They say it is Progress

My last WHY for awhile: 

Why are many coin collection jar banks shaped like pigs? (see end)

Today was the day for my blood work.  We traveled a very familiar route.  My dad was a Church of God pastor.  When he retired he and mama lived in a cabin on the COG Camp Ground. Other pastors, widows and widower lived there. Over the years a college was established there also. My dad passed away and mama lived alone there but it was a good community of likeminded folk. They looked after each other, the crime was zero. It was a safe place.

However as the Camp Ground grew so did its neighbor the Douglas Municipal Airport.  It became Charlotte Douglas International.  So the city bought out the Camp Ground and hundreds of homes and businesses.

It has been years since we drove this route. The campground once thriving is grown up. The college buildings have been razed. The hills on past there that housed a couple famous restaurants and several businesses are now parking lots. There must be room for a half million cars, that is no exaggeration. We found roads re-routed. Some dead ended and a spot where I loved to go to a Flea Mkt was now filled with dirt and loaded with FEDEX trucks.

But as has been said thousands of times ‘that is progress.’ There was a creek (I could not see today) that held so many ‘boyhood’ memories of fishing, swimming and jumping rocks. The creek must be in huge pipes now.  Hey that could be fun, BIG CAVES, but I am not sure boys around here would have time for that now.

Times change, the years slip by when you are gone and you think everything remains as you last saw them. Funny that. It was at least 50 years from the time I last saw Buddy until our reunion with him and his bride a few years back. I remembered a feisty guy in his teens, THE DUDE HAD GOTTEN OLD! I ain’t kidding. Now, how that old guy got that pretty young wife I don’t know, and I ain’t asking.   LOL

Yep even in the south, things change over the years. I don’t always like it.  LOL

BECAUSE
Long ago, dishes and cookware in Europe were made of dense orange clay called 'pygg'. When people saved coins in
jars made of this clay, the jars became known as 'pygg banks.' When an English potter misunderstood the word, he
made a container that resembled a pig. And it caught on.

Do you have a Piggy Bank?  (WE DO!)

 Nite Shipslog

Big Cheeks

Bet you don't know "Big cheeks"

A grandson of slaves, a boy was born in a poor neighborhood of New Orleans known as the "Back of
Town." His father abandoned the family when the child was an infant. His mother became a prostitute and the boy
and his sister had to live with their grandmother.

Early in life he proved to be gifted for music and with three other kids he sang in the streets of New Orleans. His first gains were coins that were thrown to them.

A Jewish family, Karnofsky, who had emigrated from Lithuania to the USA, had pity for the 7-year-old boy and
brought him into their home. Initially giving 'work' in the house, to feed this hungry child. There he remained and
slept in this Jewish family's home where, for the first time in his life, he was treated with kindness and tenderness.

When he went to bed, Mrs. Karnovsky sang him a Russian lullaby that he would sing with her. Later, he learned to sing and play several Russian and Jewish songs.

Over time, this boy became the adopted son of this family. The Karnofskys gave him money to buy his first musical instrument; as was the custom in the Jewish families.

They sincerely admired his musical talent. Later, when he became a professional musician and composer, he used these Jewish melodies in compositions, such as St. James Infirmary and Go Down Moses.

The little black boy grew up and wrote a book about this Jewish family who had adopted him in 1907. In memory of
this family and until the end of his life, he wore a Star of David and said that in this family, he had learned "how to
live real life and determination."

You might recognize his name. This little boy was called: Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong. Louis Armstrong proudly spoke
fluent Yiddish! And "Satchmo" is Yiddish for "Big Cheeks"!!!

Growing up I was a trumpet player. Louis Armstrong was my hero in music. When I ran across this bit of trivia, I wanted to share it.  Many of the youth do not know Satchmo. He was the only trumpet player who played with air in his cheeks.  There many trumpet players in his day, but he had a gravelly voice and had his own style  with the trumpet.

 Nite Shipslog

Tonight I cannot get my font nor pictures to follow instructions.

1904 Sunbeam four years after Satchmo was born...

You know the power is off BUT…

WHY?
WHY?
In golf, where did the term 'Caddie' come from?  (ans. at the end)

for tonight.......

The funny things it seems that EVERYONE is guilty of when they have lost their power. You go into a dark room and automatically use the light switch then realize how much you take for granted.

Remember fans even before A/C they kept you somewhat cool at night.  WE had plenty of time to talk in the two evenings we sat in the dark.  We both lived long before the average person had air conditioning in their home. If you were fortunate you had what was called a ‘window fan’. The lower pane was raised and the fan would fit.  We slept on the porch on real hot nights.

I was guilty once of saying I will just turn on the box fan, Mark has left one there.  My sweetie was guilty of saying we can turn on the ceiling fan.  In reality we sat on the porch until the mosquitoes decided they wanted too much blood. Then we took the dining room chairs and sat in front of the window that had a little breeze.

I do like the quietness of ‘no power’ that does compensate some for the being uncomfortable.

It is nice to just talk with someone you love and is also your best friend.

Too soon you enjoy the power when it is restored and for a little while forget that there are still thousands of folks without power. 

Duke Energy is the power supplier in Deltona.  WE are familiar with Duke because it originated in North Carolina  with the Duke family and tobacco, then Education (Duke University) and they diversified further to POWER. 

I smiled when reading Myra’s comment that someone in Florida had a sigh out front of their house, saying something like “Duke… We Will trade Beer for POWER…”

Remember the thousands who are not close to being back to normal in Texas and Florida.

NOW:

BECAUSE................
When Mary Queen of Scots went to France as a young girl, Louis, King of France, learned that she loved the Scots
game 'golf.' He had the first course outside of Scotland built for her enjoyment. To make sure she was properly
chaperoned (and guarded) while she played, Louis hired cadets from a military school to accompany her.

Mary liked this a lot and when she returned to Scotland (not a very good idea in the long run), she took the practice
with her. In French, the word cadet is pronounced 'ca-day' and the Scots changed it into caddie.

 Nite Shipslog

Sorry Sir, Publix does not have Ice we have.....

WHY?
Why is someone who is feeling great 'on cloud nine'?

 Wednesday  we drove down to Deltona and see for ourselves how things were. Everything looked good.

BUT the real story. To start with, this was not our first Rodeo, but you would have thought so. I was smart enough to carry extra gas to ensure the trip. Most of the exits were blocked by law enforcement in Georgia. We found fuel in St. Augustine and had no problem in that area. However it is pretty ignorant to enter a hurricane zone and not come prepared. LOL

We checkedout our home, it looked good. Few limbs around, no power and needing fence repair, we knew that.  Sherry said, “We need to go to Walmart and get an ice chest and some ice.”

“Good,” says I, “I will pick up a big rake at Lowes.”

WE were at Lowes when it hit me, they were sold out of rakes except the small ones. “Honey,” says I, “We are a few days late and a dollar short, as the saying goes.”

Of course the shelves were empty of Ice chests + Absolutely NO ICE. LOL (WE are supposed to know this!)

We also needed to find a car charger for the cell phones. Of course they were sold out. “Try the auto section,” suggested the clerk. The lady at the auto section walked us around the empty shelves. “Oh this is the last one we have. This one must be hard wired into the car.”

“We’ll take it,” at least we had success in one area.  A clerk at Race Way wouldn’t let Sherry pay for two large cups of ice. She was ecstatic.

So now we had ice, and a charger which I wired into the car in a few minutes. A great (hot) night of quiet and talk. We read by flashlight (I did think to bring 3 + extra batteries.).

 (The first crew from Duke Energy, trimming trees)

We were really having a good time. No TV or monitors, no noise except the night creatures.

Second evening, we went for a frosty at Wendy’s. Oh yes, the clerk GAVE Sherry a big cup of ice. (Sherry loves to eat ice).

Leaving, I said, “I am going to check Publix for ice.”  I couldn’t find an ICE BIN. I stopped a young worker and asked, “If you had ice, where would I find it?”

Sorta grinning he said, “Sir, Publix does not have ice.  We have frozen water.”

“Okay I will bite, where will I find frozen water?”  I followed him to a huge freezer with clear doors. Inside I found gallon jugs of spring water frozen solid, 79¢ each.

Tapping a jug, “VOILA, FROZEN WATER!” he said smiling, and walked off.

Of course I took two, Now 'I smiled' thinking, 'I am sure the kid knows ice is frozen water, doesn’t he?’

Anyway, all is well. A crew from Shreveport, LA fixed our power. Sherry washed a load of clothes, we enjoyed a day and night of A/C before we headed to NC to take care of business here before returning to our love nest in Florida in a couple weeks.

These Bucket trucks had more reach than any I had ever watched. It was neat to watch knowing soon you would have power.

It is cloud 9, BECAUSE
Types of clouds are numbered according to the altitudes they attain, with nine being the highest cloud. If someone
is said to be on cloud nine, that person is floating well above worldly cares.

 Nite Shipslog

YES I thought about 9/11 yesterday

(I debated with myself yesterday and today after I wrote this entry. I finally decided to put it up, it is how I feel just now, thinking of the folks in the towers, on ALL the planes  and the  Pentagon)

NOTE: We will go to Florida in the morning. I may be missing here for a couple days....

 WHY?
Why are people in the public eye said to be 'in the limelight'?  Check the end of the blog....

Yes, I did think of 9/11 yesterday. I did think of radical terrorists of the Muslim Religion. A religion that in this day and time operates under their Sharia (?) Law is questionable.  I realize that religion is slowly morphing into the mainstream of the world, but not fast enough to suit me. I saw an incident filmed by a Pakistani in Pakistan on his phone, down town on a main street. An Iman called a woman over whose face was uncovered and forced her to kneel and ask for mercy. After a long public tongue lashing to her and the crowd, she appeared to think the ordeal was over. At that time the Iman motioned for a soldier to shoot her. There on the camera the soldier shot her in the top of the head, killing her and they walked off and left her on the street like a dog, men smiling.

 Yes I thought about those terrorists, and why they do as they do.

                                (exuberance after 9/11)

While searching for that video, I watched other sickening videos. One where a woman was caned within an inch of her life for standing too close to a man who was not her husband.

I watched a film of a woman stoned to death for not obeying Sharia law.  We have in our country already, 'Honor Killings' of wives and daughters.

It is hard to put a blog on after that.  Forgive me for being so judgmental, but UNTIL I see thousands of Muslims stand to defy Sharia law and terrorism and declare they will follow the laws of their adopted country,  I will still have a problem with them immigrating into the USA.  There was a time an immigrant kissed the ground for being allowed into this country.  Now, in some areas they would like to be able to enforce Sharia law in the USA.  My wife is the dearest thing in the world to me. I cannot imagine treating her as ‘property’ or allowing any man to cane or kill her for not covering her face.

On this very blog I interacted with a young lady who commented. She was planning to travel to Iran to marry a Muslim.  I asked her if she felt she should be whipped if she disobeyed her husband, she answered, “Of course if I displease him I expect to be punished.”  We e-mailed back and forth for a few times. I wondered how she must have been raised. She had never even met a Muslim. This was all being arranged on the internet.  I have wondered many times what happened to her.

                                             (9/11)

Christian or not. I will not judge your politics.  HOWEVER, this country was formed on Christian principles. The Ten Commandments, or Christian teachings are basically common sense.  I like to think this country was formed on common sense.  There is a lot I do not understand about this country’s past i.e. women’s suffrage,  slavery and the native American.  But Historical times cannot be changed, but by gravy we can try to be reasonable and ‘get along’. Can’t we?

(FORGET?  IT IS PRETTY HARD TO FORGET THIS MAN AND MANY LIKE HIM)

If I am not supposed to judge Muslims by the terrorists and extremes, then all whites should not be judged by some extreme skin heads or white supremacists, by the press! We do have many whites decrying the actions of WS. That is what I expect from the Muslim silent millions.

Now....BECAUSE
invented in 1825, limelight was used in lighthouses and theatres by burning a cylinder of lime which produced a brilliant light. In the theatre, a performer 'in the limelight' was the Centre of attention.

 Nite Shipslog
PS: Power is back on in Port Richie, FL

The Angel

WHY?
Why do people clink their glasses before drinking a toast?  (The reason at the end of the blog entry..)

And now, IRMA.  I know THE REAL "IRMA" (I know her as Aunt Nee) and also her ‘clone’ IRMA. One in Florida and the clone in Missouri.  BOTH ladies are jewels.  So the Hurricane was only a WANNA BE IRMA, and was nasty to a lot of folk.  (Both were in Missouri for this other IRMA to pass through)

Now to us and our Son, she was sweet, just like the real ones. Mark spent last night at our home in Deltona. He lost power in the middle of the night. The total damage to our house was one privacy fence section down. Mark propped it up before he headed off to check his home in Port Richie.

He said in a text when he got there "all is well," he had less damage than we did. He sent a SMILE and this picture:

                                                     Angel

His Guarding Angel, posted atop his wrought Iron fence was standing proud and untouched by the storm. That little angel is not attached to the wrought iron point, just sitting atop it.  He thought that was neat.  SO DID WE!  I mean his house is about 20 miles above Tampa. It is within 100 yards of salt water. His house is 3 feet above Sea Level.                                                                                                                   So we are very happy and blessed that no real damage was done. Especially since he is like his dad, he carries no insurance on his house in Florida.

If you own a home in Florida, you have to KNOW that someday you will meet THAT hurricane. We are thankful after about 5 or six of them we have met, none have been THAT one to do extensive damage. As they say, we dodged the bullet.

Now…..

BECAUSE
In earlier times it used to be common for someone to try to kill an enemy by offering him a poisoned drink.
To prove to a guest that a drink was safe, it became customary for a guest to pour a small amount of his drink
into the glass of the host. Both men would drink it simultaneously. When a guest trusted his host, he would only
touch or clink the host's glass with his own.

 Nite Shipslog

When the Stock Market Crashed in 1929

A lifestyle winding down?

WHY
Why is shifting responsibility to someone else called ‘passing the buck'? 
SEE *** at bottom


So today..

I am trying to finalize a book on travel. This book will be titled “Our RV Life”, a book suggested and started years ago.  We have been full-time for twenty years. I smile, when I think ‘that is longer than we ever lived in a brick/mortar home’. We started life together in a 26 foot trailer at the Camp Geiger trailer park at Jacksonville, NC. This girl has followed me to so many structures it is amazing. She has lived in a 42x8 trailer that she remembers thinking was a huge home. We raised two boys up to school age in that dude.

We lived once in a converted chicken house, the kitchen floor had about ten linoleums to keep the cold Missouri weather out. She once lived with me in a house with no indoor plumbing, yep she had an outhouse for the first time in her life.

 (Can you see Sherry up on that roof? Yep she helped roof it, hung drywall too!)

 Together Sherry and I built a beautiful 1800sqft split level home.(4yrs=sold it) From that we bought a lot in ‘Heaven’ (Belmont, Sherry’s home town). I built us a nice home with three garages and an indoor heated pool. (3-4yrs=sold it)

From that we built us  a 2800sqft home.  We loved it. I had my office there and stayed there all of 4 years, then started to get the idea to travel. We retired, and moved into a motor home.(Kept it=leased)

SOOO we are actually as happy in this Motor Home as any house we have owned. In 61 years I have moved my girl UP in the world. We started off in 26x8, Now we have 38.5 feet by 8. An increase of 12 feet or 2.36 inches a year. Definitely better than going backwards.

Sherry still owns 2 of those 2800sqft homes plus three smaller homes. BUT we agree we had rather live right here in this Diplomat.
 

In the next few years we must decide what to do. We both are nearing 80. I told Mr. Hunter, the next unit to come open to let us know before he rents or leases, we just MIGHT be ready to settle down.  It hurts to even say that.

But if you have followed the blogs lately, you know what is on our minds. OUCH (note: winding down we hope is 5-10 years lol)

now:
***BECAUSE
In card games, it was once customary to pass an item, usually a buck knife, from player to player to indicate whose turn it was to deal. If a player did not wish to assume the responsibility of dealing, he would 'pass the buck' to the next
player.

 Nite Shipslog
PS: Since we have moved 26 times in this 61 years there are many other trailers and houses in the background. LOL.