The Last Day...

Our time in "paradise" ends tomorrow morning when we hit the road and head for home. Diana came through her cancer surgery and is doing well, so we need to get moving. Today was the last day in the pool, our last lunch at Mel's diner, our last trip to Publix, and our last day of warm balmy sunshine.

Now we have our eyes set on northern Virginia and a visit with friends. We are hoping they like a certain kind of pie and are able to eat their chuckles candies in the proper order.

I spent the day closing up shop and getting ready. We have had a fine season here and Lord willing will return next year. Heading to Georgia tomorrow and the Walkabout RV Park. "Good eye mights!"

Da Fishing Trip

I am finally back from my week long fishing trip here in Florida. I spent the week with four of my friends, Kirk, Tom, Andy, and Ron,  at Ron's house on Pine Island. We had a fun week with plenty of laughs, fishing, and libations. I am a little worn out today and feel like I survived something. Here are some pics:

 Above: Me, Ron, and Tom. Below: Tom with a nice jack

 Below: Ron, Kirk, and Andy

 Kirk and Tom

 Inshore catch

 Heading 40 miles off shore

 off shore catch

 We also attended a ball game: Twins vs. Sox.

The Amazins!

Yesterday was a banner day for me as I got to go to Mets /Boston at JetBlue Field. Tom Widell was kind enough to take me and we had terrific seats! And the Mets won! Pete Alonso cracked a homer, Nimmo had two hits, and Wheeler pitched 4 scoreless innings. Well done! Here are some fight eyes:
Pregame warmups:

 Tim Tebow #15 and #9 Brandon Nimmo bent over.

 We were right next to the dugout. Really cool! Here is Nimmo after his triple and subsequent score.

I was seated next to a couple about my age. After a few minutes of Mets chitchat I found myself leading an impromptu counseling session.
Sample:
Lady: "I want my husband to get a boat but he won't listen to me."
Me: "Well that's his job, isn't it?"
Husband: "She's always telling me what I should be doing."
Me: "Well isn't that her job?"

Tom provided a timely interruption as just then he had us move to some open seats at the beginning of our row. I gave him credit for a save. Ironically, the move we made for more room did not last as the couple moved over right next to Tom.

Stadium seats are just not built for today's oversized Americans. Who wants to be pressed up against their neighbor on a steamy hot Florida day? Armrests are there but basically built for midgets. (Can I say "midget"? I meant "little people".)

What is it about Tim Tebow? Everywhere he goes the fans scream for him! So popular! Amazing!

1914, Pork with mashed potatoes, gravy, and vegetable, 84, and Churchill

These days, whenever we have a question about almost anything, we simply "Google" the answer. How simple life has become. No need to burden our brains and memories with facts and details when all we need do is tap a few buttons on our cell phone. Need to know when WW1 began? What is the  blue plate special on the lunch menu at Mel's Diner? How old would Elvis be if still alive? Who said, "The greatest lesson to know in life is that even fools are right sometimes"? All so very convenient and being able to get an instant answer is fun.

But there is a down side. Gone are the days when we could take pride in all the stuff we knew. Now the question is: Do we know anything? Every time I watch one of those college campus interviews or man on the street interviews, the interviewees seem clueless. This seems especially true regarding America and its history. The simplest of questions seem mind boggling: What happened on December 7, 1941?  Who was president during the New Deal in the 1930's. What year did Columbus land in the new world?

       Maybe this stuff is no longer important. The world is changing so rapidly that it’s difficult to even know what to teach today’s kids. They certainly need to be creative and adaptive to an ever changing world, so maybe learning about history has no current value. Maybe we just don't have the time any more as we are so self-absorbed in the now.

And yet, I believe there is much to learn from our ancestors and from studying the past. How can our culture continue when it’s members have little or no knowledge of what it reveres? The humorist Sam Levenson once said,"You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can't possibly live long enough to make them all yourself." This suggests a wisdom in studying history.

Outside of the National Archives building in Washington DC,  there are two statues I revere. The messages on them are dear to me as a student of history:

"What Is Past Is Prologue"
The second statue outside the building has a man holding a book and a scroll. This one says, "Study the Past" I believe in the verity of these statements.

By the way, we had lunch with friends, Joe and Justine Hammond, at Mel's Diner in Ft. Myers. I had the blue plate special, and it was great! If you want to know what I had, Google it!

The Pooperintendent

I've been forced to lay low the past few days and my "sports" routine has suffered. Strained my achilles at ping pong on Tuesday, then had my big toe worked on this past Thursday for an ingrown toenail. No running, no walking, no swimming in the pool all week. I have done some bike riding and that's it. And so I am feeling slightly frustrated as it looks like ping pong is cancelled for this week also. Grrrrrr!

We are heading to the east coast on Thursday for a few days to get new driving chairs for the coach. The current ones are getting mighty tired. They have promised to raise mine higher as I always have to sit on pillows now to raise me up. If I don't sit higher I get achy shoulders while driving. Boy I sound old today!!

Had a chance to give blood as the "Blood Bus" came to Swan Lake this morning. Pretty cool and they gave me a really nice hat. Here is a shot of me in my Hero hat sitting in my old, soon to be replaced, bus seat.

 
Looking forward to this Saturday when I will get to watch my Mets play the Red Sox at Jetblue Stadium, courtesy of Tom Widell. Can't wait!

I have begun reading a history of Hawaii in preparation for our trip to the Sandwich Islands in April via cruise ship with my brother Rich and wife Robin. Should be a fun time!

Finally, I was reading about a superintendent from New Jersey who was recently forced to resign. Evidently he was crapping under the bleachers out on the athletic field. People are strange, aren't they? They call him the "Pooperintendent"!