4th of July

Kitty and Malcolm invited us over to their house on the bay to watch fireworks again this year. I looked back at what wrote last year about this –“Her house is on Choctawhatchee Bay and has a panoramic view across the water from Sandestin to Ft Walton Beach. We got to see the fireworks at a Baytown Wharf East of Destin, Destin Pass and Fort Walton. It was a very pleasant evening.”- and except for Baytown Wharf we had a similar experience.

This year the experience was enhanced by an almost-full moon sitting high and reflecting off the water and a refreshing breeze coming off the bay. With the uncomfortably hot weather we are experiencing this was pleasant relief. Before and after the fireworks there was conversation with Kitty’s family and the relaxing sound of the small waves breaking on the shore. A chorus of cicadas added to the calming atmosphere.

This being Saturday we began the day at Waffle House and went to Sunday vigil mass at 5. I spent most of the time in between working on the bed. Today I cut the bedposts to size and notched them where the headboard and footboard will join them.

I’m doing my best now to not breath too much sawdust. Other than having a little congestion each morning after I did woodwork, a normal occurrence as the lungs cleared out yesterday’s sawdust, I’ve had no serious issues. I didn’t think sawdust was more than a nuisance until I read about woodworkers who suddenly develop wood allergies. Apparently the problem part of sawdust is not the visible part but rather the invisible. It acts exactly like a gas filling all the available space. That means in an enclosed shop, unless there is a super HEPA-level collection system, any cutting just increases the density of the sawdust “gas”. The suggestions for woodworkers are to wear a respirator at all times in the shop and even outside when cutting wood.

I’m hoping to prevent another health issue for me stemming from my hobby so this is what I look like when I’m working outside-and this is without my face shield to protect from flying debris.



It makes life interesting. I can’t scratch an itchy nose, lick my finger to turn a page, or blow sawdust out of the way. Even with all this precaution I can’t avoid every bit of the dust. I still wake up each morning after a woodworking day with some congestion. It’s nothing like the pre-respirator days and hopefully I won’t see any issues bigger than having to clear my throat periodically.

Kitty Update—After having all 4 cats finally in attendance for mealtime on Friday night only Velcro, that one that was missing the longest, showed last night. The others must be spending the holiday weekend at their vacation house.