The Poem

It is a family tradition for me to write a poem when a daughter gets married. Those of you who were at the wedding may have wondered why I didn’t say a toast to C&C at the reception. The evening before I gave Christy the poem and I didn’t have any more to say. It has a few inside jokes which we understand but you may not. The use of “sourfull”, Tina-chin and little star have special meanings .

Here is Christy’s poem:

The Beach Walk

Soon we’ll walk you down that aisle,

Your day is finally here.

I’m happy for my Special One,

And fighting back the tears.

Have you an inkling how I feel,

As I see you standing there?

My minds a whirl of memories,

Of us through all the years.

It doesn’t seem that long ago,

I was singing you to sleep.

Or playing games like tickle fights,

Or at the little beach.

Dad can’t stop the years from passing,

You’ve changed I must confess.

From an Ewok suit one Halloween,

To this gorgeous wedding dress.

And though I miss you since you left,

I’m proud of who you are.

And whether times are good or “sourfull”,

You’re still my little star.

We’re always here to help you out,

If the need ever arise.

And we’re quite pleased that you’re not alone,

‘Cause now you’ve got this guy.

He once was known as just “the boy”,

And just wouldn’t go away.

So now as you two tie the knot,

He’s proved persistence pays.

And now I have to take that walk,

And give your hand to him.

I’m sad, I’m happy all at once,

I love you Tina–chin.

Sophie and the Monsters

I had an interesting session with Sophie last week down on the dock. I went there with her to try to get a picture of her lighted by the sunset. She wasn’t in a posing mood although I did try.

She explained to me that there were monsters by the kayaks and we had to wiggle to keep them off of us. She was so cute wiggling that I tried to take a picture. Every time I raised the camera she would stop so I started taking pictures from the hipby just aiming at her and this sequence was the result.

Sunrise at Grayton

My last chance for recreation at the house in Grayton before getting completely wrapped up in wedding prep was on Thursday morning. I had hoped for still weather to go on a sunrise kayak and was lucky enough to get it.
The water was mirror still with a mist rising off the water.

I put in at the dock where C&C would say their vows on Saturday. The sun was just rising over the trees in the distance.

I frightened a heron as I paddled up the inlet. The mist rising off the water created a feeling of calmness and serenity. Unlike the bayou where I normally kayak there were no automobile or airplane noises in the background to spoil the atmosphere, only the noise of me dipping the paddle and the distant sound of the small surf on the shore of the gulf.

The water was a mirror duplicating everything onshore inverted.

I only stayed out a short time. There were things to do. But now the sun had cleared the trees and provided wonderful lighting on the beach house where C&C would be married in 2 days.

My last bit of relaxation was over but it ended nicely with the gorgeous reflected image of the house where my family, old and new, was sleeping.

And Then I Rested

I had no idea of how worn out I was until I woke up this morning. I think everyone who reads my blog was at Christy and Christian’s wedding so there is no great mystery about what I’ve been up to for the past week and a half. I’m not sure what I will write about this past week—it depends on time and other happenings. It was a fantastic week and I am happy for C&C as the start their married life together.
I have been going all day every day for a while but this past week has seen the peak. It began with loading the trailer last Monday and ended yesterday when I got the trailer unloaded and all the refrigerated stuff put away. I didn’t intend to take the day off today. I had no choice. When I woke up today my thumbs, shoulder and back were all sore. My thumbs hurt so badly I couldn’t use them. I took my morning pills and applied the anti-inflammatory ointment to my thumbs and Penny and I went out to Waffle House for breakfast. That was nice because it was the last day for a waitress we have gotten to know well and we were able to say good-bye.

When I got back home I still hurt but I also was very tired so I retreated to my recliner and proceeded to fall asleep—for 4 hours. I don’t ever recall sleeping as hard as I did today. I literally couldn’t wake up the couple of times I surfaced slightly from my deep sleep.

I finally was able to wake at 1:15, got some lunch (pulled pork from the reception) and have spent the afternoon on the recliner. The only productive work I’ve done is to update my budget with last weeks wedding receipts. My thumbs have eased enough for me to use the computer with only moderate pain.

Now I’ve got a garage full of stuff to find someplace to store and a pile of yard work and housework to catch up on when my body lets me. It was worth it though.

Wedding Week Begins

The gang arrived safely yesterday and Penny fed everyone with pork fried rice. Sophie didn’t want to eat any until I told her the pork was elephant and that she shouldn’t eat it. She’s in that stage where she will do something you tell her not to if it will bring positive attention. I’m not talking about things like don’t go in the street. It’s just the harmless little things like eating elephant to show she can do it.
Today (Sunday) Karen, Penny and I did church. It was the first time in a while that Karen got to sit through a mass undistracted by kids. C&C stayed home to watch the kids. For lunch we got in our trip to Harbordocks—Cobia for me twice in 1 week. I’m really suffering here.
Sophia's two-fork eating style.

The lovely couple.

Right now I’m home with Sophie and Lucy (both napping for the time being), while everyone else is out and about with errands.

Tomorrow will get interesting as we start setting up stuff for the coming week.

Cobia

This morning we did our usual Target run and then both Penny and I had hair cut appointments.
Since we got through with that right at lunchtime and it was such a beautiful day we ended up once again at Harbordocks.

I was pleasantly pleased and surprised when Penny pointed out that Cobia was on the menu. It’s only in the restaurant for a few weeks this time of year and it is so good.

Right now I’m sitting in my recliner as I blog. The pain in my back that started over a month ago is still with me. It actually hurts more when I sit than when I stand so sitting at the desk or in the bed are not comfortable choices. The recliner that we got for my second shoulder surgery is the most comfortable place for me. So I’m sitting here because it hurts less. I was hoping that I would wake up one morning and find the pain fading but no such luck. I’ve got a doctor’s appointment the 1st week in May. Maybe this pain will respond to some treatment. I’d cross my fingers—but that would hurt.

Another Lunch With Lou

I had lunch with my brother today and ran him around to do some errands.  We both had hot pastrami sandwiches at a local place that imports its meat from NYC.
I’m also going to get him to the airport at 5:30 AM this coming Sunday. He’ll be off to Salt Lake City for a week and then on to Gresham, OR to stay with his wife for “a while”. He is excited about Oregon. I don’t even think he has thought about Utah in any other way than a delay on the way to Oregon.

Although he has said he loves Florida he is now sounding like he would like to stay in Oregon. That’s where his wife and family are so I think it would be good for him.

For his part he is going to do whatever God wants him to with the hope that this is his last move for a while.

So I don’t know if he will be back here or not.

Just Clean Up Left

All the work on our little fleet is done except for a final clean up. Today I finished up the repair of my kayak and put forged metal I-bolts on each that I can run a cable through to secure the kayaks. Since kayaks are plastic they need something more substantial to keep them from being easily stolen. Nothing is foolproof but this will slow down anyone trying to get a free kayak.

I also finished up the trim on the lighthouse and the lobster pot. Here is what they look like.

Tomorrow I have lunch scheduled with Louie, and Christy’s wedding shoes should arrive on our doorstep.

Prepare the Fleet

That was my job today and it took all day—and there is still more to do.

My first task was to pull out the paddle boat and see what shape it was in. Except for some mold growing on it it survived its years of storage remarkably well. Cole man made a durable little boat. The plastic is substantial and all the metal parts do not rust. My major task was to wash off as much of the mold as I could. I cleaned it, assembled it and inflated it.

My next job was to redo the repair I made on my kayak. I got a different and better epoxy from West Marine for this. I glued a protective piece of metal onto the back of the kayak to protect it from damage from dragging. I still have to clean up the boats. The wedding has provided a good opportunity to get everything in “ship shape”.

Around lunch time Slash showed up looking for handouts so I fed him some of the leftover chicken nuggets we had.

It was another beautiful sunny day and a great day for Eglin’s air show. While I was out in the yard this morning one of the Thunderbirds flew over at very high altitude. The pilot evidently was checking out his aircraft by flipping the plane sideways, back to level and then the other side. The base is close enough for me to see the planes when they are at their peak altitudes during their shows.

Notification

The Osprey aircraft that crashed in Afghanistan this week was based here at Hurlburt. Our priest was a member of the team that notified the wife of one of the men that was killed. He related the story to us at mass today.


It’s not an easy job and he has done it 5 times now in his career. After they told the wife she said they had to tell his mother and the wife couldn’t do it alone. Then they did the same to the sister. Our priest didn’t get home until 3AM and was so upset that he couldn’t sleep.

Be thankful we have these folks that are willing to die for us. Pray for understanding and comfort to their families. I can’t imagine the devastation that one must feel in these situations. Love those you have with you while you can.

My Day Off

I did take the day off almost completely. The only business I took care of was to buy some sod for the lawn.

After that I packed a lunch and headed out to Eglin AFB to watch the dress rehearsal for this weekend’s big air show celebrating Eglin’s 75th anniversary.

I couldn’t ask for better weather. Clear blue skies and comfortable temperatures. I settled in near Base Ops on a small patch of grass. It had posts around a fire hydrant that were just right to make a seat once I put a towel on it for a cushion.

This year’s show is the biggest I’ve seen here. Lots of old aircraft and old men to go with them, skillful flying demonstrations and of course all the latest military aircraft—all wrapped up with a show by the Thunderbirds.

I enjoyed seeing the F-22 demonstration. This is our 5th generation fighter and it has incredible capability to fly fast and slow.

You may remember the movie, Tora Tora Tora. After the movie was done a company bought all the aircraft used in the movie and put on demonstrations at air shows. 5 Japaneses zeros were parked where I was sitting.

Did you ever see a helicopter fly upside down? The Red Bull copter did so many times

There was a little kid next to me in that stage of yelling “airplane” whenever he saw one. He was in a target-rich environment and just kept saying “airplane! airplane!”

The Thunderbirds do a good show but it isn’t as exciting as what the blue angels do. They do make flying in formation easy to do.

Rainy Day and Laundry—Again.

Once again I spent an exciting day doing laundry. I’d let it go for 2 weeks so there was plenty to do.

Beyond that I started gathering all the wedding stuff together. I set up the folding tables we got as big shelves in the garage and moved most of the stuff out there organized by category. This will continue until we have everything out there and ready to go.

I also assembled the trailer I got for my bike. It’s a neat little cart. Assembly was actually just unfolding it and putting on the wheels. It can be a trailer for the bike but it also has a 3rd wheel and a handle that make it into a stroller without the need for the bike. It can hold 2 kids and has seat belts for both.  I'm thinking I'll be able to take Lucy and Sophie for a ride when they are here. After that It provides a way for me to carry stuff with my bike--a greener way to do things and maybe a substitute for the car if gas gets scarce or really really expensive. It also folds up flat and can be stored hung on a wall. Here’s a picture.

Some study must have recently shown that showing “how it all began” for a TV show increases viewer loyalty. 3 Show that Penny watches, Fringe, In Plain Sight and Bones all had that type of show this past week.

I may take the day off tomorrow and go out on base to see any practicing that will be done for this weekend’s air show. The weather is supposed to be good all weekend.

A Mixed Day

The day started in a normal manner. I got up at 6AM to the alarm (which still plays “It’s 3AM I must be lonely”), made my breakfast of cereal, juice and coffee, gooked my hands and sat down at the computer to check the mail. Penny got up and made her breakfast and went back to the bed room. I hadn’t finished my coffee when I heard a scratching sound. I thought it was Penny ripping fabric but when I called to her she didn’t answer. I got up and started walking back to see what she was doing and I discovered the sound was coming from outside on the back patio. There had been no cats outside earlier. I went to the door and looked out.
I have had the trap set up all week because some critter was eating all the food. It had seen no apparent activity and it wasn’t sprung at 6AM when I checked it this morning. Now it looked like I had caught a big grey tomcat. No, as it moved and looked at me I saw it was a good sized raccoon! He had reached outside the trap and moved the trap along the ground by lifting and scratching. He mad the mistake of setting the trap down on a board that made it so he could tip the trap when he stood up. So now the cage was on its side and he was still scratching and trying to move.

I left my coffee half drunk and made a raccoon transfer run. This guy was mean when I first approached the trap. He hissed, jumped at me and made a sharp growling bark when I went to grab the handle on the trap. He scared me.

I loaded him up and took him to raccoon lake and released him. It was a beautiful morning so I took a picture.

Back when I turned off the highway to get to the lake a old pickup truck went by sputtering and coughing and holding up the fast lane of traffic. Now as I came back onto the highway after releasing the raccoon I saw the truck pulled onto the median abandoned. As I drove home I passed the driver walking on the side of the road. I knew it was the driver because as he chugged by me earlier I got a good look at him with his bright red ball cap. He was carrying a thermos and not trying to hitch a ride. I pulled over and asked him if he needed a lift. He said this was his first day at a new job and he was afraid he blew it. He looked like he was down on his luck and stank of cigarettes. I drove him to his work, he got there on time. He thanked me sincerely and went to work. I hope my little bit of help provided him a second chance. His truck had run out of gas. His work was a lawn maintenance company. I figured he could get back to his truck with some gas with help from his work later in the day.

The rest of the day was cleanup of the shed and garden area, fixing the flat tire on my bike, putting on the rope trim on 1 shelf of the lighthouse and running the generator to keep the thing in working order.  Here's what the garden looks like.  4 of the 6 tomato plants put out buds since they've been planted.

I didn’t buy enough rope to do the whole lighthouse—just enough to do the small shelf and see if it looks OK. I’m just using hot glue to attach it. C&C—let me know if this looks OK to you.  The shelf is white the color of the picture is messed up.

Tomorrow is Target Thursday and Friday I will probably spend some time out on the base. The Thunderbirds are flying this weekend.

Another Nice Day

Our fantastic weather continued today I had planned on getting the final coat of paint on the lighthouse first thing this morning. Last night I checked Craig’s list for folding tables. I do that every few days. We think a couple more tables would make things easier for the wedding reception. There was a listing from a couple days ago with 6 tables—for more than we wanted to pay. We didn’t need 6 tables but I go with my gut on Craig’s list. That’s how I got my saw and it was a onetime good deal. I mentioned it to Penny and we decided to offer less for the tables (assuming they were still available). Penny responded to the listing with our offer.

This morning just as I was heading outside the woman selling them called and said we could have them for our price. So we jumped in the CRV and went and got them. I already had the trailer hitched up from our trip to Lowe’s so no time was lost preparing. Interestingly, between the time Penny took the call and her getting dressed she lost the piece of paper with the woman’s phone number. It was funny. We looked everywhere but couldn’t find it. She redeemed herself nicely with her talent for remembering phone numbers after hearing them once. She called the number she thought was right and reconnected with the woman and got the info we needed again.

So now we have plenty of tables.

After that adventure I did get out and get that coat of paint on the light house. I also put the nautical handles on the cutting boards. Here is what they look like.

The afternoon found me driving Penny to Jo-Ann’s and hitting Publix to resupply our bread, milk, etc. I also dropped in to West Marine and got some rope to trim the cupcake lighthouse with.

I didn’t get to the kayaks and rowboat today. That will likely be tomorrow’s task.

Lobster and Cupcakes?

I spent the day on wedding projects. I got 2 coats of paint on the cupcake lighthouse and I made the lobster pot gift card “box”. I decided to make the trap out lumber from some very distressed wooden skids that I used to support my garden last year. I had to break up the skids anyway to dispose of them so I killed 2 birds with one trap. Here are pictures.

I figure we will drape a small net across the front with some shells, sandollars and bobbers on it and maybe even find a plastic crab or lobster to go inside.
Once again it was a nice spring day and it was good to be outside. One or two more coats should finish the lighthouse. All that is left after that is to line each shelf with rope. I need to put the nautical handles on a couple of cutting boards and that should finish my new projects for the wedding. With some luck I should get that done tomorrow. Then I move onto getting our “fleet” of boats (1 rowboat, 3 kayaks and a paddle pontoon boat) cleaned up and ready for the week. We’ve got lots of stuff to gather up and move out to the house. The CRVs and trailer are going to be put to good use.

Happy Easter

We don’t do a lot to celebrate Easter. Since we didn’t visit the kids there is not much reason to do much. Penny even scaled down the one thing we do (besides church), the Easter meal. We had Ham and muggin and asparagus but no Grands or apple salad. We had plenty to eat for the 2 of us.
We were given another beautiful Spring day and I used it to finish planting the garden and putting in the irrigation. Last year the garden was mostly a flop. We will see if I learned anything this year.

I also decided how I will mount the lantern to the top of the lighthouse. It has to be removable to get at the little light and turn it on or change batteries. I toyed around with a piece of foam that it could slip over and I looked at making a twist-on mount like the stacks of CDs come in but I settled for the simplest solution. I’m just going to attach it with a narrow strip of black vinyl tape. It works well and provides the access needed and it looks good too. I will probably start the lobster pot gift box tomorrow and paint the lighthouse.

The Garden, The Lawn And The Lighthouse

Happy Good Friday.

I planned on an early start today but my body decided differently. I didn’t get out of bed until 8 AM. I don’t have any reason to need the sleep. Still I am having trouble waking up in the mornings.

Once up and breakfasted I finally implemented the plan for today. The plan was to hook up the trailer, go to Lowe’s and get stuff for the garden, the lawn and the lighthouse. Since we didn’t get off early, Lowes garden dept was busy. I got sod for the lawn and plants for this year’s garden. I’m sure the garden will be featured in a future blog.

The rest of my day was spent digging up the bad area of the lawn. It doesn’t look like a lot of work but I dug on this area all afternoon.

The idea was to loosen the soil for drainage, remove all the weeds and dead grass, treat for insects and weeds and lay down some new sod. Tomorrow I will get the sod in.

On Thursday Penny and I made our Target run to both local Targets and had lunch at Harbordocks. We also went to Old Time Pottery. I was looking for a lantern to top the lighthouse. Penny found the perfect one and I’m going to use a candle holder as a base for it. I’ve got the shelves of the lighthouse glued in place now. I placed the lantern on top and took a picture.

 I like the way it looks so I think  the design is finished.  Now it’s time to finish it up.