the more things change……

We are getting ready to depart the state of Florida, our home for the past six months and head for our home in Indiana.  When we came down here, I had a tough time deciding what route to take and now that I’m ready to go back, I’m having the same problem. We’re on the east coast of Florida and I’m tempted to take Interstate  95 up through South Carolina and hook up woth Int. 40 via Int 26. The scenery is a little bit different but there’s the matter of the mountains and the tunnels on Interstate 40 west of Asheville. Of course, If I go up I-75 through Georgia, it’s boring and it means a trip through Atlanta. There’s also the drive up and down Monteagle in Tennessee.

 I’ll decide tomorrow and once I do, I’ll be out of Internet range for a few days.  

Not exactly like riding a bicycle.

I have spent the last couple of days trying to work on my website. I thought all my programming experience would come in handy with this task. nope. When it is done, I hope to use it to peddle a book or two and also try to interest some editors of various print media in what I write. I also hope to use it to make it easier to get to this web log for some of my traveling friends. We’ll see.

Anyone in New Orleans listening??

Accuse not Nature, she hath done her part. Do thou but thine.

                                                                     Paradise Lost 

St. Augustine tourist spots.

There is a lot of hokey tourist stuff in this city; Ripley’s believe it or not coming to mind, but the alligator farm is a great place.  

I figured this place to be the consumate tourist trap, one of those roadside places where you stop for a moon pie, an R.C. Cola and a chance to see an old run down alligator out back in a chicken wire coop. Nope. This is a full blown zoo with every kind of crocodilian imaginable. 

Incidentally, Susie could not watch the feeding of rats to the gators.

Take that crap off the air.

Attention Matt Lauer and what’s her name.  There is no possible redeeming value in showing pictures of that mentally ill mass murderer pretending to be a bad-ass.  Do you not realize how many impressionable young kids there are out there? All you’re doing is exactly what that perverted creep wanted you to do. No wonder he mailed that stuff to NBC.  As sick in the head as he was, He knew where your values were.

Surely to god you don’t need the ratings that bad. Have you no shame?

 Jeez…  and they fired Don Imus for his idiotic remarks.  

Another phrase for the English Language.

I’ve noticed a remarkable increase in the phrase “I’m all about …….”

I don’t know where it originated but I’m all about finding out. Unfortunately, I’m very busy planning for earth day because I’m all about environmentalism now and I won’t have time to do any research.

I’m not about giving up though so be sure and watch for the answer; that is, if you’re all about results. 

R-e-s-c-u-e. Rescue Aid Society.

The Assistant Manager at  Anastasia State Park stopped by our site and asked us to take the 4 wheel drive pickup out on the  beach and drive  to the jetty to rescue a wounded pelican. I have to confess that I was a little concerned.

“How do you grab a wounded pelican?” I asked, knowing they were rather large.  “If he gets your hand in his beak, Don’t jerk and you won’t get hurt.” He told me.

This was of little comfort so we stopped and picked up our friend Gordon Bell, a man’s man when it comes to farting around with animals or winged fowl.  I wasn’t afraid, mind you, just cautious.

   

Driving the beach for 4 ands a half miles was a bit stressful, what with trying to keep the truck from getting stuck in the sand while at the same time  avoiding sun worshipers and flocks of terns. We finally found the bird but it was not a pelican. Rather, it was a sea gull who had a nasty fishing lure with multiple treble hooks caught in its chest.  I probably could have handled it but I dispatched Gordon and my assistant to pick it up.

The bird was in shock but the two them untangled the fishing line and cut it off but had to leave the fishing lure. The bird had it in his mouth and was not going to let go anyway. 

We got him (or her) back to the campground where we were dispatched to the bird hospital.

At last report, the bird was recovering.

If I had only followed this advice….

Pity the Sick and ignore the Ignorant.

           Willy Macomber,      Greenville, Maine

219 steps.

One of the highlights of touring St. Augustine is to climb the lighthouse and naturally Susie was all for it. It’s 165 feet tall  and the climb is equivalent to 14 stories.

I’m happy to report that neither my heart nor my lungs were affected at all by the climb but my knees were screaming bloody murder.  I’m always glad to finish something like this because it allays some of my fears about not being able to do activities of this nature.  I also might add I was able to walk around up there with only a moderate amount of abject terror. 

It was a great view when we arrived.     

 

Photos by Susie

What in the world?

This dish is the subject of my weekly newspaper column. tune in at reporter-times.com if you’re interested in finding out what it is.