Taking the Day Off

Penny was supposed to run off with Pam today but Pam backed out. So I ran off with Penny.

We did our normal Target run and then headed out past Seaside on Rt 30A to find Deer Lake State Park. http://www.floridastateparks.org/deerlake/

We found the park with no trouble but were disappointed because it didn’t appear to live up to the description we had read about it on line. It does have a beautiful trail to the beach. It is either sidewalk or boardwalk all the way from the parking lot to the beach—a distance of a half-mile or so. That part of the park is beautiful and not a disappointment. What we didn’t find was a 10-mile trail/bike path that was supposed to border a dune lake. We did find a 1.5-mile nature trail but it was nothing special.

We had lunch with local flavor at the Café 30A. It’s a little restaurant at the corner of 30A and Rt 395. They take your order at a counter and you seat yourself at a table. When your order is up the server yells out your number and you wave her to your table. The place was loaded with building contractor workers, county sheriffs and fire and rescue people. It wasn’t a place where snowbirds congregated. Being Friday and Lent we both had a grouper sandwich and fries. The food was good, the atmosphere interesting. An example of how laid-back the place was is after we placed our order I asked where the men’s room was. The ladies room was in plain sight but I couldn’t find the men’s room. The lady at the counter said, “We make the guys go outside.” Of course she was joking. You pay for your meal by the front door when you leave. When I got there no one was in sight. We could have walked out and no one would have missed us. Again, it was laid-back and everyone on the staff and even the customers were friendly and courteous. It was a relaxing lunch break.

We hit Fresh Market on our way home to restock our apple supply. This week we are trying Pink Lady apples.

Back at home we looked at the pictures we took and had a light dinner.

My butt is still giving me problems – not much better than yesterday. Walking was OK so the river run is not out yet.

Limping Along

I’m still a pain in the butt, but I’m getting along. I’ve just lowered my expectations about what I can get done each day. I did crank up the lawnmower and cut the grass. It seems that walking doesn’t aggravate it much and lying around doesn’t improve it much. I’m going to do what I can and see if it eases up.

We had our 6-month dental check-up today. I think it’s funny how I have to floss twice a day and rigorously brush my teeth yet I still get plaque build-up, while Penny casually brushes and flosses some and gets very little plaque. The hygienists said it was all about the pH of your saliva. We are scheduled to go back again in September but I haven’t gone the 6 months without something causing me to go in for years now. I either pop a crown or, as I did in October, fall and crack some teeth. About 35 years ago when I was going to our first dentist here—the fresh out of school Dr Grace—he said that I would have good teeth for the rest of my life. He was right. I just have to take the time to take care of them.

We were a Neilson Family this week. We logged every TV show we watched and who was watching in little books, one for each TV. Tomorrow we seal up the books and send them back to Neilson. This is the second time we’ve participated in the Neilson survey. They are quite aggressive with reminders to fill out the books. We got 2 phone calls before the books came, 4 postcards reminding us, and a phone call in the middle of the week to make sure we had no difficulty. They even include a dollar bill in with the books as thanks for participating.

KITTY UPDATE—All 5 cats are showing up each evening now. 3 of them were out there this morning—usually none of them are here then. Today Marmalade slept outside our sunroom door all day. At feeding time this evening Bianca curled up in my lap before I fed them. Then after all had eaten, the cats went off in separate directions except for Bianca who came back and curled up in my lap again. I think she would have stayed there for a long time. I had to lift her off me to go inside. Bianca is not just there for the food.

To Walk or Not to Walk

I’ve had a pain in the butt now for 10 o r so days. It started the day after I started back at my novel. I thought I might have sat too long in a bad position for too long because that is what it felt like. It had eased up some and driving to Jacksonville didn’t seem to aggravate it After the drive to High Springs, however, it flared up again and has been bad since. It’s bad enough in the morning that I can’t put weight on my right foot. After my morning pain meds it eases enough to manage but still hurts whenever I walk or bend forward. It feels like muscle pain, not nerve pain and it is where I had my surgery. With the river walk coming up it’s got me worried about my participation.

I’m on the treadmill now testing it out and I’m going to see if a long walk helps or hurts. I guess I’ll know when I try to get out of bed tomorrow.

My lawnmower is running again. I brought it in to the shop a week and a half ago and it was repaired while I was in Jax. The problem was a stuck intake valve, something I did not know how to diagnose or fix. At least I didn’t break it worse by tinkering with it.

Besides doing laundry, some housework and catching up on paperwork, I haven’t done much in the 2 days we’ve been back home. I figured I’d take it easy on the butt and give my thumbs, which got a good rest in Jax a little more time off.

I seem to be the only one that got a picture of Jack blowing out candles on his birthday cake on Saturday. I e-mailed a low resolution shot to Kerry, copied the rest of the pictures on a CD which is now in the mail, and also hung them out on the web on Winkflash.

KITTY UPDATE—Bianca and Velcro have not shown their furry faces since we’ve returned. If they don’t show today I’m going to be concerned,

6 Days 945 Miles

We are back home again after 6 days in Jacksonville. The primary purpose was to see the Broadway show Spamalot on Wednesday evening.

Spamalot describes itself as “Lovingly ripped off from the classic film comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail, telling the legendary tale of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, and featuring a bevy of beautiful showgirls, not to mention killer rabbits, cows and French people that raises silliness to an art form.” The show lives up to the description. If you don’t know Monty Python you would not understand any description I give of the plot. I will instead say that the theater was comfortable, the orchestra terrific and the quality of the show top-notch. I should know, this being the first show I’ve seen in 38 years. Penny was with me for that show, too. Actually there was a couple that sat behind us who had seen Spamalot on Broadway and they believed that the Jacksonville production was just as good.

The set-up in downtown Jacksonville is nice too. Parking was easy and not outrageously priced. The parking lot is very close to the theater. It was relatively simple to get in and out of downtown. It takes fewer than 15 minutes to get there from Karen and Tim’s place. I did enjoy the show and Penny, who went to watch me enjoy it (not a Python fan) laughed out loud in places. Thank-you, Karen, for an enjoyable Christmas present.

The secondary purpose for the trip was to help out Karen and Tim (K&T) in their preparation for their annual Oscar party. On Thursday we shopped for them for a good portion of the fixin’s they needed.

The tertiary purpose of the visit was to see Christy and Christian (C&C) and deliver some goodies to them. We did that Friday night – more on that later.

The quaternary purpose for the visit was to go see Kerry and John and Jack and Annie. We always want to go see them when in Jax but don’t always make it. We went there Friday afternoon before going to see C&C. Kerry was planning Jacks off-date birthday party for Saturday and invited us. We had originally planned to return home on Saturday so we said if we were in town we would come. Sister Kathy and Bro-in law Joe were at Kerry’s, arriving earlier than planned just to see us. My sister is sweet.

Friday eve we drove to High Springs and went to dinner with C&C in a restaurant named the Ivy House. It’s an old house converted into a restaurant. The food was delicious and the company outstanding. C&C always treat us great and I always like to see Christy smile the way she does now. I also got several of her patented hugs. The evening ended all too soon and we drove back to Jax to find K&T still awake and caring for Sophie. Sophie had a bad day. She had thrown up and was having diarrhea. Penny and I offered to stay longer to help with Sophie and allow K&T to get some things done without her. (Like river run training) So we ended up being in town for Jack’s Party.

The quinary reason for our visit – and a part of every visit to Jax is to shop at places we don’t have at home. Penny like to go to The Olde Green Cupboard – a fabric/craft store with good stuff for her embroidery hobby.

Since we stayed on Saturday, Jack’s Party became our senary reason for being in Jax. Lots of kids, parents and a volcano cake with a racetrack through it.

We finally headed home after church on Sunday. It was a gorgeous day and a smooth drive back.

KITTY UPDATE—The feeder once again worked OK and kept the cats fed all week. So far only Meredith and Marmalade have shown up for the evening feeding. It’s only 7 o’clock. Last time we were out of town they all showed up around 9.

K&T’s Oscar party should be in full swing now. I hope they are having fun.

Maybe our next trip will have septenary, octonary, nonary, and denary purposes.

Back to the Book

I’ve once again reached the point where I can put an hour or so into my novel each day(or so). I’ve spent the first couple of days revisiting what I’ve written and reminding myself of events that have happened. In the months since I’ve written I’ve also gotten some ideas about how to make the plot more interesting.


I haven’t been consistent in my training for the river run. It’s fewer than 3 weeks away and I’m not ready yet. Where does the time go?

I’m getting close to finishing the current shop reorganization. A few more days and I’ll be ready to start a real project. I’ve got to cut an odd-shaped door for a friends sailboat.

Our desktop computer has been acting up the past few days and I ended up having to recover it using Norton Ghost. That program is remarkable. It saved my laptop when the hard drive went south last August. Now it recovered our desktop to a configuration that worked. It is the computer 21 days ago. I try to make recovery points every month—and it’s a good thing I did.

Besides recovering the computer I did get in a walk today and then Penny and poped some popcorn and curled up and watched the movie Reign Over Me while nasty thunderstorms raged outside. More rainy day movie watching. The movie was good. Adam Sandler played the serious dramatic role well. Parts of the movie were excellent parts sappy. For the most part it comes off well. We enjoyed it.

Tomorrow we begin preparation for our next road trip.

Stop Global Whining

That's a bumber sticker I saw yesterday and it started me thinking.

"Stop using those tree-killing paper bags" was the cry about 20 years ago when the best thing we could do to save the planet was to use those plastic bags AND recycle them. It sounds good but most people found it too inconvenient to find somewhere to recycle them so they ended up in the landfills. Yesterday, one of AOL’s headlines was about how mankind’s influence has literally reached every part of the world’s oceans and a big culprit is plastic! In the book “the World Without Us” plastic pollution of the environment was described in alarming detail and sea life, in particular, down to the microbial level was being affected. Unlike Global Warming, there is no doubt that this degradation of the earth’s environment is caused by the activities of humankind.

Have you ever contemplated on the fact that mankind, who likes to believe itself the center of the universe and the most intelligent creature ever created by God, somehow missed the quality that is instinctively incorporated into all the other earth life forms to be a part of the natural environmental process?

Yesterday, the question on Fox News was, “Is bottled water immoral?” They were trouncing the fact that the empty plastic bottles were showing up everywhere – especially the oceans. As with the plastic grocery bags the problem is not the bottle. It is the lack of awareness and/or caring about the effect on the planet. I don’t know if I will live long enough to see mankind discover a way to fit the lifestyle it desires into Natures environmental cycle.

I do know that the city in which I live has taken a step backwards in the process by ending its recycling program. I also know that I am now adding more plastic to the landfills because it is just too inconvenient and messy to try to gather up stuff and bring it to a collection center.(I’m not even sure there is a collection center.)

I guess my final contribution to the environment will also be negative. Instead of rotting and being broken down by worms, bugs and bacteria (returning myself to the Earth), I’m going out in a flash of cremation—adding my last bit of CO2 to the atmosphere. Maybe my contribution will help scientists determine if: 1) CO2 is really causing warming; 2) If mankind’s contribution is the cause of warming.

I don’t think I’ll live to see those questions answered either. The good part of that situation is I will only live to see the beginning of the taxes and government regulations that will be spawned by the politicians. The reason they are jumping on the bandwagon is simple—everything you do can be interpreted to affect the environment—and no one is opposed to green! No longer will they have to find some way to show a tax is good for children, or education. It is truly brilliant!

My idealistic generation was going to fix the world and not do things the way those stupid old people did it. It just ain’t that easy. The environment is complicated. Mankind is very complex. We like to think we are smart – after all we are warming the earth and we know it. Now we are going to fix it. We’re not going to do stupid things like those old people did.

(See what happens when I have nothing interesting enough to write about. By the way, no trees were injured in writing this blog. I did use electricity for the treadmill and computer so I guess I should figure out a way to reduce my carbon footprint. I know! I’ll write my blog on paper and mail it—h-m-m-m—that’s no good either. You know this computer has a lot of plastic in it. The treadmill does, too! Maybe the telephone is better. That’s plastic too and all those cables and poles… if I use the cell phone there are all those hazardous cell towers and microwaves…….HELP!)

February 13th, Valentines Day


We did our off-holiday celebration of Valentine’s day today and it was fun. I made my heart-shaped egg in a basket for Penny’s breakfast in bed.


When I checked the e-mail Karen had put together an audio Valentine’s card for us. Her instructions were for us to listen to it together. We loved it. She had recorded us talking about our relationship last time we were over there. She said it was for a project she was working on. She edited our comments with Penny’s favorite song about our relationship – The Casino’s Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye. Good job Karen! You had us both in tears. (good tears)


We had $20 in gift card money from our last visit to Beal’s that expires this week. Since we were doing lunch at Harbordocks we decided to go to Beal’s first since it was in the same area. Penny got some nice stuff that will be good for our Montana trip.


Harbordocks was great for us. It was a cold, windy, overcast day—not the best day for viewing the harbor. The host jokingly asked us if we wanted to sit inside or outside. There was only one table of diners in the place when we arrived. We figure the weather had kept people in. Half way through our meal they left and we had the whole place to ourselves.


We have had a knack for emptying places when we arrive. We did it at Ft McHenry in Baltimore where the Star Spangled Banner was written. At the end of the presentation they open a long curtain to reveal old glory outside while playing the National Anthem and there in the room full of chairs stood Penny and I—awkwardly. Another place we had the whole theater to ourselves to watch Lady and the Tramp. The projectionist offered to refund our money but we made him play the movie just for us.


But I wander from today’s story. Harbordocks is always excellent. Today, however, was better than normal. Penny ordered a cup of gumbo, which we shared. It was full of chunks of fish and shrimp and had NO okra. That’s my type of gumbo. It was delicious, too. We figured they didn’t expect a crowd today so they gave us a cup full of the good stuff rather than let it go to waste. Penny got turkey, mashed potatoes and collards for her meal and I got my usual fried amberjack, cheese grits, and coleslaw. Again, my meal was a cut above the always-excellent Harbordocks cuisine. Penny boxed up some turkey and mashed potatoes for the kitties. I cleaned my plate.


On the way home we picked up 3 movies to watch as we spent the rest of the day relaxing and just being together. Penny did take care of a little business turning the rest of the ravioli filling into ravioli and delivering a towel she embroidered. I took the day off from everything.


I’m glad we are able to take a day to be together whenever we want now. We had a great day.


Kitty Update—The temperature is dropping rapidly tonight and it is supposed to reach 30. After I fed the 4 that showed up tonight I cut up the turkey from Harbordocks and set it out with the mashed potatoes. When it’s cold the cats eat more. They ate the turkey and the mashed potatoes!

Tuesday Observations

We have a week’s break from any obligations so today was a “Keep caught up” day. Keeping up with the house has been tested by travel, visitors, all-day commitments and Penny cooking and so far so good. Instead of relaxing before going to bed I’m trying to make a habit of checking that things are caught up. Last night was the worst. Penny made ravioli for the Pre-Cana couple and they left about 8:30. I spent the rest of the evening washing dishes and cleaning up and putting things away. That kind of work really kills my hands so by bedtime they were screaming at me. I didn’t leave anything for today so it worked out well.


Today was laundry day – I missed Monday this week and we were on the road last week so there were 2 weeks worth to do. I got it all done but not all put away yet. As I was hanging up one of Penny’s blouses I noticed the label was Sag Harbor. That always strikes me as funny. What were they thinking with that name? Women don’t like to sag let alone have a harbor for their sags.


On my way to the library I drove past a car wash that was doing pretty good business. The exit driveway, however, passed beneath the telephone and electrical lines where literally hundreds of pigeons were perched. I could just picture a shiny clean car startling the birds as it left the car wash. I know some car washes give rain checks. I wonder if pigeon “rain” qualifies.


Niece Kerry sent me an article about an office workstation that is also a treadmill. She said if her Mom had given me the wireless keyboard that I use on the treadmill sooner maybe I could have gotten rich on the idea.


Tomorrow, Feb 13th, is going to be our Valentine’s Day. I see Harbordocks in my future!

Another Pre-Cana Day


Today we did Pre-Cana and prepared for our FOCCUS couple tomorrow. That preparation was a trip to Albertson’s to pick up the fixin’s for ravioli which Penny is going to make for them.

We went to Albertson’s because in the past they had the things we needed. This time was a disappointment. I’m wondering if we are seeing the slow death of the store. They’ve done away with their discount card, which I thought was good nut the “buys” they substituted are not very good. They’ve gone to savings stamps to get dishware. We spent enough in Tampa (and had an overly generous cashier) and I got 2 mugs with the stamps. The mugs are pretty but their square shape makes them a little awkward to drink from. We don’t need any of the dishware so that isn’t going to be an incentive for us.

We also had problems finding what we wanted. They’ve discontinued carrying the crusty bread we wanted, they had no lettuce at a reasonable price, they were out of fresh sage and they had no ground chuck. We had to settle for ground beef. We’ve always found their ground beef to have a lot of water in in (we assume to increase the weight). When you cook it it all boils off and you end up with steamed beef. Maybe next visit will go better.


We pick up sandwiches for Pre-Cana at Giff’s sub shop. They always do a great job for us. With 19 couples to feed we had 2 good sized boxes full of sub sandwiches to deliver. It made the car smell good.


The couples at Pre-Cana turned out to be a mature and widespread group. We had couples from North Dakota, Tallahassee, Panama City, Georgia and one couple from Panama.


It was particularly interesting today. We give a talk on communication and one of the guys in the audience was a communication major. He gave us good marks. Later I overheard another guy asking Penny if I was an engineer. He said he’s got them pegged and can always tell. Gosh, I thought I hid it well!


Penny started having zings during the last talk of the day so we packed up our stuff and headed home.


KITTY UPDATE – Last night after I fed the cats I came inside. Shortly thereafter I heard a commotion outside and found Max the neighbor’s cat chasing the kittens away. They haven’t been staying in our yard under the shed for a while now. Tonight I think I confirmed that Max is driving them away. They come back in the evening for food but don’t hang around. Now I have to figure out a way to keep max away. It’s a territorial thing with cats and the only way I could succeed is to ask the neighbors to keep Max inside. I don’t think they will.

Tomorrow is ravioli!

Typical Saturday


We had a normal Saturday starting with our visit to Waffle House. I just nodded when the waitress asked if I was having the usual – a silent order. When I got my waffle I cut it in half and then I cut it along the lines into little square pieces before applying syrup. I wondered what percentage of the population cuts with the lines and how many just go at it randomly. So my quirky(?) Waffle House behavior includes cutting with the lines and drinking the coffee left handed (the reasoning has been explained to the immediate family).


Lowe’s had nothing out on sale today so we just walked around the store and out the door. We then went out to Destin to get some more clothing for brother Lou. (70% off sales) We found that he wasn’t telling us what he really needed so we bought some golf shirts and pajamas for him today to go with the slacks, socks and briefs we got when we were in Tampa. We will box them up and send them on Monday.


We also assembled Valentine packages for everyone. They will go out Monday also.


KITTY UPDATE—I was beginning to worry about Velcro because he didn’t show up for 2 days since we’ve been back. He finally made his appearance last night at 9:30 along with all the other 4 cats. Tonight the 4 “kittens” were in place at 7:30 ready for some attention and food. I finally got Bianca to jump down off the picnic table and join the group on the ground. I thought it would make petting the 4 of them easier. I was wrong again. Bianca, the last one to come around to being touched turns out to be the biggest teddy bear of the group. She wants to sit on my lap and be held – wrapping up at least one arm and sometimes both. I simply need more hands!

Tomorrow we will be busy with the pre-cana marriage preparation day. We found out there will be 19 couples and some other folks there to observe. It’s going to be a full day. We expect to be worn out by evening time.

It’s New Years Day in February


Today is new years day 2008 for the Chinese Calandar. (The year 2008 translates to the Chinese year 4705–4706.) It is once again the year of the Rat. I was born in the year of the rat (1948). According to Chinese legend people born in each animal's year would have some of that animal's personality. Those born in rat years tend to be leaders, pioneers, and conquerors. They are charming, passionate, charismatic, practical and hardworking. Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Affleck, Samuel L. Jackson, William Shakespeare, and Mozart were all born in the year of the rat. I may be practical and sometimes hardworking but I missed out on the charming, passionate and charismatic stuff. Maybe I was really born in the year of the mouse.

For you dog owners, on the second day of the new year, the Chinese pray to their ancestors as well as to all the gods. They are extra kind to dogs and feed them well as it is believed that the second day is the birthday of all dogs.


May you have a ratty year!


We did the stuff we had planned today. Penny went to the dentist and all is well. She gets her implant on the next visit. Brie went to the vet and he didn’t find any sign of infection when he looked under the microscope at the swab he took. That’s good news. If this infection doesn’t go away he will have to do surgery. Brie is a little wary of us. Each day we hold her down and force her mouth open to give her the antibiotic. In addition she was on the road with us to 2 different places for the past 6 days. I had to dig her out from under our bed today to take her to the vet. Then this evening we had strangers in the house—the FOCCUS couple came over for their first session. Brie is not happy with us. We still have 2 or so days of medication left for her. I’m going to have to block off under the bed so she can’t hide there.


The couple, Darin and Erin, appear to have a good relationship as they head toward a June wedding. They are mature and are communicating well with one another. Penny is going to make ravioli for them for the next session. We stocked up on soda for them and got key lime cheesecake for dessert only to find they had given up soda and sweets for lent. After they left Penny and I had coffee and cheesecake—someone had to eat it!

Tommorow we get back into our weekend routine with our Target visit. Penny plans to see Pam after that. Sunday we have Pre-Cana all day and Monday we see Darin and Erin again.

6 Days, 1020 Miles


We are back home safely after visiting Jacksonville and Tampa. For me the trip had me seeing both our daughters and the remaining living 3 (including me) of my immediate family. This may be the last time me, Kathy and Louie are together for a while. The sad part is our gathering was in part was to have Aunt Pat’s memorial service.

Karen Reading on a Beautiful Day

It was a very busy and productive 6 days. We babysat Sophia, delivered goodies to both girls, saw Karen, Tim and Christy, provided food for the memorial service, gave Louie his laptop, got Kathy’s VCR playing properly, visited the Tampa Aquarium, set up a couple of laptops, gave basic PowerPoint lessons, had dinner at Outback, got Kathy some Ben & Jerry’s Everything But The…, provided some clothing for Louie, secured Kathy’s wireless network, made friends with T.J. the Cockatiel, dug Brie out from under beds 3 times and in general enjoyed seeing everyone.

We Once Again Took This Pose

The drive back went smoothly – a little rain – a lot of wind – but no problems. When we arrived at home all was well. The cat feeder worked OK. So far tonight I’ve seen Bianca, Buzz and Meredith. It’s not unusual for Velcro to not show up after we’ve been away. I think he may be charming one of our neighbors into feeding him, too.

Tomorrow Penny goes back to the dentist, Brie goes back to the vet and we see the engaged couple in the evening for the first FOCCUS marriage preparation session – so we will be busy.

Memorial Day


For us Superbowl Sunday is Memorial Day. The memorial service for my Aunt Pat was held today at Rocky Creek Village.

For me things started last night with T. J., Aunt Pat’s Cockatiel. The bird, for whatever reason (who knows what goes on in a bird brain?), took to me. It ate food from my mouth and gave me bird hugs all evening.


Today started with a trip to Albertson’s to get the necessary supplies for the reception after the memorial service. This is where Penny’s talent shines. We had no idea how many people we were buying for. We thought at first that it would be a small group. The priest then put up flyers in the village announcing the memorial service. Since this is an assisted living facility we had to guess about the numbers. Basically my contribution is to stand back and let Penny do her thing. I carry the list and try to assure we get each item on it. Penny decides on quantity and types of food. Watching her zip through the store making decisions was like watching an artist create a great painting. A dash of turkey breast, a dollop of ranch dressing, a veggie tray, a family size lasagna, etc.


We arrived at Rocky Creek, carted the stuff up to the library (which was where the reception was to be held) only to find the door locked. Father Rock at the chapel said we could use a side room in the chapel. We went back to the library to get our stuff and found that it was now open. We collectively decided that the room off the chapel would work better, thanked them for opening the library and carted everything to the chapel. Kathy put together a collage of pictures from Pat’s life and made a nice floral display with some purple (Pat’s favorite color) and white flowers.


The priest, Father Rock Travnikar, is a plump gregarious Franciscan who said mass in bare feet. Of course, there is a story behind his practice.


Rock once knew a woman who did not want to attend Mass because she hated cramming her feet into church shoes, so to get her to come, Rock said he would be barefoot, too.


Ever since then, he has celebrated Mass without shoes. He told us that the woman still checks up on him to see if he continues to go barefoot.



He chatted with us for a short time to get a feel for who Pat was and to decide what to say about her life. Before the Mass began he explained that the tradition here is to sit throughout Mass out of respect for those who could not stand in the group. Father Rock did a great job. I was impressed with how well he listened to us before the mass and incorporated it all into his comments. If you didn’t tear up during the homily you would have after the Mass. He gave Kathy a sheaf of wheat as a remembrance of Pat, explaining that wheat has to die and fall to the ground in order for it to come back in a new life. Then he gave me a blessing cup. The cup, a pewter goblet, was used for the first time in this Mass. The cup is to be used in family prayer celebrations as a remembrance of Pat. Along with the cup I was given a book, “The Blessing Cup” with 40 simple rites for using the cup. Later Father Rock pulled me aside and said he knew the author of the book quite well. It turns out he is the author. The cup was a beautiful gesture and we will cherish it and remember Aunt Pat when we see it.


After Mass we all set up the food and let the crowd feast. After most had gotten food I did a head count and there were 21 people there. Some had grabbed some food and left so we figure there were 25-30 people who ate. Penny provided sufficient food for all. There was plenty to eat and not a lot left over.


I helped out a guy named Mark who loaded up 2 dishes with food and got 2 cups of drinks and then tried to stack it all on his walker and bring it over to the pavilion, a walk of about a quarter mile. There was no way he could do that without losing everything so I picked it all up and walked with him over there. He has only been at Rocky Creek 6 months. I asked him how he liked it – he said he hasn’t adjusted to it yet. We entered the pavilion and it was full of very old people just sitting around. One woman kept yelling “I want ice cream” the whole time I was in there. I put Marks food on a table. He shook my hand and reassured me that I would see Pat again in heaven.


I returned to the Chapel to finish my food. Penny said she had talked to all but one woman and we both went over to chat with her. After some small talk Penny went to start cleaning up. The woman, it turns out she was a Sister named Clare and she and I got into a lengthy conversation. She has been at Rocky Creek for 19 years. Her brain is sharp. Her problem is physical, she had Osteomyelitis and she can’t walk well. She told me she was a chocoholic and she loved the brownies we had. When she lived in New York she once told one of her friends in Boston that she was a chocoholic and her friend thought she said alcoholic. She got calls from other friends offering help with her problem. She’s still not sure she’s cleared up that misunderstanding. She had a very positive outlook. She said when life gives you lemons make lemonade. She said she likes lemonade.


We are all back at Kathy’s now watching the Superbowl. Penny made us grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner with leftover cheese and bread. I just finished feeding T.J. some turkey. A relaxing end to a long day.