Further Ramblings

1. My number one driving action that gets me more riled than anything else: long stretch of road with no one behind me. Car comes up to an intersection up ahead. Sits. and sits, and then pulls out in front of me, and slows me up. Man! Seems to happen all the time out this way.

2. I like my Kindle. Just downloaded "The Art of Racing In the Rain" on a recommendation from Karen in England. It is about a dog who believes if he does everything right he will be reincarnated as a human.

3. Speaking of dogs, I received Missy's ashes this last weekend. I have to say it was a bit of a letdown: no kisses, no wagging tail, no begging.

4. Saw this in the paper last night. I know Rose and Greg, and this must have been a good one.

5. I haven't totally embraced recycling. Out here in BFE there is no recycling but I do try to save my aluminum. I remember taking a truckload of cans to G & M and getting enough back to have one of those great "Wow!" moments and then being able to order Pizza Hut for everyone and having some cash left over. Well, I took 6 bags of cans to town yesterday and had enough to get a medium butterscotch sundae at DQ. Not exactly a "wow" moment, but, hey, enough for a "mmmm" 5 minutes.

6. Its 45 degrees in the house as I write this but with forecasts of 80 by Friday I refuse to turn on the heat.

7. My fantasy baseball team sucks as we head toward the third week of the season. Right now I am in next-to-last place. I made three trades in the pre-season and may have out smarted myself.

8. I fixed liver and onions over the weekend and they were great.

9. Adam Lambert is phenomenal. Strange kid but a great singer. Best of American Idol this year.

10. I'm going to Florida on May 22nd for a long Memorial Day weekend. I'll be back Tuesday the 26th.

11. Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meier to Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat: "Sir, I can forgive you for killing our children. What I cannot forgive is you making us kill yours."

12. Thanks for breakfast Mark.

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Flashback Friday

Class, Or Lack Thereof The Dwight Vice gravestone in Oquawka, Illinois. I bring this old chestnut out every so often just to remind me that class is classless. Dwight Vice was killed in his home near Oquawka in 2001. It was one of those things that can generate crime: two guys thought Dwight had a lot of money stashed at home because of his pot-selling sideline to supplement his fishing job. Not really one of those big drug deals gone-bad things. Marijuana was, according to the trial, about the only stuff Dwight sold. But these two guys barge into the house and killed Dwight and attempted to kill his 11 year old kid, Darryl, before they took off with what money they could find. His son, now 23, was stabbed in the back and left for dead. He survived and is wheelchair bound and has undergone several surgeries to repair his wounds. He will be paralyzed for life. None of this is pleasant. Reading the f...

Philippe Park and The Tocobaga Indian Mound

About ten miles or so north of Bedlam is a place called Safety Harbor. Its the place that has the 300-500 year old oak that the city tried to kill I featured a couple weeks ago on BFE . They have a pretty nice park that has some interesting history, too. Count Philippe landed here and introduced the pineapple and cigar making to the Tampa Bay area. Today, however, I want to mention something else about this area, besides the really nice scenery. Phillipe Park was also the home of the Tocobaga Indians. The Tocobaga occupied the Tampa Bay area from around 600 A.D. to the 1600's. This is a fairly common view of old stately moss-laden oaks down here. This shot was taken atop the only Tocobaga Indian mound in the area. This exact spot is home not only to the Tocobaga until they died out, but then to Count Phillipi who settled the area after the Tocobaga died out. The place is full of oak and ...

The Mary Davis Home - Part 2

None of these pictures were taken by me, they came right from the MDH website. I am posting these so that friends who have never seen inside where I worked can gain access. After 27 years I have many stories, tales and acquaintances. But, I wouldn't know how to express them appropriately in a few paragraphs. I enjoyed 98% of my stay there and hope I made a difference in the lives of a fraction of the kids who entered. The original MDH at this site was just the front part. The large red-roofed area in back was added on in the 90's. This is the Jerry Carlton library. It was unofficially named after one of the counselors who truly loved the place. He passed away around 2002, I think. Mr. Farber looks like he is explaining a few things to a client. The classroom. Activity area with the gym behind the windows. Another shot of the classroom. It was a little different area to teach since we had 2 classes and 2 teachers i...

Existing In BFE

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