Sad But Happy

Yesterday was a combination of sadness and happiness for us. Watching the news coverage of Hurricane Michael devastating the Florida Panhandle before moving into Georgia and causing even more damage was a terribly sad thing to see. Having dealt with two major hurricanes of our own in the last two years, we know the pain those impacted by the storm are feeling and our prayers are with them.

And yet, it was a happy day because we got to hang out with our friends Greg and Jan White. How can you not have fun when you’re spending time with buddies like them?

We gave them a tour of our house when they arrived, then showed them around our little manufactured home community. I guess they liked it. At least they didn’t say they hated it.

Jan wanted to see some manatee. No problem, you want manatee? We’ve got manatee! Lots and lots of manatee. There is a short, narrow canal that comes off the Indian River (Intercoastal Waterway) a couple of blocks from our house and it is always full of these gentle giants. They were really putting on a show for us yesterday, flipping their tails out of the water, poking their snouts up to breathe, showing their backs, and a couple even rolled over, making quite a splash. The problem with photographing any kind of wildlife is that they don’t always stay still and cooperate. They’re too busy doing their thing to worry about you and your camera. Even so, Terry got several pictures, including this one.

Then we went down to the fishing pier, where Jan got to see dolphins, something else that she wanted to do while she was here. There were a couple of lone dolphins and some pods of three to four animals together. While we were there we saw something that was a first for us. A large yacht was coming downriver and a dolphin was right at the bow, playing in the waves made as the boat cut through the water. A couple of times I thought it was going to get run over, but it didn’t. Unfortunately, they were going so fast that by the time Terry got her camera up and focused they were gone, so no pictures of that. But Greg got one and you can see it on his blog at this link.

But I did get this picture of Terry and Jan standing on the pier. They are better looking than boats and dolphins, anyway.

Done with that, we drove into New Smyrna Beach and gave them the grand tour, then drove a couple of miles down the beach. There were not many people out because of the weather, I guess. The beach was littered with kelp and the waves looked angry out there.

Greg and Jan like barbecue and they have never been to Dustin’s, a local favorite of ours, so that is where we went for dinner. No doubt about it, I know they liked that. All in all, a fun day with great friends. And we get to have more fun again today!

It’s Thursday, so it’s time for a new Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an RV camping journal donated by Barbara House. Barbara makes several variations of these, and they all have pages where you can list the date, weather, where you traveled to and from that day, beginning and ending mileage, campground information including amenities at RV sites, a place for a campground rating, room to record activities, people met along the way, reminders of places to see and things to do the next time you’re in the area, and a page for notes for each day.

To enter, all you have to do is click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening.

Thought For The Day – If a deaf person had to go court, would it still be called a hearing?