Existing In BFE

Until I get back from up North, enjoy some more of them there Decorah Eagles. Live stream videos at Ustream

I have arrived back in the area for a few days.  Posts will resume next Tuesday.  My buddy Stewart says I will be "Home Doggy Home" and I will attempt to squeeze in a month in 6 days.  My daughter, Mackenzie, is getting married this weekend, so I will have some mandatory commitments and will try to be where I am supposed to be and at the same time try and catch up with some old friends.   I have a line I have rehearsed non-stop.  Like any great actor I am attempting to do what I can with a small but important role.  My line is, "Her Mother and I."   Method acting states I must find the emotional center of the character and present the line after having fused with the character and his motivation for uttering the line.  Now then I can do a Brando "conflicted" presentation dripping with moroseness or a cerebral Olivier.  What will probably happen is a bumbling awkward Jimmy Stewart.  In the interest of full disclosure it should be said ...

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...

I have never really said too much about my time at the Mary Davis Home on this blog. How do you encapsulate 27 years working with all manner of people - staff and client in a couple of paragraphs. You don't. Here are some pictures of the old place and the new one we built along the way.  I started on Halloween night, 1977. Your blogger as a young Counselor, and yes, that's probably a cigarette.  We even handed them out to the kids for awhile.  Boy, that certainly dates me.  This was taken in the rec area and dining area.  The Girls wing is behind me along with the ping-pong table.  I suspect we had just had a staffing to discuss the behavior and level of the kids, and were dinking around.  When I started we even had a pool table but was removed when we discovered the balls were lethal weapons. My boss, Randy and his boss, Jim.  Randy is now in Rio and just started getting Social Security checks.  He and wife Julie operated the Blue Ro...

Freaky, spooky, eerie, crazy, ugly... Hey man, you see the tattoos on that dude's face? Name: SMITH, KAYLA SHANIYAH DOB: 09/18/1983 Booking #: 12018028 Arrest Date: 04/15/2012 Race: B Sex: M Ethnicity: N (In case you missed it, check the sex.) And this guy is really a girl.  I'm confused. This guy's name is listed as John Doe, and he was arrested for stealing a car and resisting arrest.  What makes them think they can get away from LEO?  Steady, Steady! This expression says it all. This guy's name is General Crook.  I kid you not. Jesus, Mother of God, why can't you clean 'em up first?

The eggs have hatched and we've got 3 healthy bald eagle chicks. This is fascinating stuff, until Papa brings home a snake for supper. Live stream videos at Ustream

Just felt like a ride today so I went over the Skyway and drove around Palmetto for a while. Not too far from the dog pound is this cemetery. I don't know the name of it, but Hard-Scrabble might be appropriate. It is a very unattractive piece of ground.  Those who live up North are certainly used to lush green grass and nice landscaping.  Here there is sanely soil with vegetation more akin to weeds than grass.  If dying is bad enough you have to endure resting in this place.   I think I'd rather be in Philadelphia, as W.C. once exclaimed as his epitaph.  Looking at this place, me, too. This is a home-made canopy to protect it from, well, whatever.  It never rains so must be the harsh sun.  A little shade for the plot.   Here is a homemade cross made out of PVC pipe.  Classy. Some of the older plots and perhaps more well-to-do have these cement slabs, apparently to keep animals from digging at the remains. Cemeteries down here ...

Florida has its share of zanies, but being a nudist down here doesn't make you crazy, it just makes you warmer than your nudist in Rhode Island or Minnesota.  Saw this guy walking down 34th Street with, evidently, everything he owns in the world strapped to his back.  Old, regal, world-wise looking face.  There are photographers who walk the streets of cities with $5.00 bills ready to give to these types so they can take their portraits.  I'm not that rich or brave.  I saw this lady, or rather clown, at the bus stop near the Mall.  Oh come on, people! Kudos to these Mall cops.  In front of us were two gentlemen sagging (wanting us to see their boxers with their pants below their ass-cheeks).  These two cops approached and told them to hike up their pants.  Nice to see some civilization down here.  They also tell me there is a new policy that there is no sagging in public schools.  Apparently Florida got tired of being lum...