Note: We find some of our best stories wandering around in old cemeteries. This one began with a visit to the Cedar Hill Cemetery in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Animal mascots have been an important part of military life for centuries. Mascots became symbols of loyalty and courage and provided lonesome soldiers far from home something to care […]
Note: This is a blog post about one of our favorite places from our days as fulltime RVers. Terry and I drove to the Wright Brothers National Memorial. Most people think that the aviation pioneers made their first flights at nearby Kitty Hawk, but it was actually a couple of miles south at Kill Devil […]
I saw an article online yesterday saying that the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington DC will reopen to the public on July 24. There is so much to see and do in our nation’s capital that we’ve never made time for that, but maybe we should someday. Do any of you go to zoos locally, or in […]
With only a few days left before our kids come to visit, Terry and I have been busy getting ready for the big event. I started the day by going out to the garage and clearing off an accumulation of stuff that had piled up on the workbench. They say a tidy desk is a […]
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away (no, actually it was right here, come to think of it), automobiles came with this funny little metal thing called a key that you put into a slot on your car’s dashboard or steering wheel column. You turned it and the engine started, just like […]
I usually put out four books a year but last year I did six. Part of that was because with the pandemic we weren’t doing any traveling, and part of it was because I wanted to get my new Tinder Street family saga off and running. I had hoped to maintain that schedule this year, […]
I’ve mentioned a couple of times in the blog that rainfall totals for our area of Central Florida are way down this year. We have something like a 5 inch deficit where we are, midway between Daytona Beach and Cape Canaveral. So we have definitely been needing some rain, and we got some yesterday. In […]
Our friend Stu McNicol is on a motorcycle trip from his home in Tennessee down to southern Florida to visit his daughter and some other family members and friends along the way. We were fortunate to be among those friends, and we met Stu for lunch yesterday at Uncle Chicken’s in New Smyrna Beach. We […]
You know you have lived on Florida’s Space Coast for a while when you don’t even pay attention when the news announces a rocket launch and are not aware of it until you hear the sound of the booster rockets on reentry. That was the case on Wednesday when SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket […]
Smoked turkey, that is. For a long time now, we have been talking about smoking a turkey in our Orion convection smoker, but we never seemed to get around to it. On our last shopping excursion to Publix grocery store a couple of weeks ago, they had turkey breasts on sale, and Terry asked if […]
I have mentioned before that I love doing research for my books, but it can become quite addictive and a time waster if one is not careful. Then again, if you’re learning new things, is it ever a waste of time? I spent much of yesterday working on my new Tinder Street book, knocking out […]
I went down a rabbit hole of research yesterday while trying to clarify some information about divorce laws in the early part of the 20th century for my new Tinder Street book. I knew that divorce was frowned upon back then, but never realized just how much of a stigma it placed on somebody. Ending […]
I have wanted to go fishing for a long time now and yesterday was a perfect day for it, with temperatures in the mid-60s and lots of sunshine. Terry didn’t quite feel up to going out on the boat or the kayaks, so I went down to Anchor Hardware, a mile or two from the […]
It would be nice if we lived in a world populated only by good people who love their neighbors and treat everybody by the Golden Rule. But the reality is that we live in a world where two-legged predators see the old, the weak, and everyone else as fair game. A couple of those types […]
I had planned on watering our citrus trees and perennial peanut plants yesterday, but sometime early in the morning, we had a pretty good rain and woke up to big puddles in the street, so that saved me one chore. However, it gave us another one to deal with. My Bennington pontoon boat has three […]
Seeing the 21 gun salute rendered for outgoing President Trump on Wednesday reminded me of an incident that I can probably talk about now because I’m sure the statute of limitations has run out. At least I hope so! Many people don’t know that in addition to training officers for the Army, every class at […]
My Bennington pontoon boat has been sitting in the garage way too long. Between my back problems that pretty much incapacitated me for many months and then the hot nasty summer here in Florida, it’s been pretty much a garage queen for well over a year. But my back is doing better, and the weather […]
It’s no secret that Miss Terry loves to cook; it’s one of the many things she excels at. And there is no question about it, I enjoy all the wonderful things she makes. Over the years, she has accumulated many top-quality kitchen tools and appliances, which she takes very good care of and appreciates. So […]
Terry has been a bit under the weather the last few days, but that did not stop her from finishing weaving this beautiful blanket she made for our granddaughter Destiny. It is 100% pure Shetland wool and big, measuring 52×80 inches before the finishing and final processing. I love the colors and patterns. This was […]
I hope your Thanksgiving was as nice as ours. Terry spent the whole day in the kitchen, making a delicious meal of turkey breast, mashed potatoes, gravy, pumpkin pie, and lots of other goodies. That seems like a lot of work to me, but she loves it, and the end result is fabulous. As for […]