Family and Friends

Posted on February 21, 2012 by larry

I was lucky enough to have some great timing as cannon fire pierced the ears.

 

We meet newly arrived neighbors Jack and Carol the other day, finding something in common as Jack’s roots take him to the same county in which we live back in Pennsylvania.  So it was natural that we spent time reminiscing and exaggerating on things past and places in common. We all motored down river to the Treasure Camp restaurant one evening to partake of some fresh seafood. The only problem was that we left the resturant a bit late and found ourselves meandering up the Suwanee in the dark. Time to turn on Robin’s strip lights that she decorated the boat with last week.  However, a short in the docking lights left us floundering a bit when trying to moor. The spotlight was out of juice. Thank goodness for the flashlight app that Ryan put on Robin’s I phone which provided more than enough for us to dock.

Excitement and anticipation by the week’s end as Ryan, Carolyn, and Xavier were coming for a visit. The weather here had been unseasonably warm but as usual with northern company, temps plummeted and the kids fell prisoner to some frigid Florida weather. We did get one day out boating again visiting our favorite cuisine haunt at Treasure Camp. The cold temps made for a lot of staying in and playing with Xavier which was more than a positive trade-off. Eating out quite a bit made up for the rest of the time.  We did spend an afternoon in Cedar Key, visiting some shops and stopping off at Tony’s for their world championship clam chowder. I’ll post these photos tomorrow along with other Cedar Key eye candy. Ryan and I were able to brave the Jacuzzi one evening and have some great father and son time.His words of wisdom continue to impress me for such a young man. No sooner had they arrived when it was time to make the trek back to Orlando airport. Again, tears of love found their way down our cheeks and on the way home, Robin and I lamented on how it will be six weeks before another “child fix” comes our way.

Enter Jerry and Cheryl, friends, and co-workers from our summer stint in Lake In Wood. They’re making their way north from Frostproof and are spending the weeek with us. No sooner had they arrived when I realized that tomorrow would be the last day for the Olustee re-enactment. Jerry, being the historical spoof was more than willing to make the two hour jaunt to practice using his new Canon. I’ll share a bit of the morning with you in the slideshow.

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Momma Crowned a Winner

Posted on February 1, 2012 by larry

I am the boss of this galley, the pervayor of fine foods, chef of the day within these walls. However, I know there are some things that I don’t touch and leave to the expert. Chili, stew, homemade drop noodles, rice pudding are just some of the items that I leave to my roomate. In fact, Robin entered her famous chili in a cookoff this past week as Yellow Jacket RV Resort hosted some two dozen entries.  She was robbed! Say it ain’t so. Yep, a cool second place. But we hear the judges were actually planning to award her the top spot when they were swayed in their choice by a can of beer. Kudos to Rockin’ Robin. Maybe this will spurn her to surprising me with some of that great rice pudding of hers in the near future. Things slowed down a bit after that spine tingling contest.  In fact, neighbors stopped dropping by, the front porch devoid of aging men espousing wisdom from their mobile rockers. Not a visitor entered our area for several days. Irvin did happen by occasionally and since no other codgers came by to argue with, he and I spent some time continuing to remodel the wall leading to the back entrance. I’m liking the choice of colors more and more. It’s finally taking on that gypsy-like quality that brings back oh so many childhood memories. When we weren’t busy on that wall, we wallowed much of the day away just lying about in the sun and thinking about the next haircut.  But by week’s end I had enough of this exhaustive contemplation. I got off my duff and did some marketing. Having my luck run amuck on the Suwanee, with no fish in the livewell, I decided to try my hand at rod and reel alteration. I didn’t get much business but I sure had the women slowing down for me when they passed by.


I just may have a bit of a promising post retirement career in the marketing industry. Time will tell.

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Expensive Lessons Learned

Posted on January 23, 2012 by larry

Quite often I have either written or voiced the idiom, “isn’t life strange, a turn of the page.” Never has it smacked me in the face as it did this week. Mornings here have been quite laden with fog rising from the Suwanee.

I usually walk down to the dock before morning coffee to watch the mist rise into a limbo of sunlight and disappear as quickly as it rises. It’s peaceful there, and quiet. 

The water is silent, the docks motionless, and if you’re eyes stay keen, you can almost creep right up on the birds that await their morning sustenance. I was lucky to catch one swooping in for a landing and a breakfast of fresh lizards.


It reminded me that we were to meet Judy and Stoney, friends from Williston. After our morning walk we headed to the Neals as they were taking us to dinner. Charlie’s Fishouse Restaurant in Crystal River was a hit. 

Some of the best seafood that I’ve sampled in Florida. Inexpensive, on the water, pelicans awaiting your every need, and good company made for a great day. 

There was still a bit of daylight remaining after dinner and Judy and Stoney wanted to show us around. We decided a short drive out on the Fort Island Trail leading to the Gulf of Mexico. A good choice as we arrived shortly before the horizon engulfed the setting sun. It was worth the trip out of the way. 

The next day we did find our way to Gainseville to meet up again with Tom and Joan. We had befriended them last winter in Savannah while they were hosting in a park where we camped for two days. Later this summer they were engaged as workampers at Lake In Wood and we re-acquainted with them there. They’ve purchased a house on the outskirts of  Gainesville and have put their fiver on the market, having purchased a class B, in preparation for a few months on the road out West.  The remainder of the week was pretty much dedicated to our daily walks, a bit of work on the dumbbells, some laps in the pool, floating, and espousing personal philosophies to fellow snowbirds. Notice I went from laps in the pool directly to floating. I’m not sure all this “working out”, is working out. Approximately two hours a day are engaged in some sort of physical exertion but much to the dismay of both of us, we’re not acknowleding much of a significant weight loss. We’ll keep trying as it makes us both feel better but the loss of weight is in inverse proportion to our growing age. Dismayed by this lack of girth loss, I decided to make donuts for Sunday church services. I placed the oiled pot on the burner out front. I stepped inside to acquire the dough I already had prepared and punched into donuts and holes. In that 20 second time period a grease fire and flames roaring to the top of the windshield. Robin tartly beckoned my attention. I ran out to hopefully put an end to it while she grabbed for the extinguisher. Much to our dismay the Full indicator wasn’t quite right. Our neighbor saw the commotion and grabbed his as well. It didn’t work either. Thankfully another adjacent camping family came to the rescue with a full bottle of flame retardant but much to my chagrin, the front of the bus as well as the bra is going to have to be replaced.

It wasn’t long after cleanup that Robin had heard young Hunter hollering for his dad that one of the parks’ boats were sinking. We quickly ran down to the dock with buckets and anything that would hold water. 

Joe and his children bailed out the water, C.J. and Stacy held the front of the boat taut at the foreside, while I snapped away at the chaos. The trio had emptied the boat out enough for me to hook up a trailer to my truck and pull Joe and the sinking USS Minnow to shore. Needless to say, church was a bit delayed today.
Lessons learned….1. Enjoy friends and loved ones as if you’ll never see them again….2.Make homemade donuts as far away from the rig as possible….3.Don’t make homemade donuts, go to Walmart or Dunkin’ and buy them….4.When no one gets hurt in an accident, rejoice as the other stuff can be replaced. It’s only money….5 Have several fire extinguishers on hand at all times, locating at least one outside and two at either end of your rig inside.  And now that I know things come in 3’s, I’m wary at what may be next.

 

 

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