Buzzards

Buzzards! The more I learn about them, the less I like them. I know they provide a service by eating dead animals. But I learned today that they also prey on live animals, namely turtles. If a turtle gets caught in the open, a buzzard will pick it up, fly high, and smash it on the ground. The only protection a turtle has is to shrink into its carapace completely so the buzzard cannot grab it.

Today as I pedaled my bike to the health club, I noticed some buzzards next to the sidewalk just ahead. As I passed by I was astonished to see them pecking away at a turtle. I made a quick u turn and headed back to save the little guy. I spooked the buzzards away, making sure that i didn't get close enough to get puked on. It was then I noticed that I was too late. The turtle's head was smashed in and it was dead.

 RIP buddy!

These birds seem to be everywhere these days. I often kid that it is not safe to do yard work without wearing goggles. Should you pass out in the yard, you are likely to awaken with a buzzard on your chest pecking out your eyeballs! A gruesome prospect! Adult buzzards have no predators! No wonder I see so many!

I continued on to the club and completed my workout. I am feeling stronger. Here is my health venue:

Lots of machines in a dreary facility!

A typical day or atypical?

I rode my bike to the gym to work out, took 2 walks, and did a "bus project". That is the good news. (Here is a picture of my bike. It's right out of the Wizard of Oz!)

Elvira Gulch! Hmmmmm!


On the negative side of the ledger, I am struggling with my water intake. The goal is a gallon a day. I'd swear I just drank the entire ocean, but whenever I check my gallon jug it is more full than empty. I can almost imagine what it is like to be waterboarded as I choke down another big slug!

Teddy is supervising my water trials. It's a chore and I am not succeeding! Even worse, I haven't lost any weight. Friend Mike Tirrell (he works for the govmint and reads this blog between missions to protect 'Mericans) says that his "family" doctor told him, "If you want to lose weight, eat less!" Sounds easy enough!

Today my water program backfired on me. We went out to dinner this afternoon. I know, why do old people go out for dinner in the afternoon? I used to wonder about that myself. Not any more! Number 1, we don't want to drive at night or during rush hour if we can help it. Driving at night has become a big issue of late. I am beginning to feel like a caveman from antiquity. When the sun goes down we must rush home and sit by the fire until it comes back. The night is filled with danger! #2 Old people eat earlier so we don't get indigestion from the evening meal. #3 Early Bird Specials. #4 We desire to avoid the crush of humanity in Florida at restaurants at dinnertime because America doesn't cook. #5 We only eat 2 meals a day because we are overweight; Breakfast and early dinner. (see cranky hungry below) Can I stop with the reasons now?

Traffic is heavy. Traffic is always heavy here in Florida during tourist season, when everyone from "up there" is now "down here". I can see fine to drive but I can't multitask the GPS and where do we turn and what did that sign say? This day the tension in the car is growing and I am cranky hungry. Worst of all...I HAVE TO PEE SO BAD MY EYES ARE BULGING!!! Hey, you try to glug down a big jug of water and see what happens to you! I spot a Lowes and make the required stop.  We finally arrive at our destination and I am relieved in more ways than one.

A very nice young man from India waits on us.  I want to ask him more questions about how he ended up here in the US, but I am afraid I will offend him. Besides, ICE could be reading this. Dinner at Carabbas is just great, and we arrive home safely. I am proud to be carrying a take out box with part of my dinner. Remember, I am trying to eat less. The day ends with me watching several old episodes of "What's My Line" on the Internet. I am hooked on this show(A post of its own).

Tradition

The other day a friend on Facebook posted that he had not sent out a Christmas card since 1998. He was actually proud of that fact. It made me sad. I couldn't help but wonder what if anything he does send out. Does he click a button and send a text or email? Or maybe he does nothing? Sending out Christmas cards is definitely old fashioned, expensive and very time consuming. So why even bother in today's instant gratification world where time is precious and the holidays are closing in on us? Believe me when I say there have been years when I wanted to give up the card business myself.

I'm glad I did not. I still enjoy sending and receiving cards at holiday time. I especially treasure the ones where the person takes the time to actually hand write a little message.  I understand that this is a formidable task. But hey, anything worth doing takes some time and effort, Right? Perhaps my friend who does not send out cards is just too busy and that is OK, I won't judge. And maybe he is focusing on other holiday traditions that are even more important.

Rest assured that here at the young homestead, I will be sitting down later today to honor our dear friends and family by filling out and mailing cards to the people we love. The holiday season is all about tradition, and I'm not ready to let this one die.  What traditions do you support and foster?

I am sorry that this blog does not allow direct comments, but you can send me your thoughts at bucko27@earthlink.net. I have already received some feedback which I enjoy!



Here are some pics I took on our early morning walk on a gorgeous sunny day in the 60's.

 Looking down Main  St. here at Swan Lake. That speck out ahead is Joanna. She walks much faster than I do.

Here is our street. You can see that the park is still pretty empty as we await the seasonal crush to come after Christmas!

Ft. Myers

We are now in Ft. Myers at Swan Lake RV Park. This will be our home for the month of December. We really like this folksy place which is in a great location. Very convenient to shopping and gym (more on that later).  Joanna says she feels safe here.  We are just relaxing and laying low until Christmas when we are going to surprise my sister-in-law who has no idea we are here. Diana and Gerhard live nearby in Cape Coral. (Gerhard, if you happen to check my blog and find out, please don't blow the surprise! Thanks pal!)

Met my neighbor, Ralph, who is a farmer from western Missouri. He is 91 and has been married over 70 years. I asked him what his favorite decade of life so far has been. He said it was the fifties and I have to agree. A time when Ike was president and we were sure of who we were. A great time to be a kid in the "Davey Crockett" tv era. 

Actually, to say we are relaxing is not entirely the truth. The next few months I am dedicating myself to better health. This means exercise and the gym and hopefully dropping some weight. Joanna and I are both walking regularly and I am ramping up my bike riding.

The gym I am using is an 11 minute bike ride away on a nice bike path all the way. Hopefully I will stick to my plan to ride, walk, and work out every day. I am doing this to try to get healthier. I have also boosted my water intake. Supposedly I should be drinking lots of water every day. 1/2 my body weight in ounces recommended. Well folks, that figures out to be a little less than a gallon a day. I am gamely trying to measure up but I ask you: Have you ever tried to drink a gallon of water in one day?

Yesterday I met my dear friend Andy Pierce for breakfast. He and Elaine have a condo just a few minutes away from here. We had a great visit getting caught up with many laughs. Then he took me for a ride and I got to see the beautiful community center just down the road from me. What a great building with a nice gym, gymnasium, and parklike grounds to enjoy. Unfortunately, I had already joined another nearby gym which now feels like a slum compared to where Andy and Elaine go. Oh well, live and learn!

I would show you a picture of Andy and me at breffis but I forgot my phone yesterday. I really felt like I had committed a crime and I kept feeling my pocket for the missing phone. What an awful feeling to feel so naked without it! How did we become so dependent on our technology? 

I did some bus maintenance. Had to fix the bracket on our microwave which had come loose during our travels. Still a few other things to do. Need a new hose on my exterior wash down sink which cracked over the winter, there is a frozen bolt on my awning frame, and I have a failed light fixture to repair. All minor stuff but there is a constant stream of things to do.

For the record, Syracuse Orange beat Georgetown 72-71 on a last second basket by Tyus Battle. Patrick Ewing is now the Hoya coach. Boy, he looks awfully bloated.

Later this morning I am off to get some parts at Harbor Freight and Home Depot. Gotta decide whether to bike it or drive.

Send your thoughts/comments to me at bucko27@earthlink.net.

Welcome to America!

This is a bit of a rant: We are on the road the other day and heading south to get warmer. I have to plan in advance about where we are going to stop for gas. You can't just whip in to any station when you are over 40 ft. long! (32 bus and the rest car)

I usually try to find a Flying J Truck stop because they have special lanes set up for the RVers. My 2nd choice are Pilot Truck Stops because I get a discount at Pilot and Flying J. That is important when your gas tank holds 75 gallons. (By the way, gas prices in Florida are cheap. $2.14 on Wed) I have an app on my phone that directs me to these places which makes it easy.

The only problem with Pilot is they do not have RV lanes so I must squeeze in at the pumps with the hoi polloi. That means the end pumps, as I am too long to get into the middle ones. And so here I am on Wednesday entering a Pilot and heading for the end line of pumps. I need to pull ahead to the head of the pump line so that the last pump is even with the rear of the bus. Are you with me so far?

This day I cannot do this as there is a minivan just ahead of me at the front pump. And so we wait for the driver to finish and pull away. But there is no driver at the car and it has a handicapped plate. Maybe this old timer is moving slow to pay inside.   We wait....and wait... and wait. A good 5 minutes go by and still no driver. This has happened to me before and I feel my guts tighten as the stress of waiting takes hold. By the way, did I tell you I cannot back up? We are stuck.

I suggest to Joanna that this might be a good time to unhitch the Ford as we will have to do it soon when we arrive at our next campsite. It seems we have plenty of time to do it while we wait.

At last, after about 15 minutes Mr. Car Owner shows up. He is carrying a bag of take out food and walking as casually as you and me. He says, "Oh sorry! I had to go to the bathroom and get something to eat." Now here comes my favorite part: " I haven't had a chance to fill up yet."
I am trying to remain calm as I suggest that perhaps he should have parked first to do his personal business and pulled to the pumps when done. That way he would not be blocking the pumps.
"Well how did I know a 90 footer would pull in behind me?"

As I said earlier, this has happened to me before in recent times. I think it is a reflection of the self-centered culture we live in today. "My needs supersede everyone elses"has become the mantra of America. I personally would never think of blocking a pump for 15 minutes at a very busy gas station. Would you? I am beginning to think America has become the capital of selfish "me first" people. We live in a society that promotes instant gratification and "me first" at the expense of everyone else. Am I getting this right? To quote a friend: "What am I missing?" I know this site does not allow comments, but you can email me with your thoughts at bucko27@earthlink.net. In the meantime, thanks for letting me vent!

Last days in St. Pete

The weather has been on the cool side of late. Last night it got down into the 40's! That is chilly for Florida. Temps are back up for the next few days!We have spent a great week in St. Pete. I would visit again as the Ft. Desoto Park is a winner!!! (Next time I want site 199 out on the point where the fish are!!)

Had lots of fun with Richard and Sylvia. We went to the Sunken Gardens for a therapeutic stroll through a beautiful place. Just sitting in these surroundings and chatting away was so relaxing.

 This outhouse needs a door!

 Richard doing a Vladimir Lenin pose: "All this is yours and more!"

We also went to the Italian Market for lunch but unfortunately "camera boy" fell asleep and neglected to snap some pictures! My bad!!! We brought home some terrific Italian Food to eat during the next week.

Lastly,  I have done some fishing but no results except the enjoyment of being in a great place!

50

So we started the day by changing campsites. Our new location is really sweet!

Later we celebrated our fiftieth anniversary by heading out to St. Pete Beach to a high class restaurant called the Rumfish. It was expensive but we're worth it and definitely a home run!!

 Huge aquarium!

 The menus light up! (Hey, it's dark in there!)

 Ringside seats!

 I had the grilled grouper and it was exquisite! 

Then back home for a cocktail and some Key Lime pie. A most soothing day! And a wonderful 50 years! Thank you honey!