A trip to the gardens

We returned home yesterday from three wonderful days away at Callaway Gardens in Georgia. This was the much anticipated short getaway I have been looking forward to. It was three days away from the daily routine and time to spend with my loving wife. Wednesday, the day we left, was also our 42nd wedding anniversary. We had a really nice uneventful trip to the Gardens. After getting checked in and checking out the area we went out for a really nice anniversary dinner. The food was good the atmosphere was great the view was beautiful and the company was awesome. It was a great beginning to a wonderful time away.

On Thursday we got up early, and went out for a nice leisurely breakfast overlooking a beautiful wooded area that seemed to go as far as the eye could see. After breakfast we went to Callaway Gardens to find where we could rent the bicycles that would take us on our two wheel tour of the beauty that is Callaway Gardens. After a bit of huffing and puffing from pedaling our two wheel conveyances we settled in for a leisurely tour of the gardens. We rode for two hours with a short stop to tour the butterfly garden and then returned the bikes.

We spent some time at the Discovery center and then went to the bird of prey exhibit. They had a hawk an owl and a vulture. The owl at one point flew so close over my head I could feel the breeze. It was a very interesting presentation and we learned more about how God created all of His world to work together. Even the facts about the buzzards and how they are able to clean up what could otherwise be deadly to us from decaying roadkill. I have a new found respect for those scavengers we see along the side of the road.

After this we went for what we enjoy the most, another meal. We had a nice lunch on the grounds and watched the ducks and turtles in the pond. We wanted to go and see the chapel in the woods so after lunch we headed out toward the chapel. It is an actual chapel with stain glass windows and a real organ constructed in the woods. We went inside and it was so peaceful and quiet that it was awesome. The bible in the pulpit was open to psalm 23 which seemed to be appropriate. People actually used the chapel for weddings; how cool is that.

Michele, you may want to skip over this paragraph. After leaving the chapel and walking to an overlook that gives you a spot from which to get a great picture of the chapel we got ready to take a couple of pictures. Of course just as we were ready to take some pictures two young people rode their bikes right in front of the chapel and decided to park them there. We asked them nicely to remove their bikes, which they did, and we took pictures. After looking around a bit we spotted a spider hanging in the air. We couldn't see a web but not wanting to disturb the spider we backed away a bit. The spider started coming toward us as if its web was attached to us. We stopped and the spider stopped. We moved back a bit more and the spider moved with us as if we were still part of its web. What was going on here, was this an attack spider? Now we were starting to get frieked out and moved back a wee bit faster. At this point the spider was starting to look just a bit larger and a bit hairier. Of course it wasn't bothering me at all but I did have to think about Kim's well being. Just as we were preparing for the final attack, along came what looked like a mud wasp and attacked the spider. The wasp just kept hitting at the spider until finally the spider was motionless. We watched for a good while in amazement as the wasp kept after the spider till there was no more sign of spider life. We were amazed to see this small scale picture of nature in action. After stomping on the wasp we moved on.

On Friday we spent some more time in the gardens and then went to the town of Pine Mountain which is mostly antique stores and quaint shops. We did purchase a couple of item in town and had a really nice lunch in an old fashioned soda fountain. We bought something that we had to pick up later in the afternoon so we decided that we would get some reading material and go back to the gardens and find a quiet shady spot and read. We were not to far from the chapel in the woods and could hear someone playing the organ. It is a bit weird to hear organ music coming from the woods. It was very relaxing but there was no breeze so it was getting a bit warm even though we were sitting in the shade. It was getting to be time to go back to town to pick up our purchase so we hiked back to the car and headed to town. We then went back to the room to decide what we wanted to do for dinner. We found a nice out of the way little place and it was probably one of the best meals we had.

We had a wonderful trip to celebrate our anniversary together. I got a few good ideas for the gardens I have planned around the house. It was nice to just get away for a few days and leave the daily routine behind. We had a great uneventful trip back, everything was fine with the house when we returned and we had a wonderful day today. Tomorrow it is back to the normal routine. I am looking forward to a full weeks vacation away which will be in February when we are scheduled to go on a cruise. Until then I am thankful for many things; my family, my church, the fact i have a job, that we are able to plan a vacation, my health, and my loving wife.

Quick update

There isn't much to write about but i want to at least let everyone [all two of you] know that i am still alive and kicking. Not kicking quite as hard maybe, but still kicking. i am really liking the way the backyard is looking though i am having difficulties getting the pool balanced. The grandkids came over Saturday and though there was a bit of a green tint to the water they had fun.

Don and Kathy are leaving Wednesday to go to Delaware for a week and when they get back Kim an i are leaving next Wednesday to spend some time away at Calloway Gardens in Georgia. We are Reeeeaaalllyyy looking forward to having a few days away! The day we are leaving is also our anniversary; forty two years and going strong. After we enjoy those few days away, we start the countdown for our BIG vacation in February. We decided to go on another cruise. We love to cruise and it has been quite awhile since our last cruise.

We are going on a seven day cruise and the price is awesome. this is probably the best deal we have ever gotten. I know that i will be chomping at the bit for the next seven month, two weeks and three days. Just kidding [sort of]. We are also going out of New Orleans which means a much shorter ride back home than if we had to go out of Miami or Ft. Lauderdale.

Well that is about it. I told you there wasn't much going on and it is getting near my bed time. Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer. Stay in touch, post a comment, whatever. Oh, i am also trying my hand or fingers at setting up a facebook account. I'm on there, see if you can find me. I'm looking for you.

A month inreview

Once again it has been a month since my last blog. My daughter keeps chastising me about not keeping up on my blogs, at least i know someone reads them. Well i am sitting on the patio on this Sunday night writing this blog on my laptop. It is still warm but nothing like it was a couple weeks ago. We just got back from a family gathering at Brian and Diane's. Family goes and family comes.

Michele and the kids returned home after spending about three weeks visiting with us. This week Kim's sister Colleen came for a visit from Colorado. So it goes when you live in Florida. As i wrote in the last blog, we were preparing for Michele's visit which almost didn't happen. They came, they saw, they swam they had a wonderful time. We really enjoyed having them here. They had a car while they were here so they could come and go as they wanted and didn't feel like they were imposing on anyone. Steve came down for a few days and it was great to see him also. He had never been down for a visit and i think he enjoyed himself too.

The problems i wrote about the pool in the last blog are pretty much taken care of. I finally got all of the leaks fixed and the water balance is really close. I went into the pool yesterday for the first time since having it relined. I am really not a pool, water sport person but after spending a little bit of time working outside yesterday i thought a dip in the pool would be refreshing. Kim, Colleen and i lounged around on tubes and loungers for a while and it was quite relaxing.

The last few weeks at work have been very busy. The time around July Fourth is usually quite a busy time for us and this year was no exception. It is slacking off a bit now and we should be able to catch up on some back burner projects. Don is taking time off at the end of the month which will give me more work which i don't mind at all and then when he comes back i am taking a few days off. Kim and i are going to Callaway Gardens for our anniversary. I am really looking forward to that already!

The backyard garden is really looking nice. I call it my little tropical paradise. I will try to remember to post some pictures next time. No pictures on the laptop so next time i will have to post from the PC. I had my oncology check up this week and the numbers are still good. Praise the Lord we are still in remission. That is about all for now, it is getting near my bedtime.

A true week in review

This time it really has only been a week since my last blog. The pool was filled and ready for the party and arrival of the grand kids although not without a few problems. The water needed to be tested and chemicals added to get the right balance. I'm not sure it is still exactly where it should be but it looks good and the kids have been having a ball. There was a number of leaks and even a huge leak that occurred during the night which drained the water level at least three inches before the pumped was stopped. It turned out a fitting came apart and i had to get the PVC glue required to make the repair on Friday night to get ready for the Saturday party. It all worked out, though there is still a leak i need to work on fixing.

I got to ride the bike two times this week which was really nice. I rode Monday and then again Friday. It was kind of a rough week so Friday's ride was especially nice. I was going to take off Friday but a few problems came up and i decided it was best to go to work. Thankfully i was able to leave a little earlier and take the long way home. I actually felt better after the ride. Every time i think about getting rid of the bike i just go for a ride and that ends that thought. Well tomorrow it starts all over again but i am thankful that i have a job.

If you read Michele's blog you will see that there were some problems and they almost weren't able to come down for vacation. If you didn't read her blog the bottom line is that there were car problems and they wouldn't be able to drive down as planned. But by God's grace everything worked out and they are here now as we speak, or read or whatever they call this form of communication today. Bottom line is that they are here and the pool is getting used.

Update from last weeks blog; the yucky looking sores from the bug bites is nearly healed. I am really trying to be more aware of the fact that i am VERY susceptible to bug bites and though that isn't going to stop me from working in the yard i am taking precautions against the bites. I also did a lot of work around the yard Saturday morning to get everything ready for Brittney's party and actually got tired enough to take a nap after lunch. Unfortunately my family got worried that i was napping. As much as i appreciate their concern, I am of advanced age and have a serious medical condition. My family is great in their concern even though i don't get much sympathy, so the nap gave me a little rest and a little sympathy.

That about wraps up this week. I am looking forward to another wonderful week in sunny Florida. We have the whole family here for the next couple of weeks and even though any kind of normalcy goes out the window it is great to be able to get everyone together. I am looking forward to getting a couple more rides in and maybe get a day or two off from work. Everyone have a great week and remember that everything works together for good to those that love the Lord.

Week in Review

Alright, so it has been more than a week but two weeks in review as a title just doesn't cut it. It has been a sort of interesting couple of weeks but let's see if this old mind can remember what happened. One of the things that I have been been working on is getting the pool repaired. The liner was ripping badly and we decided to get it relined, a not inexpensive project. After getting different quotes we decided to get the job done. One of the caveats was that it had to be done by the week of June 8 so my grand daughter Brittney who is turning 16 could have a pool party at our house on June 13. Also my daughter Michele and the kids are coming that week and the pool has to be usable. The pool was drained more than two weeks ago to take measurements and I was getting very apprehensive when I wasn't seeing any progress. After many calls and visits to the pool place i was assured that the job would be done in time for the party. We went shopping Saturday morning and when we returned there was a truck in the driveway from the pool place and the pool was being repaired. It looks awesome and as i sit here it is still filling and should be ready for the party and arrival of my grandchildren who hopefully will spend many hours enjoying the pool. Kim and i plan to use it more also, but time will tell.

Last Sunday i got another ant/bug bite on my foot. Ever since the leukemia if i get a bug bite i wind up with blisters and all sorts of problems. I still don't get any sympathy though so life goes on. But let me tell you this was nasty. There was a blister on my foot the size of a ping pong ball and it was gross. Thankfully my loving wife actually likes that kind of thing and has been taking care of it all week. Couldn't help it, i had to post at least one picture. There were actually three more bites but luckily for you i can't seem to locate those pics. Suffice it to say that between the welling and all the stuff that goes with it it has been an interesting week. It has actually been healing very well but for some reason it seems to be is swelling up again. Probably because i have been on my feet working on the pool and the house to get it all ready for my grandchildren which i know they will appreciate.

Work has been interesting also. Even though it has not been exceptionally busy there seems to be a lot going on. Probably because i was planning on taking off last Friday so i could get some things done around the house and at our church. Thursday it seems that all kinds of things were going on and i even got a few calls Friday while i was off. Of course if i didn't get any calls i would think that no one even noticed that i wasn't there. I managed to get some odd jobs done around the house [honey-dews] and do a couple of A-V things at the church. Just being off work and doing other things was great.

I am looking forward to seeing Michele and the kids and even Steve will be here for a few days in the next couple of weeks. I know it will disrupt my normal routine but it is going to be a nice time of family get togethers. We are looking forward to barbecues and pool parties and going to the beach and just enjoying time together. Kim and i have determined that this year we are going to enjoy this beautiful place that we live in. I spent a lot of time during the spring landscaping and trying to make the house look nice and other that routine maintenance the rest will have to wait till next year. It actually looks pretty nice around the old homestead and we just want to enjoy it.

I am probably forgetting something but this old mind can't seem to remember what it might be. All i can say is that i am most blessed. I have a loving family, good health, a job and so much to be thankful for. Kim and i have our devotional time every morning and i thank God for my loving wife, family, church and His never ending watch care. What more could a man ask for?

It seems that i always have to start out my blog by saying, "can't believe how long it has been since my last blog", but honestly i do have a good reason. At least in my own mind i do. There has been a lot going on this past month and i just didn't take the time to blog, but here i am. There has been a lot going on at work and also trying to get things done around the old homesite. In addition to that i am getting older and really don't care to work as hard as i use to. With that said, let's blog.

I celebrated a birthday this month and thankfully it passed by quietly. But Kim celebrated a very special birthday and thankfully it didn't pass by quietly. She said more than once to me that this was the best birthday ever. The weekend before her birthday Kathy planned a "surprise" party for her. Kim of course suspected but she didn't know exactly when. So just in case, whenever we were going out anywhere she made sure she was wearing something nice and had her makeup right. The theme of the party was that everyone had to bring "60" of something. It was hilarious to see everything from 60 twinkies to 60 kisses.

On the morning of her birthday she went outside to find baloons, streamers, signs and much more lining the front of the house and the inside and outside of her car. And this accomplished under cover of darkness by her good friends, Diane and Michelle. What a wonderful way to see my wife start her special day. After we cleaned up her car enough for her to drive safely she went to work. I left work a little early because as usual i hadn't yet purchased a BD card for her. Fortunately i was able to find just the right one. the problem was the present i got for her. I had looked into and planned to get her a parasailing trip. Of course i was waiting till her BD to give it to her. Remember the party the Saturday beforew her BD? Well guess what one of her gifts was from our neice. Need i say more.

Well i guess if she likes it, now she will be able to go again. Maybe i will have the guts to go with her. I know she would like that, but i don't do heights very well. Fortunately i also had another gift for her. This is the one that was taking a lot of my extra time this past month which is why i couldn't blog or do other things that needed doing. After i saw Kim's reaction to this gift i was so glad that i did invest that time. I gave her a five page story of her life from birth to this BD. Notice that i have not once mentioned her age, but remember the party theme. At least this was a gift that no one else could give her because it was from my heart.

I still have one more gift for her; i made reservations for dinner tonight and have not told her where we are going. I hope it will be special and i will have to report on how it worked out on my next blog. I am so happy to have this wonderful, young looking, caring woman for my wife. It is hard to know what to get or do for her but i hope to always be able to show her how much she really means to me and how much i really love her. Happy Birthday Baby!

The only other thing that is happening is that we are getting a new pool liner installed. The old liner is a little over eight years old and has started tearing along the top. I have been patching as best i can since last year but we decided to bite the bullet and see if we could afford to get it relined. Last week after getting some price quotes we signed the contract, picked out the new liner and this week drained the pool. It is now just a GREAT BIG vinyl covered hole in the ground. We told them that the one criteria to starting the job was that it has to be completed the first week of June. They assured us that it would. We are hosting a sweet sixteen party at our house for our lovely soon to be sixteen year old grandaughter. In addition to that Michele and our three grandchildren from Delaware will be coming down for a visit in June.

We are looking forward to a whole bunch of summer fun coming up. I tried getting the bulk of the yard work done so all i have to do during the summer is try to enjoy it. Of course we never know what life will bring but that is the plan. Hopefully i will update a lot sooner next time.

Wow, it has been two weeks since my last post; where does the time go? As you saw in the last post we are making strides in changing the looks of the old home front. This Saturday was spent working in the yard trying to make more changes. Also because our small group was meeting at our house today I needed to make sure things looked neat around the old homestead, bosses orders. The nice thing is that i really like working around the yard and making things look good, I just need a little motivation. What better motivation than trying to make the love of my life happy; and Fozzy loved the yard. Just kidding folks.

Actually it was great to hear Kim say that she could see my plan for the yard and it was starting to come together. I have some neat flower beds starting and if i could just get some grass to grow we would be finished. Alright we wouldn't be finished but that would be enough for this season. I am determined that this year we are going to enjoy the beauty around us and spend more time with family and wherever God may lead us.

It has been a wonderful couple of weeks since my last blog. Work has actually been pretty good. There is still enough projects going on that i am involved in. The stores are doing really well considering the economic times. Don and i are able to spend time together at work mostly doing moves and such, but at least we get to spend time together. I am looking forward to the nice weather when we will be able to ride our bikes together to work. The days have been great but the mornings have been a bit cool; alright i'm a woos.

On April 9 i went for my regular blood test, IVIG and checkup and i am still in remission. I praise God for the miracles of modern science and His grace. From what i have been told, ten or fifteen years ago i would not be a survivor at this stage of my cancer. Because the numbers were good i don't have to go for my next checkup, IVIG till July. I'll let you know where we are at that time and your prayers are definitely coveted.

We had a great day today. Our church service was wonderful and we were able to get together with our small group at our house and i don't think anyone even noticed the work i did around the yard. We had a great time of fellowship and i got to take a short nap in the afternoon. Of course there were many things i could have done, but name one that would have been better than a nap on cloudy Sunday afternoon. Besides, Fozzy was feeling neglected and he needed a little quality time, which for him is laying on your lap while you rest, read or whatever.

I am looking forward to another great week. I have a loving wife, a nice home, a job, great health, wonderful family and a God who only wants the best for me. We have a lot coming up in the next month with birthdays, weddings, family visits, pool parties and so much more. I will try to be a bit more diligent in keeping up with my blogs. I guess it doesn't really matter if anyone else reads these ramblings but it helps me to focus. If you happen to stumble on this non literary compilation of letters i hope it somehow brightens your day. Till next time.

It is Sunday afternoon and i am sitting on the patio wirelessly connected to the web on my laptop posting to my blog. Love this technology. Well to start off, if you remember my last blog i was whining about the changes in insurance companies and how to get new insurance i would need to remove the slide and diving board from my pool. I had a picture posted of the area where the slide use to be. Once again i will wait if you need to review or [gasp] read the last blog because you haven't read it yet.
OK, so as you can see from the picture here i made some changes. I am calling this my slide garden. A few dollars worth of plants, a bunch of pine straw, some rocks and voila' a new garden spot. I am looking forward to the flowers coming up, attracting the butterflies and hummingbirds.
Kim has been away the past couple of days at a conference in New Orleans with some of the ladies from church. As a matter of fact, as i sit here typing this she is on her way back expecting to arrive in a couple more hours. While she was away i spent two days working on the lawn. She hasn't seen the changes yet which include the completion of the slide garden and two more gardens i put in the front of the house. I will post pics of these at a future date. It was hard work and of course i overdid a bit but at least i was able to make the place look nicer.
Kim and i were talking last week and saying how we are getting tired of just working on our jobs and then working around here and really not enjoying the beauty of the place where we live. We realize of course that we need to do our job and chores and take care of what God has blessed us with but we are not getting any younger folks.
We were also talking about family birthdays and the ages of our grandkids. I was lamenting the fact that there are no grandkids with a single digit age. Now i know that i am still young [in my head] but there appear to be circumstances all around me that belie that notion. Like the fact that i have a grandaughter who is 23 and a great grandson who is two and looks like he is five. There is also the fact that i use to be able to work in the yard from early morning to late evening without a problem. I tried that the other day and about halfway through, i was hurting in places that i didn't even know existed.
All that said, we have determined that we are going to try and enjoy ourselves this summer. I am determined to make things look nice around here mostly with low maintenance plants and such and spend more time with my wife and family. People spend hundreds of dollars to vacation here and spend time on our beaches and yet i haven't gone yet. I am so thankful for all of God's blessings and want to try and get my focus right.
Well that is enough ramblings for now. I am pleased with the way thing are looking around the yard and looking forward to seeing Kim when she gets home. I am thankful that God has given me the strength to be able to do these thing and have a family that i look forward to enjoying time with. God is good.

Changing the look

Anyone who has been in our pool or at least seen it will see from the picture that something is missing. I'll give you a minute to see if you can notice. OK, time is up, the slide and diving board are missing. Do you want to know why? Alright I'll tell you. After about thirty years of dealing with the same insurance company, State Farm, they decided they will no longer insure homes in Florida. This means that for the first time in thirty years I need to start looking for another insurance company. This is a subject for a whole different blog but suffice it to say that things have changed in the insurance world.

The new companies I have been checking with will not insure my home with the pool if it has a slide or diving board. Some will insure it for double the cost but since my kids won't pay the additional cost the pool now appears as you see it in the picture. What to do with the slide and board area is the subject of this blog. Updated pictures will follow.

Last weekend I started the transformation, which you should have read in my last blog. If you didn't read it yet stop here and go back and get caught up, I'll wait. OK, so now you know I moved two large ferns, tore up some wood and moved some stones. What to do from here.

Today I went to Lowes and purchased a bunch of plants for around the yard including the aforementioned area. We are looking at adding more low maintenance plants and maybe a bird bath or something to this area, along with a table or tanning bed in place of the diving board. Trying to figure out what to put there and make it all come together is half the fun.

This is going to be a short blog because I am getting tired and need to get my rest. I will continue to work on the changes and post updates as they are getting done. Remember that as a sixty something, full time working, motorcycle riding, when will I find time for that kind of guy this could take a while. I will do my best to update regularly and if not my loving wife who's other full time job is to keep me on the straight and narrow will make sure I do.

My Weekend

Just to be consistent I need to start out by saying that it has been a while since my last blog. I decided that only having Saturdays to get things done around the house just wasn't cutting it, so I took off Friday to do a little extra work around here. I got up early, read the paper and enjoyed my morning coffee unhurried while I waited for Kim to get up. We went out for breakfast, which is what we do when it is my turn to do breakfast, at a place we hadn't yet tried. It was very good and we will be returning again when it is my turn to do breakfast again.

After breakfast we went to K-Mart to pick up a few things we needed for the projects around the house. While there I got a call on my cell phone, some people seem to ignore the memo about me being off, and to make a long story short I had to go to work. Now in case you think this is a bad thing, I need to mention that the weather was beautiful and I do have a motorcycle that I love to ride. After returning home from K-Mart I fired up the Roadie and headed to work. After a great forty minute ride to work, I spent twenty minutes taking care of the work problem, and then enjoyed a relaxing forty minute ride home. Just think, if it wasn't for work I would not have gone for a ride at all. I love my job!!

When I returned home I started work with a vengeance. Well maybe not a vengeance, but figured I had better get something accomplished. Since the Roadie was all warmed up from the ride I figured I might as well do the oil change she was due for. I thought about doing some of the other work I wanted to do on her, but remembered that I didn't take the day off to work on the Roadie. Maybe another day.

Well back to the yard work which is why I was home and not at work. There are two fan palms that I knew had to be moved because they were getting to big and were crowding out my sago palm. Last week I had to remove my pool slide so there was a big open space that needed some attention. After removing the stones that were around the slide I dug up the fan palms and replanted them where the slide use to be. The wood walkway that went around the slide was deteriorating so that had to be removed also.

The wood is gone, the palms are in place, the stones are mostly forming a walkway and I am starting to feel my age. It is about time to start gathering up my tools and getting everything put away. The job is not complete but tomorrow is another day. It is getting near dinner time and since I didn't bother having any lunch my energy level was getting a little low.

Saturday was my turn to do breakfast again so we went to another place because the one we went to on Friday was not open Saturday and we liked this place also. After breakfast we went home and did a couple things around the house. We had an appointment with an optometrist for our regular eye exam at 1100. We figured in and out in an hour or so, but as things happen we were still there at 1400. By the time we went shopping and returned home it was to late to do to much with the yard projects. OK, so maybe we need to try this again another weekend. Between the rain and the unforeseen circumstances of the weekend I didn't accomplish as much as I had intended but it was a wonderful weekend nonetheless.

Sunday was just a great day of enjoying time with our church family and relaxing at home. After church Kim and I had a nice lunch on the patio and enjoyed reading the Sunday paper. Kim went and took a little nap and I paid the bills on line and spent some time working on the computer. After finishing this blog I am going to get ready for bed so I can get some sleep and prepare for another fun week at work.

The Ride

Alright, on my last blog I wrote about how cold it has been around here and for anyone living north of Florida I don't expect much sympathy. But come on this is Florida and one of the reasons I moved here was to be warm. No I don't consider 40 degrees warm. As a matter of fact I no longer consider 50 degrees during the day to be warm.

One of the terrible side effects of having temps this low is that I am not able to ride the Roadie. Those of you that know me know that I really enjoy riding my bike. The only problem is that I am a fair weather rider. I am not one of those diehards that you see riding all bundled up in freezing weather or covered with vinyl to protect from the rain. No, at my age I enjoy a little comfort no matter how much I love to ride.

The Roadie has been sitting in the Roadie shed for what seems like an eternity gathering dust waiting to be taken out and given a little exercise. Well today I decided that it was time to put all the other needs on hold and go for a ride. We went to church this morning and had our small group meet at our house afterward and around 1430 with an outside temperature of around 65 degrees I had enough.

I changed into my jeans, put on my Harley boots, donned my leather jacket and headed for the Roadie shed. After disconnecting the battery minder from the battery, I pulled the choke, turned on the ignition and hit the starter. Well, the Roadie was mad because I ignored her for so long. At least that is how it appeared because when I hit the starter all she did was grunt. You know, like not now I have a headache. Well after a little sweet talking, yes it works with motorcycles too, she decided to wake up and those 1600 cc's of power came to life.

After letting her warm up for a while, Roadies don't like the cold either, I swung my leg over the seat and hit the throttle just to hear the power. Pushing back out of the shed I positioned the bike next to the pool without actually going into the pool, I need to draw a picture sometime, and put her in gear to turn and get her out the gate. After putting the stand down I put on my helmet and goggles and got ready to ride. Even though it had been a while since I last rode I was feeling really good and confidant sitting on that bike.

There have been times when I contemplated selling the bike thinking that I don't really ride a lot anyway and maybe I should just sell it. Then I go for a ride! Now my ride today was only about thirty minutes long but that was a very enjoyable thirty minutes. It's a biker kind of thing, but there is something about hearing the rumble of the exhaust, the unobstructed view, and the feel of the wind and sun all around you. When I ride, any thoughts of not having a bike go right out the window or in the case of the bike right over the handlebars. I don't have to ride a lot I just need to know that I can if I want to.

I can ride with my son in law or with some of the guys at church. I can take a nice ride with my wife on the back along some quiet stretch of road and stop somewhere for lunch or just to look at the beautiful scenery all around us. A car is a closed environment but a bike allows you to become part of the environment. OK so you can only eat so many bugs or shift to only a few positions when your bottom gets sore but where is your sense of adventure?

When I pulled the Roadie back into the shed after my short ride, I was invigorated. This is no small feat when you get into your sixties. I realized that as long as God gave me strength and the ability to ride I would continue to be a biker. There is something about riding that gives you a sense of freedom. I have had good days and bad days and then climbed on the bike and after a nice ride arrived home with a smile on my face and Kim saying "is that a love bug in your teeth?"

Baby it's cold outside

Excuse me but this is Florida and tonight the temperature is expected to drop down to around twenty degrees. Twenty degrees is below freezing, and for the mathematically challenged that is twelve degrees below freezing!! What is going on here; is this part of the global warming everyone is talking about? I moved south from the northeast part of these great United States to get warm. Twenty degrees is NOT warm!!

I am sitting in front of my computer writing this and I am cold. In Florida HVAC systems are all about air conditioning not heating. Yes the summers are hot in Florida but I remember a bunch of sweating going on when I lived in Delaware and New York. For my geographically challenged readers, that is in the northern part of the States. Heating in homes in this part of the country is mostly done by heat coils, not gas or oil which is much more efficient. We won't even start down that road.

This morning before going to work I had to scrape the frost off the windshield of mine and my wife's cars. I had to wear a leather jacket, gloves and a hat to keep from freezing. Yea, I know it was -20 degrees in Minnesota but this is Florida and if I wanted snowmen, skating on the pool and skiing I would live in Maine or Canada or some other Yankee land.

Traveling to work this morning I noticed the usual palm trees, green grass, colorful flowers but they were all covered with ice. No it didn't rain but the sprinklers were on as they normally are to keep the beautiful Florida flowers and grass growing as they usually do in Florida in February. Exception to that rule of course is my lawn which you can read about in a prior blog.

This is an area where many "snowbirds" come to in the winter from the northern part of the states to get warm. Maybe going from -20 to 20 degrees is considered getting warm but it doesn't work for me. I am use to winter lasting for about two weeks in January and then getting the pool ready for the grand kids. Well, I guess it is time to get into bed and get under the covers and dream about warm weather. The weather report for the weekend is temps going into the sixties. Hopefully there is enough Yankee in me to hold out for two more days. We'll see.

The Pool

The other day I was cleaning the pool and got to contemplating this 20,000+ gallon body of water sitting in my backyard. If i had a choice there would not be a huge hole filled with water in my backyard. When we moved to Florida five years ago and were looking for a house we found the one that we thought would be just right for us. It was a nice size, right price and in a nice established neighborhood with a pool. Now, living in Florida a pool would seem like a great idea, right? Yes it is when somebody else owns it and you get to visit and go swimming on a hot summer day. Try taking care of keeping the water crystal clear on hot summer days.

Mind you I'm not complaining, alright maybe a little, but that beautiful swimming environment does not just happen on it's own. It takes a lot of work and a lot of chemicals. Not only that, now the liner is starting to rip. You don't even want to know how much that will cost to repair. We are not talking about a little wading pool here but a very large body of water with a diving board and slide. Kim keeps telling me she wants a house by the water; I keep telling her, "look out the back window".

OK, back to the pool cleaning story. While I was skimming the top of the pool and trying to skim up some of the leaves and debris that settled on the bottom I thought about actually swimming in this pool. Last year I think i went in the pool once, and that was to retrieve some fallen object that i couldn't get with the net. I am not a pool person or for that matter even a water person. To me water is for drinking, cooking, washing and other water things that God intended, not sports. Never the less, back to the pool cleaning. After completing the skimming and lower debris removal it was time for the vacuuming. Yes you have to vacuum the pool also. All the leaves, twigs, dirt, algae, critters and anything else that falls into the pool eventually settles to the bottom. Ergo, you need to vacuum to get it out of the pool.

After you vacuum you need to turn the pool pump off and clean out the filter basket which is now clogged up from all the junk you just removed from the bottom of the pool. You put your hand in the basket and pull out old leaves, dead spiders and lizards that you just sucked up from the bottom. Put everything back together and start the pump going again. And speaking of the pump, it needs to run about eight hours a day which requires electricity which means a higher electric bill. When the pump starts running again you look at the nice crystal clear water and clean liner at the bottom of your beautifully maintained pool and say to yourself, job well done.

A gust of wind kicks up and every leaf in the neighborhood finds it's way to my pool like steel to a magnet. In the five years I have lived here I have had at least six trees cut down. Now don't get the wrong idea, I love trees, but i do own a pool. These were ugly trees, whose only purpose in life was to put leaves and pine needles in my pool. So why with the removal of these trees does every leaf from every tree in the surrounding neighborhood find it's way to my pool? And so the process begins over and over and over again.

So why keep the pool? For one thing it is probably to costly to fill it in. And for a more important thing my family loves it. When Michele and the grand kids come down in the summer, the pool is used from the time they arrive until the time they leave. Kathy said my granddaughter Brittney wants to have her sixteenth birthday at our house with a pool party. My niece Beth and her family come over and it is a joy to watch all the kids sliding, diving and just enjoying the pool activities. If the time comes that the kids no longer want to use the pool and it is no longer a draw for gathering the family together for barbecues and poolside fun, it will become a costly, time consuming hole in the ground filled with 20,000+ gallons of water. Until then it is a labor of love that I will enjoy, but complain about because otherwise it wouldn't be me. Maybe I could raise sharks and alligators.

Growing grass

I just finished reading my daughters latest blog and it was great. She wrote about how she is doing in school, struggles with her teenags children, her husband supporting her, and homeschooling her youngest daughter. Reading about her strengths and growth through all these struggles got me to thinking about an issue i have been pondering lately, and what to do about it.

The issue is in the title of this blog and it is a serious issue for an old guy. I moved to Florida five years ago and i can not get grass to grow in my front yard no matter what i do. Now i realize that grass is not native to Florida but that is no excuse. When we lived in Delaware we had a really nice lawn, which was dandelion free, i might add. Living here i have tried different seeds, fertilizer, you name it and all i get is fire ants. Now that is a whole 'nuther story for a separate blog. I would be happy if the weeds would grow so at least there would be some green out front.

In the cracks in the driveway weeds grow. Where i have nice sago palms and fan palms weeds grow. Between the bricks leading up to the motorcycle shed what do you think i see? Weeds and fire ants! But do you want to know what the worst insult is? Well I'm going to tell you anyway. I pointed something out to my wife the other day that has been infuriating me for quite some time. Every day I travel over the Mid Bay bridge which is three and a half miles long over the Choctawhatchee Bay with a beautiful view. When i go over it in the morning i see the sunrise to my left. Traveling homw in the evening i see the sunset to my left. OK which direction am i heading?

Sorry, i got a little sidetracked. Anyway, traveling over this bridge seeing these beautiful sights; rainbows, sunsets, sunrises, sailboats and i haven't even mentioned riding over on the Roadie, but i digress. The other morning while traveling toward Destin, along with seeing pelicans and seagulls hovering along the side of the bridge, beautiful white clouds above and an oil barge below, what do i see? Grass growing in the expansion joints along the length of the bridge. Now Kim thought this was quite amusing but i was not amused. Think about this for a moment, it's got to be better that thinking about problematic teenagers or the current economy. Grass is growing in steel strips along a three and a half mile bridge many feet above a very large body of water.

I doubt that anyone sowed the seed. I can't imagine anyone fertilizing it. OK God does provide some watering but doesn't that apply to my lawn also. Where is the justice in the world of lawns? Do i need to build over a body of water? These are thoughts worth pondering to me. It helps to keep my mind off all the other STUFF going on in this world today. It also reminds me that no matter what happens around us, God is still in control and He will make the grass grow wherever He decides. Trust in Him alone!

Back to work

Well, it has been two days since my first blog so I thought I would try again. As I said before the concert was great, Kim and I had a lovely day together and now we are back to reality. Our 44th president was inaugurated yesterday and no matter what any of us might think about him it was a momentous occasion for this country and he is our president. May God continue to bless this great country.

Last night I went to teach my ESL class as I normally do on Tuesday nights. It was an interesting night as my two Vietnamese students were out and we don't know what happened to one of our Mexican students so we only had Javier who is Mexican and has a very difficult time comprehending English. He got a lot of one on one last night and I think we learned more of what we need to do to help him better understand the English language. My co-teacher Jack and I will need to work with him more one on one which is also what Lan, our Vietnamese student needs. It is challenging and I pray I can meet the challenge and help each of our students.

Back at work we are gearing up for what we hope will be a good season for the stores. I am the operations manager for a group of stores in Seaside Florida. This is our off season but a very busy time for me as I need to get the stores ready for the new season. That requires overseeing restorations, painting, changes and anything else necessary to get the stores ready to roll. In these tough economic times we have to be cognizant of costs and so must do more of the work in house, which means me and my son-in-law who works with me.

At home there is not much exciting going on. It has been to cold to work outside so I work with the computer mostly and read. I am trying to get back into writing which is why I started doing the blog. I have plans for what I want to do with the yard, I just need to get the money, the time and the energy to do it all. The last time I worked in the yard I got a bug bite and my hand swelled up and I had to go to the doctor. I also want to do some work on the Roadie in the hopes that it will start getting warm enough to do some riding. I love to ride and am starting to have Roadie withdrawal.

OK that is enough for now; it's getting to be near my bedtime and I want to read a little before getting some sleep and starting over again tomorrow. I am thankful that I have a job to go to, a loving wife and family, a nice home and a God who is graceful and does not expect me to be perfect. What more could we possibly ask for?

The Concert

Well, this is my first attempt at blogging. After following my daughters blog I thought it seemed like an interesting way to put down some thoughts and let others see them. Normally I would be working today but Kim and I just returned from a concert in Pensacola. Actually the concert was last night but being that it was late and I am not as young as I used to be we decided to stay at a hotel for the night.

It all started a couple months ago when my wonderful wife found out that I like Brad Paisley songs and that he was coming to Pensacola. She went and got tickets and set us up in a very nice hotel right across the street from the concert location. We got to the hotel Sunday after church and just enjoyed the room and watching the History Channel. We had a light dinner in the hotel and went across the street to the concert. There were hundreds of people lined up going inside. Thankfully we are in Florida so we didn't have to deal with snow, ice and freezing temps before getting inside.

Darius Rucker started the show and did a really good job of opening. Dirks Bently who also has a number of songs that I like came on next and he was great. Then Brad Paisley came on stage and he was awesome. Not only does he have some great songs that I like, he is an amasing guitar player. In addition to his talent every member of his team is extremely talented. It was a great show and we got our mony's worth.

At about 11 PM, way past my bed time, we worked our way out of the Civic Center to go back to the hotel. Unfortunately the first door we went out took us to the back of the Center and we couldn't see any way to get to the hotel short of crossing the interstate. We managed to get back inside, like salmon swimming upstream, so we could go around to the other side of the building on the inside and then exit to where our hotel was. After watching a little more of the History Channel we decided that by now it was WAY past my bedtime.

We woke up and got out of bed around 0800. I brewed some "in room" coffee and was ready to go for some breakfast. I spent the next hour " waiting on a woman". We went down stairs to the restaurant and enjoyed a very nice filling breakfast. After breakfast we returned to the room and figured since we weren't required to check out till noon, we might as well get our mony's worth. So we did some reading and watched a little more of the History Channel. Finally we decided we would have to leave and start the journey home. After returning home, we unpacked, got settled in and I decided to attempt my first blog.

Not very exciting, but that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. This was only the second concert i have been to in my entire life, and though I don't like crowds and loud noises it was very enjoyable. As much as I enjoyed the concert itself I actually enjoyed the time away with Kim and being in that very nice hotel that reminded me very much of being on a cruise ship. To anyone who might read this, let me know what you think