Lighthouse, Ferry, Ft Macon & Miss Ashley

It was a long day today!  None of us slept much last night due to cold rooms, hot rooms, heavy rain, etc. Plus,  jet lag has caught up with us. Breakfast was at 7 a.m. this morning since the ferry left at 10 a.m. and we had to be in line by 9:30 plus there was few things we wanted to see in the town of Ocracoke before we left. We visited our 2nd lighthouse of the trip and it was a beautiful setting.  However, it was all white and the sky was all cloudy so the lighthouse wasn't as dramatic as it would have been if it was against a blue sky.

Our ferry from Ocracoke Island to Cedar Island (mainland) was a twin of this one which was coming into harbor from another island. Originally, we were going to skip Ocracoke but everyone who has been in the area said "you must go there". The only way to the isalnd is by ferry. We were leery of taking the ferry since I have a depth perception problem, which includes driving in tight spaces,  and Nancy is prone to motion sickness.  But we added it to the trip and are very glad we did - I didn't have any problems driving onto the ferry and Nancy didn't have any motion sickness. It was interesting last night being on a pretty small island knowing that the only way off was by ferry. The distance from the island to the mainland on was only 23 miles but it took 2 1/4 hours to cross the water. At times the water was relatively shallow and the channel very narrow so it was slow going for the ferry. The crossing was very smooth. In the below picture, Jane and I are enjoying the sun on the deck at the front of the ferry.

We stopped at the historic seaside town of Beaufort, NC which goes back to the early 1700's. There are a lot of wonderfully restored homes in the town that are so beautiful. We were surprised at how large some of the yachts were that were docked in the harbor. Then it was on to Fort Macon State Park to look at a Fort that construction began on in 1824 and was captured by the Union Soldiers during the Civil War.  Most of the original buildings remain.

And by now you may be wondering who Miss Ashley is.... After 2 days, we have named our GPS system Miss Ashley because she is disgustingly polite, never says "recalculating" like Gertrude loves to say in her condescending voice, has a slightly breathy voice in an almost southern accent.  Miss Ashley is delightful and tomorrow her job will be to get us to Charleston, SC. 

Outer Banks of North Carolina

It started raining this morning about the time we left Norfolk, VA and rained on us all the way to Kitty Hawk, NC. Then it stopped and we were able to be a "tourist" before it started raining again right after we got on the ferry. First stop was Kitty Hawk and the Wright Brothers National Memorial. In the picture at right, the big boulder is where their plane left the ground on Dec 17, 1903 and history was changed.  They completed 4 flights that day and the white markers represent the 4 flights. The first flight was 120 ft and went from the boulder to the first white marker. The 2nd flight was 175 ft, the 3rd flight was 200 ft and the last one to the marker that you can barely see in the distance was 852 ft and lasted 59 seconds. After the 4 the flight, the place was caught by a guest of wind, flipped over and damaged beyond easy repair.

On down the road is the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.  The lighthouse is 187 ft tall and is the tallest lighthouse in the United States. The lighthouse was build in 1870. It was relocated in 1999 due to beach erosion at it's original location. When it was built, it was 1600 feet from the water but when it was moved, it was only 100 feet from the ocean. The lighthouse, including it's base, was put on steel beams and slowly moved 2,900 ft to it new location which is again 1,600 ft from the ocean.  The lighthouse keeper's house was also moved. It really is a beautiful structure and no, we did not climb the 256 narrow, winding steps to the top.
Then it was back on the road to catch the ferry from Hatteras to Orcacork Island where we are spending the night. We lucked out with the ferry since it runs every 1/2 hour and we only had to wait 15 minutes. Last weekend, the wait was about 3 hours. There is no bridge to Ocracoke Island so ferry is the only way to get there. This ferry is a 40 minute trip. The bottom picture is of a ferry like the one we were on as it passed us right after we left the dock. We were going out and it was coming into the dock. There were about 30 vehicles on the ferry and everyone in line did not get on so they had to wait for the next one. They told us that a squall line was coming in and sure enough, it started raining before we left the dock.  At times it was just a light rain and at time it just poured.  However, I was surprised that there was no wind so it was a pretty smooth crossing. The ferry we take in the morning over to the mainland is a 2.5 hour trip.

 




The trip begins

Even though we spent about 5.5 hours in the plane today between 2 flights, it all went pretty well.  We flew from Tucson to Chicago Midway, changed planes and then came on to Norfolk, VA.  Both flights were completely full but Southwest Airlines was on time all the way through. A little bumpy at times but not bad. I brought Gertrude/Matthew (Garmin) but the SUV we rented has a GPS system in it so will use it.  "She" will get a name tomorrow since we couldn't think of one today during the 4 miles between the airport and hotel. Her voice is a little breathy but want to hear her say "recalculating" before she is named. However, it is a different voice from what I have heard in other GPS systems.

Here are my 2 travel mates for the next 11 days. On the left is Jane and Nancy is on the right. We have been planning this trip for 6 months and are finally here. I'm the driver, Nancy is the co-pilot and Jane is riding shotgun in the back seat and watching the maps.

Above: Nancy and Jane standing on the balcony at the hotel we are staying in tonight.

Below: We went to the Ship's Cabin, a local restaurant for dinner. This is the view from the patio where we had dinner. By the time we
were done eating, it was dark and an approaching thunderstorm provided quite a lightening show. We dlove the

 

Lizard Score: Morris 1 Darlene 5

Morris finally got to keep one of the lizards he works so hard for today. He spends hours in the entry being the "lizard whisper" and as soon as one comes in through the slightest crack, he grabs them. I though I have every crack sealed up but apparently I missed one.  I was at the desk this morning and heard a familiar noise in the hall just outside the office which is his "holding area". I went to look just as the tail was disappearing.  I don't think he played with it very much this time.  The last time he caught one, he moved it as soon as he saw me coming with my "lizard box" so I think he has caught on. I don't know which is worse - him eating it or me having to catch it.  However, I know it isn't good for him to eat them so I suffer through and grit my teach in an effort to rescue it.  Tomorrow I will be trying to find the crack I missed and seal it up.
This picture is of us sitting in the recliner with him using my leg as a pillow. He always did this with Larry in the evenings while we were watching TV and has just recently starting doing it with me. Another phase of my training he can check off his list......

I don't get it....

All I want to do is enroll in our local community college, take some classes and eventually get my Associates degree in Accounting. But they don't make it easy...  Before I can even enroll, I must take assessment/placement tests in Reading, Writing and Math.  I must score at a certain level or I will have to take remedial classes before I can take "real classes". What is so stupid is that all 42 of my credits from the community college in Denver that I attended in 1975-76 have been accepted with a 3.44 GPA.  I only need 8 more credit hours to get my degree. But no.... all that doesn't prove that I can read, write and do math. They have accepted every one of my accounting credits even though that was back when we did accounting by hand on paper and not on the computer. So today I went out and took the assessment/placement tests. I did very good on writing and squeaked by with enough math for accounting.  Let's face it, I haven't used much algebra or mixed fractions since I took them in high school which was 50 years ago. But....I missed the reading by 4 points!  Seems that what I though the author of a paragraph was trying to say wasn't the point that HE intented to make.  Bottom line, I won't have to take "remedial reading" for the few classes that I still need.  However, I can take the reading test again and see if I can bring my score up so it won't be a mark on my record. Even though I don't need any more accounting classes, I am going to take many of them again. A lot has changed in accounting over the last 36 years including doing away with paper & pencil spread sheets. But it's nice to know I don't have to take them again if I don't want to. Human Resources is a class that I do have to take and that should be really interesting.  Many of the instructors have never been in the "real world" so only know the way it is supposed to be which is not the same thing. I'm looking forward to starting classes in January. It will give me something to do, challenge my brain and get me out of the house.

Emotional doctor's appt.

Today was an incredibly emotional day for me!  For some background.... I have to have my labs done every 6 months - partly because I'm on cholesterol medicine and partly because I only have one kidney.  I had my labs done on Aug 31st and got a phone call the next day in which the doctor said my kidney function was a little low and asked if I was seeing a nephrologist (kidney doctor) since I donated the kidney to Larry back in 2008. I told him "no" that Dr W (I won't use his full name), who was Larry's doctor always kept an eye on my labs but I wasn't officially a patient. I went back in for some more lab work and  then he said he wanted to refer me to Dr. W. for follow-up.  Well...not what I wanted to hear.  I always get copies of my labs when I have them done so I pulled them out and started looking at values.  Needless to say, I know a thing or two about what labs look like for someone who has kidney failure and my labs didn't look bad at all in my opinion. I made the appointment with Dr W. and this morning was it. I wasn't too worried that there was a problem, I was much more concerned about the emotional impact. Larry went to Dr. W for 6 1/2 years - the whole time Larry was in Tucson. I have gone with him to every appointment for the last 3 1/2 of those years. Sometimes those appointments were monthly and then tapered to quarterly. Over the years, Dr. W. became more than just a doctor - he had become a good friend who fought for me to be able to donate and then was there for us when Larry got sick last November. He came to Larry's hospital room last Thanksgiving and spent 2 hours with us - just talking and supporting us. He was there for me when I had to make the decision on hospice. Knowing me, he asked that the hospice doctor not totally cut off all drugs so Larry would not reject the kidney which he knew would be very hard for me to deal with. I've received several emails from Dr. W since Larry died just to see how I am doing.  So....to walk into his office this morning and see him for the first time since the hospital was incredibly hard and emotional. Just the sound of his voice before I was called back brought tears to my eyes.  At least I was put in a different exam room than Larry was usually in. While waiting on him to come into the room, I looked over at the empty chair beside me and it was more tears. Dr. W. said that  last night he saw my name on the appointment list for today and thought "oh no...". But it was just a precaution and he assured me that although my labs are a little out-of-whack, they are o.k. considering I only have one kidney.  That was also my conclusion.  We talked about what things I can do to "be nice to my kidney" and what 2 or 3 things to watch for.  He also added one more test to the labs I have done ever 6 months.  Then we talked about Larry, what happened, Dr. W's family, etc. He was always interested in the trips that Larry and I took so he wanted to know if I had done any traveling.  It was so good to see someone again who had become a dear friend over the years. His comment was "you really don't need to come back to me for follow up but don't hesitate to make an appt any time you want to".  He also confirmed that I still had his cell phone number if I needed anything. I used that number more than once when Larry was sick and he always called me back - sometime to just reassure me that the doctors were on the right track. So.....today has been tough and I feel like a large scab was pulled off my emotional healing and I'm raw again. But I know that by taking it One Day At A Time, I'll get back on track.

I'm bored....

Periodically Morris will get up on top of the printer, like he is here, and study the collage of my pictures on the wall.  I have three collage pictures framed and on the wall but this one seems to be his favorite. Maybe he is admiring himself....

I am so bored.... Somewhere along the way, I never learned how to just putz around, doing not much and be happy. I need to be busy, have a list, get things done and accomplished - much like working...  Larry could spend all day busy doing nothing and be perfectly content. Not me!  I can't wait until I start school in January.  In the meantime, some friends and I leave on Sept 28th for a 11 day trip to the east coast and I have a trip up to Oregon planned.  That leave lots of days with nothing to do.  So....I have increased my work with the Home Owners Association and will be taking a few 1/2 day classes on various topics. With Larry gone, my interest in genealogy isn't as strong as it was but will get back into it to finish up a lot of project and maybe that will help. It is really, really hard to "make a new life" after you loose your husband/partner/best friend. As I have said many times, the evenings don't bother me - it's the days that are so hard for me to get used to. Maybe part of it is that I worked from home for so many years and had a routine of getting up, getting ready, fixing breakfast and then going to the home office. We would go out to lunch at noon and then back to the office for the afternoon of work. That is my pattern still without Larry but there isn't enough to fill up the time in the office. I think it will be better when the weather cools down and I can get out with the camera during the day or go for walks outside.  Part of my boredom is "cabin fever" from being inside all the time due to the heat outside. Somehow, I will get it resolved and in the meantime, it's One Day At A Time.

Larry's Courtyard

Our house has a courtyard in back of the house with high walls on 2 sides and a low wall that overlooks the golf course. When we first moved in, 6 years ago, there were tall shrubs and other overgrown vegetation that completely obstructed the view of the golf course. Larry spend months of weekends (he was still working then)  cutting and digging everything out before we replanted it with desert landscaping.  He would spend hours puttering around in the courtyard, spraying for weeds that could come up between the brick and washing the bricks down with a hose. I would do the trimming of the plants and then he would cut them up so the pieces would fit in a trash bag. This picture was taken in 2007 and was repeated many times over the years - sitting out in the courtyard with the Sunday paper, a cup of coffee and golfers going by.  Since the 18th tee box was just the other side of the low wall, the golfers would stop and chat which interrupted the reading.  Morris would be inside on the top of his "tree house" (cat condo) where he could watch his buddy outside. Not just on Sunday, but during the week in the afternoons, he would take a book and go out on the patio.  It was his place....  I enjoyed it to but most of the year it was too hot for me out there. Anyway, there are 3 plants along the courtyards border that if not kept trimmed will become too big for the space and Larry always reminded me when it was time to trim them.   However, this year, the plants completely got away from me and it became an overgrown jungle. I asked the landscapers who do our front yards if they would trim the bushes back.  They came over last Thursday after their regular work and cut them back.  I was out there with them and realized that I have spent very little time out in the courtyard since Larry has been gone. I haven't gone out there to do any gardening, blow off the leaves, clean the chair cushions or anything this year. So.......this morning I was out there around 6 a.m., before it got too hot, with the leaf blower which I had never used before.  That was interesting....  Next was unrolling the hose and spraying everything down including cleaning the chair cushions.  Spraying for weeks will have to wait until tomorrow... It looks so much better!!!!! Maybe I can get back to going out there this fall and enjoying it like we did before.  "One Day At A Time".

Cookies

A baker I'm not!  My friends and I have had lots of discussions over the recipes in the cookbook I recently did for my sister-in-law.  However, I don't think any were talked about as much as the "Cookies from Cake Mix" recipe. How weird is taking a box of dry cake mix (any flavor) and mixing it with a tub of Cool Whip and 1 egg before baking it? Curiosity got the best of me and I made the cookies yesterday using Devils Food Cake mix. I also added some pecans.  Then during dinner at Culver's with some friends, we taste tested the cookies with their Vanilla Custard. The cookies are really moist and good. We all gave then an A+....  I gave most of them away so I wouldn't be tempted to eat them all but kept a few for myself.  I tried one today and it was still really, really moist. Another friend suggested that several of us get together this winter and each bring a recipe from the cookbook. The recipes have brought back a lot of childhood memories for the people who have read it of foods they mother or someone in the family used to make.

P.S.  Lizard count for the summer is now Morris 0  - Darlene 5.  This morning he knew what was up when he saw the "lizard box" and it took a looooong time for him to set it down so I could capture it. Poor Morris...he does all the work and doesn't get to enjoy it...

Happy Lizard. Mad Morris.

Morris was out in the entry this morning while I was in the kitchen watering plants.  I came out into the entry about the same time that Morris came in from the entry. I could see a tail hanging out of one side of his mouth and 2 feet hanging out of the other side of his mouth. NOT AGAIN!!!!!!  I rush back into the pantry and grab the "Lizard Box" which is a clear, plastic shoebox.  At this point there are 2 musts - keep him out of the office and keep him away from the sofa. The entry is white tile and that is a good spot for us all to be in. However, he keeps edging toward the hall to the office and I keep heading him off and herding him back to the entry.  He finally drops the small lizard and I make a move with the box but Morris is faster than I am so the lizard is back in the mouth. By now he knows what's up so gets behind a large planter in the entry where there isn't room to get the lizard box into.  I know that Morris will eventually set it down so I just have to be patient and keep him in the entry. After carrying it around awhile, he sets it down and BAM - the Lizard Box hits the tile and capture is complete. I pick up Morris and toss him in the office and shut the door because I don't need his distraction.  The next step is to carefully raise one end of the box while sliding a piece of cardboard under the box and nudging the lizard until it crawls up on the cardboard.  Then it a matter of carefully picking up the Lizard Box along with the cardboard, opening the screen door and letting it go to hopefully live another day. I let Morris out of the office and by now he is royally mad at me and is trying to find his trophy. He then proceeds to go out in the garage, lays down under the car and won't have anything to do with me for the next 6 hours. But alas, an empty food dish prompted him to forgive me...

Gertrude, Jack or Matthew

As you may remember from past posts, Gertrude, my Garmin GPS, drives me crazy with her voice. She is rude, curt, bossy, and generally unpleasant. When she says "recalculating" I hear "how stupid can you be".  It only took my friends about an hour of listening to her before they were talking back to her when we started on the trip last Sunday. Thrilled that it wasn't just me,  I changed to Jack who has an Australian accent.  He was nice but by the time we figured out what he was telling me to do, I had missed the exit or turn. So back to Gertrude who did a wonderful job of getting us around San Diego to where we wanted to go but it was not without a lot of fussing at her. Yesterday, we had had enough and tried Lee who was an American male.  Such a nice man with a slight east coast accent.....  However, his voice is not a "Lee" and after much discussion, we finally named him Matthew after Matthew McConaughey. 8-) I think I'll keep him around for awhile and see how he does on the trip to the east coast next month.  And the best thing? When he says "recalculating", the tone is slightly apologetic as it was partly his fault...

Last day in San Diego

Today is our last day here in San Diego since we head home in the morning. It has been a fun 4 days although the weather has been warmer than usual and certainly warmer than we were wishing for. Today was busy...  We started the day by going to the Mission San Diego, founded in 1769 and is the oldest of the 21 Missions in California. It is also another one of the Missions that Larry's 8th great-grandfather was involved with back when California was part of Mexico and owned by Spain.

The mission is still an active church and in fact, there was a funeral mass being held there this morning so we didn't get to stay in the church area very long. I was surprised at how plain the alter area is in the church compared to some of the other Missions I have seen.  This is the front of the church.  As has become a habit, I lit a candle for Larry while in the church.  Kinda feels like a nice thing to do considering his connection to the Missions.
After the Mission, we went up to Rancho Bernardo and spent some time at the Bernardo Winery browsing through the shops, having lunch and finishing up with some wine tasting.
Next was a visit to Balboa Park to see the Japanese Garden which was a disappointment so we didn't stay long.
In doing research for the trip, I researched the places in San Diego that have been featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-In's and Dives. Hodad's is a hamburger joint - definitely in the "dives" category - but the burgers are incredible.

Day 3 of the San Diego Trip

We spent this morning taking a tour of the USS Midway.  Larry and I did it a few years ago but Toni and Jane had never see it before. Seeing the size of the ship, etc in person is so much more dramatic than seeing aircraft carriers on TV or in movies. The flight deck is the length of 3 football fields. The length of "runway" that the planes take off on is so short and seeing the cables they hook when landing is hard to believe. The above picture, taken from the flight deck,  is the part of the ship that is above the flight deck. The docent who explained the take off process to us was a pilot in Viet Nam where he was shot down and spent 6.5 years in a Hanoi prison. He didn't tell us but another docent did. One of the highlights for us was seeing the USS Carl Vinson which is an aircraft carrier that is currently active. It is across the bay from the Midway at the Naval Station in Coronado getting a new paint job. The Vinson is the ship that the Seals took off from on the mission to get Bin Laden.  It is also where they returned to with him body and the ship that he was "buried at sea" from. Since the ship is active, there were small gun ships zipping around the bay guarding it.  Very interesting!

Next stop was the Hotel Del Coronado where we had lunch. I had never been to the hotel before and since it is so famous, we decided to go there for lunch.  Well.....what a disappointment! My single glass of Diet Coke was $4.75 with no refills. Horribly overpriced and the food was not that great - at least that was the opinion of all three of us.  However, the view of the ocean was wonderful.  Jane and I walked out to the water and the sand was quite warm - almost plain hot on our bare feet. And of course it was further out to the water than we thought it was when we started so our feet were toasty by the time we got back to grass. Below is a sand castle that someone had built - actually a village of houses with amazing detail. The building in the background is the hotel.

Sea World

I am so tired, sunburned and my feet are killing me after 6 hours at Sea World today! We had planned to see 2 more shows but gave up and came back to the hotel. Plus it was sooooooo crowded!  We had a fun time but once is enough for me. The whales are good and since there were 4 of them. not sure which one was Shamu since Shamu seems to be a generic name for all the whales in the park.  However, I though they would be larger than they were.  This is the first time I have every seen a live whale and am used to seeing pictures of them in the ocean where they look  much larger, whether they are or not. We did notice that the trainers never got in the water with the whales.  Toni has seen the show twice before and said this is the first time she hasn't seen the trainers in the water with them. Entertaining show....

I have to admit that I liked the sea lions and otters show best.  There were 2 large sea lions and I have never seen sea lions trained like these were!  In this pic, they are doing a Dancing With The Stars skit.  The little otter was just adorable. Fun day....

San Diego

Two friends and I drove over to San Diego today and will return to Tucson on Thurs.  The cooler weather in San Diego feels sooooooo good! This picture is from the balcony of my hotel room overlooking the bay. I have the "party room" with the balcony.. 8-)  The sun was too warm to set out on the balcony today so we had dinner and then came back aafter the sun set to have a drink and watch the sights while it got dark. I have the door open and the fresh, cool air is wonderful!
Needless to say, Morris was not happy when I left today but oh well... There was a really strong storm in Tucson late this afternoon so I can only hope it was all rain and not thunder which Morris hates.... Talk about feeling guilty....
Tomorrow the schedule is to spend all day at Sea World which I have never been to before.  Should be fun!

Odds n Ends

San Diego: Starting to pack today since I'm going over to San Diego tomorrow with 2 friends for a few days.  I can't wait for the cooler temperatures over there!  I've learned to not bring the suitcase out until I am ready to start putting stuff in it because Morris know what a suitcase means.  However, I think Morris reads my mind because he has been ignoring me the last couple of days. His pet sitter comes in 1-2 times a day and spoils him even more than I do but I guess it the idea that he can't go... I keep telling him that he gets to go next summer on a trip but again, we have a little bit of a translation problem so he doesn't quite get it.
One Day At A Time: I've had some people comment that I'm not using my standard closing all the time like I used to. My reason is this....I use it when I'm talking about Larry and getting on with life without him.  If I'm writing about routine, general stuff then I don't use it.  Hope that makes sense to you like it does to me. 8-)
Larry: It was 8 months yesterday since he died. About the time I think I'm getting the hang of this thing they call "grief", I get knocked down again. Yesterday, in the support group, I likened it to reoccurring storms - they come in, last for awhile and then the sun comes out again. Sometimes they last a few hours and sometimes they last for several days. I'm learning to just ride them out because I know it will get better eventually and I can get back on track. It has helped me tremendously to kinda get a plan for the next year or so - at least I feel that I'm a little in control again and not just drifting with the flow. However, having the plan doesn't make the days any less lonely and that is what continues to bother me the most. But....One Day At A Time...

Cookbook at the printers

I think I have mentioned the cookbook I have been working on before but anyway.... For years, my brother and sister-in-law's kids, grand kids and other family members have been asking her to write her recipes down. From mashed potatoes to chicken and noodles, the family members have their favorite dishes that Vida fixes.  I have my favorites and some of them are foods that my mother fixed when I was growing up in Missouri. Vida fixes them the same way my mom did. This is good ole home cooking food from the Midwest with lots of bacon, bacon grease, butter, etc that our doctors would be horrified to know we even tasted.  However, it's what I grew up on and why I take cholesterol medicine today.  I will take this food any day of the week if I could but it needs to be enjoyed in moderation.  I volunteered to take the project on after reading an article in one of my genealogy magazines on the importance of passing along family recipes. So....I spent hours and hours last April when I was back in Missouri visiting them talking to Vida about her recipes. A lot of the deserts were written down but most of the side dishes and main dishes were in her head. I would write while Vida talked about how she would prepare a dish.  Our first hurdle was getting the ingredient quantities down to where the dish would serve around 4 people instead of serving 8-10 people. I also interviewed her about when she first started cooking, cooking for threshing crews, cooking for a family that had 9 children in it or cooking for 35 people on special occasions when the kids, etc come home for Sunday dinner. I came home from the trip and started working on the book. I would list questions that came to mind, such as "do you drain the can of pineapple or not". Then I would send her the list and get answers back. I also gave a copy to a friend who had never seen it so she could go through it and see if she had any questions on any recipes if she was going to fix them.  Finally the book was done and yesterday I took it to the printers to have 60 copies made - 50 for them and 10 for me.  Now I have a big dilemma...how to cut the recipes down for just me... I have already made a few of the dishes and plan to make more of them even if I have to invite friends over to help me eat the quantities..  And now I know the secret to the mashed potatoes that everyone raves about... 8-)

My $121 tomato

A couple of weeks ago, while being hungry for vine-ripened tomatoes, I decided to go across town to the largest farmer's market in town thinking I could get some there.  Yes, they had tomatoes but I have serious doubts about them being vine-ripened.  I want tomatoes like we had in Little Rock!  You pick can pick one of them up, smell it and it smells like a tomato - not some neutral smell that if you use enough imagination you can kinda smell a tomato. But this was the best I could do so I got 2 of them but I didn't have very high hopes for them. I keep remembering the wonderful farmer's market in Little Rock and nothing here comes close to it.  I keep hoping to find some good tomatoes so gave it another chance by getting a couple before heating home.
Larry's doctor's office is in the area where the farmer's market is so I am well aware of the speed camera on that particular Tucson street.  I cannot tell you how many times Larry has said to me "Better watch your speed since that camera is just around the corner". But this time he wasn't with me and I was the only vehicle along that stretch of road and was deep in thought. Just as I go by the camera, I see a flash and know I have been caught! #$%^@&*(_+!  Usually there are other vehicles in front of me so when they slow down then I do to.  Anyway, I got the citation in the mail this week in which they say I was doing 51 mph in a 40 mph speed zone.  Cost for traffic ticket and traffic school? $242.00 hence 1 tomato = $121..Now those are expensive tomatoes and they weren't even that good..

My Buddy Morris

Morris is back to being my shadow.... 8-)  There is no doubt in my mind a pet can sense our moods and feelings. I commented to a friend a couple of weeks ago that "Morris is back to being a cat" in that he had gone back to his old habits of going to "his cave" in a closet for his mid-day naps, etc.  She said "Maybe it because you are less stressed and in a better place" which made sense. The last couple of days and especially yesterday and so far today, he is close with me. Last evening he was on my lap the whole time we were watching TV instead of laying out in the entry like he has been doing recently in the evenings. He was on my lap yesterday when I sat down to watch the 5 o'clock news. And yes, I do find it comforting. 

One Thing After Another....

     Besides dealing with the loneliness, I'm tired of dealing with stuff around the house that Larry would usually deal with or at least we would talk about it before one of us took care of it. 
     Earlier this week I looked outside  on the patio and saw a river running across it. I went outside and water was gushing from a backflow valve on the sprinkler system.  Fortunately, I knew how to turn the water off to the line so did that and stopped the flood.  Then I had to deal with getting someone to come out and fix it.
     Pack Rats are a problem in the desert and have been causing major havoc on our block. I haven't seen anyone around our house but 15 were caught next door (10+ inside the garage)  a few months ago and recently the pack rats did about $5,000 worth of damage to a house 3 doors from me when they got in the attic and chewed up wiring in the ceiling. So out of 5 houses in a row, I'm the only one that has not had a problem. However, I decided to have an "expert" come out anyway to do an inspection and put covers over vents on the roof, etc where they can get in. Maybe I'm paranoid but the idea of them getting in the house just freeks me out. It ranks right up there with having a lizard in the house.
     I try really hard to not say "Why Me?" but I admit that sometimes for a millisecond the throught crosses my mind.  Many, many years ago, I bought a wooden plaque that says "Lord, help me to remember that nothing will happen today that you and I can't handle together". I dug it out of a packed box a few weeks ago and it is now on the bathroom wall, by my sink,  so I see it every morning.  It goes along with One Day At A Time....