun fish and realizing there wasn't enough to make a dinner or even a morsel of a meal. I remember late in the evening hearing the roar of what sounded like motorcycles which were really a herd of mosquitoes making their way down the Tippy Canoe River. Now, I have a whole new bunch of memories connected with the ocean and that would be a separate blog entry.

Turkey for dinner

We had baked turkey for dinner. I also made stuffing and we put gravy on the turkey and dressing and the baked potato that took so long to cook. I well seasoned the turkey and the stuffing and the gravy was the perfect touch to go along with the turkey. The spices just seemed to bring out the best in the flavor. Mom made some vanilla pudding sugar free. This pudding is cooked and not instant. I think cooked taste better. This guy seems to be close to the water. He nearly is standing in the water. At least it looks like it from a distance.

The memory lives on

Walter Cronkite, that is the way it will always be in the hearts of every American who saw a television set with his picture on it. Walter wanted to be the first Journalist in space after he retired. Fortunately, this did not happen. This was right after we lost the first teacher in space. Walter was far too valuable to send into space. However, he did a Superb job of covering the moon landings. When Walter retired from the CBS news Dan Rather carved his own style, but he was no Walter Cronkite. I still recall the images of Walter sailing on his big yacht with his daughter. He looked so happy and very content. Walter opened the recording introduction of Katie Couric the current CBS news anchor. This added a touch of class and was one of the last things he accomplished.The age 92 is a good long time to live, but it still seemed to short for Walter Cronkite.

Middleton is spraying for bugs

We have Middleton Pest Control out in the middle of the day spraying for bugs and doing a free termite inspection. This will help keep the wild critters like spiders, snakes, worms, roaches and ants from seeking shelter inside our house. It looks to be another scorcher of a day. The sun looks real intensely hot. We may get some showers later on this afternoon. I like seeing boats like this one out on the water. Someone must be living on there as part of their retirement.

Dining poor

These were the happiest crows I have seen because they were dining on what was leftover out of the garbage can. They would get a piece of what looked like food and fly off to dine on it alone. Each crow for himself. It reminded me of all the leftover popcorn from the Harry Potter movie. How many crows, pigeons and seagulls could have been fed? I had part of the Jolly time popcorn last night ,so we have some popcorn to take down to feed the birds. Coffee today is Maxwell house Colombian coffee. It doesn't have the kick that Folgers has, but it is good mild coffee.

Aiming for higher thinking

"Harry Potter", the movie did not live up to my expectations of what a memorable movie should be. There seemed to be a lot of open and unanswered ideas presented in the movie which were not fully explained. One was a box where nothing came back which was good. Another was the way Harry's book of potions was gotten rid of by his girlfriend. Another idea was the issue of Harry's teacher being the Half Blood Prince which wasn't explained and left me puzzled. Also, why he killed off the headmaster of the school. I can not see the little kids making any sense of the movie. I figured during the movie maybe the "Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs" would have been better. This picture was taken from my yard aimed across the street. This was suppose to be the Space Shuttle " Endeavor."

Back in New Smyrna

It is another hot day. Do you think the shuttle will go up today? Do you think the storms might interfere with the launch of the space shuttle? It is nice and cool inside the house, but I miss seeing the butterflies and the hummingbird. We had our orange honeysuckle trimmed way back, so I don't expect to see the hummingbird until next year. This is the changing of the lifeguards at the entrance of 27 Avenue. One guy gets to go home and the other goes on duty. The Harry Potter movie starts today and the doctor consultation went OK yesterday.

This is the day after Monday

We had rain and no shuttle flight. The weather held off the shuttle for the second time. I think NASA will retry on Wednesday verses today. It just seems the wrong time of evening to launch the shuttle. Dinner last night was stuffed bell peppers. Today, I am not sure, but we have some frozen Tilapia which is suppose to be good eating according to my sister. We will just have to cook it up and find out. It looks as if mom and I will be going to Halifax this afternoon in Daytona for a consultation about a procedure to help get my medical condition under control. This is a picture I took in the morning. I don't know if he ever found anything.

It is Monday

Do you think the shuttle will launch today? Some weather people have their doubles. They say the same weather pattern as of yesterday will take place today. Today is also garbage day. All the garbage goes out after the sun comes up. It would be a source of mischief for the raccoons, if I placed the garbage out front before daylight. This is a pigeon from the North entrance on the North beach side. The pigeon just seems to live the simple life.

Close to the water

Yesterday, mom had a show on about sharks. They told how some sharks can swim in the rivers of Louisiana and feed off the bottom of the river. People who swim in the rivers would never know a shark would be swimming down below. The picture looks like the boat is too close to the water. This was taken very early in the morning. Hopefully they caught some good fish and had fun for the day.

The tranfusion is over

I received 2 units of blood yesterday in my blood transfusion process at the local Bert Fish Hospital. My blood type is A positive. However, the hospital had to do a cross check before I could be approved for the transfusions. This meant wearing a paper wrist band overnight that seemed to make my skin itch . The vial they took the night before the transfusion was like at four in the evening when everyone including the lab tech was almost out the door and it seemed like the hospital was shutting down. Fortunately, this was done and the next day, I showed up at 7:30 a.m. in time to have a buttermilk pancake breakfast. The leftover paperwork was done in the room. I got to drink additional coffee besides what I had at home. The pancakes came with some sausage links which were kind of hot and spicy. However, I had orange juice to wash it down. I took my final blood pressure and water pill early. The nurse,Terri, kept saying the transfusion had to be started within the next 15 minutes. She injected the needle into my left hand and the tip went into my wrist area. It hurt while it was being done, but once it was in place the hurt was gone. This is a picture of my Primary doctor "Dr. Herdel." It was his sister- in- law "Chris the receptionist" who relayed the news my blood count was 5.3 and I needed to have a two unit transfusion. This process seemed to work out well. Each unit ran about 2 and a half hours while I stayed connected to the blood transfusion machine. I was done with the process at a quarter to two in the afternoon. All my television watching was over at the hospital. I did get a lunch of a hamburger with some fries, ice tea with Sweet and Low and some pineapple chunks. The hamburger was good, but it had no onions. They just don't seem to serve onions with their meals. I only briefly saw my doctor fly through the lower hallway. Some lady yelled out " Hi Dr. Herdel." I wouldn't have looked twice if she didn't say that. There was no one else there I recognized, but I feel like I made two new friends with the two nurses who took care of me during my blood transfusion process.

Friday at Bert Fish

Today, I go in for my third blood transfusion at "Bert Fish" the local hospital. I figure I will be getting two units of blood , so that will be a little over four hours. Afterwards, I should be able to come home for the rest of the day. I have to be at the hospital at 8 in the morning. This seems so early to me because I haven't been pressed for time, since my working days. The hedge in the backyard might be trimmed and cut while I am gone. Also, I might have a spaghetti dinner for me, when I return home. The only thing that has bothered me so far is the wrist band that had been on my left wrist. It has itched from the time it was placed on. It was placed on, so I could not remove it. The other one I could take off and put back on, but this one with hand writing that I tried not to get wet. However, I do think some water moved that way despite my best effort. This band is suppose to be for my blood typing. I will be glad to remove it when the transfusion is over.

Thursday at home

I am having coffee with my Gull berry honey in it. I am enjoying every tasteful drop. It is so smooth, sweet and good. Gull berry honey is suppose to be good for allergies. After going to a sleep doctor and being diagnose with asma, I figured I better live it up a little. It did rain a little yesterday. It was nice to be home and see the rain outside the window coming down. This morning is garbage day and the yard guy Charles comes and takes care of the lawn mowing. I don't know if I will get to the movies, but I have been saving myself up for the new "Harry Potter" movie opening next week.

No food until blood is drawn

This morning it is going hard not eating until getting some blood work done. Afterwards, I can go get a biscuit and gravy and coffee from the local drug store. My next appointment to my local doctor will be in January of next year providing everything turns out OK on the blood workup. I took a picture of a tree with lots of Spanish moss.

This was taken in Osteen, Florida where we buy our honey.

It looks like rain today

This is a defeated wind surfer's sail. Somehow he couldn't keep his wind sail up and going. This is the result. Today is also Michael Jackson's memorial. I am sure it will be all over the airwaves. The weatherman says rain for the next couple of days and I am looking forward to it. This will keep the heat down and keep the grass watered.

Crazy things to look at

I guess this picture of the bicyclist would rank top of the list. I don't know how fun it is, but it looks to be confusing. How do you decide on which way to go? It sure is cool inside the house. Today is garbage day. This reminds me of the song line "Take out the papers and the trash or you don't get no spending cash." This is from "Yakity Yak don't talk back."

The day after the Fourth of July

It is pitch dark now, but I know in about a half an hour light will come and Sunday will be here. The fire crackers have stopped and all I can hear is the refrigerator running. Dinner was fried chicken and mashed potatoes with chicken gravy. Mom and I along with our neighbor Laurel went to the North end of the beach on Flagler Avenue. I took a bunch of picture and mom and Laurel went walking. Laurel ended up at an open ice cream shop where she was able to get a hamburger and some milk. Mom took the car to pick her up and almost got hit by a black Ford pickup truck. The truck came less than an inch of the back door where I was sitting. Fortunately, mom pulled forward into a handicap space so this truck could pull out. The guy driving the truck asked if we had been hit. I told him it was close, but he was ok. He pulled out and started to take off when this blond haired boy claimed the truck ran over his foot. The kid also claimed the driver had beer cans inside his truck. The kid flagged down the local cop who drove around confused. The kid thought he had stopped him down the road because he saw the blue flashing lights on. However, we weren't sure this was the case. He may have gotten away and not been the wiser. Hopefully, the kid got his foot looked after by someone with medical experience. We came home and I sent pictures out to people and listen to the pops outside my door. The fireworks show had started.

The Fourth of July sure comes fast

The next door neighbor fired up their chainsaw before eight in the morning. Cutting and sawing tree limbs. Running a leaf blower feels like having your teeth drilled on first thing in the morning. There seems to be no sleeping in until 10 in the morning and gradually waking up to some bacon and eggs for breakfast. Instead, mom made a pot of oatmeal which will probably be cold when I eat it. It is only nine and the news is over on channel nine. The temperature is suppose to be in the upper 90's today. I hope the rest of the day is more restful and successful than the beginning.

Remembering Michael Jackson

What a sad news to learn Michael Jackson was so hooked on drugs. It was a sad road to take when he had more potential to do great things for maybe another 25 years. I saw the interview with Jermaine Jackson by Larry King at the "Neverland Ranch." Jermaine stating how much he missed Michael. What it was like when Michael lived at the "Neverland Ranch." There is suppose to be a memorial on Tuesday next week. I wonder if they will carry it on television. I would imagine this would be the case. I am sure his music will live on for a very long time.

Viewing a grey evening

We had some rain, but to me it just hasn't seemed enough. The sky has been a soft gray and the heat is a thing of the past. I made potato salad yesterday. We have a small contain to have for lunch today. We also had cube steaks for dinner. Mom and I went to the beyond a couple of streets North end. There was an entrance at a park. We parked pretty close , so there wouldn't be far to walk. We looked and took some picture and left. It seemed like a pretty routine evening. "America's got talent" was on and I watched bits and pieces. The evening seemed pretty good.

Reflections of childhood

The idiot of the year award should go to the boyfriend of the mother in Sumter County that brought over a python in a cage around a two year old little girl. The snake got loose and killed the little girl. The boyfriend was too late at chopping the snake up to get the snake off the little girl. A tragedy that should have never occurred. This was the first story on the noon news. How could a mother allow the boyfriend to bring such a monster into the life of her child? It sounds like the mother was more influenced by the boyfriend than the welfare of the child. Fortunately, I enjoyed other things growing like dogs, cats, ponies, chickens and playing with other kids. I rode my bike with other kids to 7-11. I had sword fights with sticks against other kids. It was just like something out of the swash buckling days of the "Three Musketeers." We defended our honor. Me and the neighbor kids against the kids across the street. No one ever got seriously hurt. The most injury might have been a hit finger by accident. I was usually on the winning side.