Dock Lines...

Happy Holidays!

2008-11-29T11:53:00.001-08:00

I can't believe Thanksgiving has come and gone already. There was and is so much to be thankful for in my family this year. I think I had some angels watching over me.

I'm back at work now. The cardiologist was able to do an electro conversion on me and it was successful! My heart is back at its normal rhythm and I feel strong once again. Honest, 24 hours after the conversion, I felt almost as though the heart attack had never happened.

I'm being kept on the blood thinners for another few weeks to ward off the threat of any blood clots that may have been lurking around. I appreciate the protection, but the medicine is giving me some very bad headaches daily. I've never been one to have a continued problem with headaches. I can't take aspirin or any sinus medicine. In fact, I can't take anything that might even remotely help me with these headaches, so my defense has been to try and doze off as early as I can in my recliner each night. This doesn't leave a lot of time in the day or night to fool around on the computer.

I like the Holiday Season. This is one of my favorite times of the year. It's fun to watch Trenton get all excited about the prospect of Santa and the gifts under the tree. We're making lists at my house this year and we're checking them twice.

After my heart attack, all of the chores fell to Paulette. It's nice to be able to help her out around the house again. I also love all the aromas I'm starting to smell around the house, too.

Trenton is pitching in and doing his part to help out as well. This whole affair seems to have brought us all a little bit closer as a family and sure has given us a chance to see just how lucky we've been and how we've been truly blessed.Happy

Cold weather comes late here in Savannah, Georgia. This year, though, we've had a few cold snaps that were a little unexpected for so early in the season and record lows were set.

This is a shot of one of our lovely bushes the day after one of these cold fronts marched through. All the blossoms seemed to fall at once all together. We may be in for a long winter here this year. Of course I'm seeing the word "snow," pop up in a lot of the other blogs out there, so I guess I shouldn't complain too loudly, LOL.

This reminds me that it is time to go buy the family tree. I look forward to having Trenton here to help me decorate it this year. With Trenton here I know Paulette and Aunt Sandy will all chip in to put the ornaments on after Trenton and I finish with the lights. It will be another family event and a lifetime memory for us all. I'll be taking lots of pictures to share will Y'all.

Yes, for our family this will be a very special Holiday Season. Please keep your thoughts and prayers going for Donna over at D's Designs. Donna is recovering from a much more serious heart attack than the one I experienced. She's doing better, but recovery is always at a slow pace for what she's gone through. I know she will appreciate each and every thought and prayer.

As a final note for this post, I need to credit my Microsoft Publisher program for the clip art in this entry. The photo of the bush was one I took myself, or course.

Happy Holidays, everybody! I'll try to get around a little more and to post a little more often through the Holiday Season. See Ya soon!

Sam

On Hold Due To Some Health Issues

2008-11-03T16:17:00.001-08:00

I just wanted to write a short entry to let everyone know why I haven't been posting or reading journals lately. After posting my last entry, I felt very weak and became out of breath easily. The next morning I drove myself to my doctor's office instead of going to work. He took one look at me and called an ambulance. It seems I suffered a very mild heart attack.

I spent three days and nights in the hospital while they did every test they could on me. The dye procedure showed that all my arteries are clean as a whistle and that there was no damage or loss to the muscles in either the upper or lower chamber of my heart. What I have is an atrial fibrillation, or an irregular heartbeat.

I'm currently on some heavy duty blood thinner medication to reduce the threat of blood clots. In a couple of weeks, the doctor will put me under and shock me back into a regular heart rhythm. If the procedure works, I should start feeling normal almost right away. Until then, I still get winded extremely easily and can feel pain in the chest area. The blood thinner makes me feel different… I don't know how to express it except to say things have a surreal quality to them and I don't do well at reading for long periods.

I'll start up here again once I have the procedure and feel my old self again. In the mean time, I hope you are all doing well.

Sam

Jan’s Birthday Celebration

2008-10-14T10:16:00.001-07:00

My sister Jan celebrated her 60^th birthday this past August.
Her husband, Dave, started laying plans many months in advance. Every year before Jan's birthday he calls me a month or two ahead of time and asks if I can come for a visit on Jan's birthday. I made it one year, about six or seven years ago. Because her birthday falls in August, it has proved impossible to attend in the last several years because of my job. He almost fell off his char this time when I said yes, I'll be there.

August is not only a busy month for us at the marina, but in the past few years, they have been moving the start date for the local school system up earlier each year. I lose my high school summer staff now around August 10^th and my college staffers leave around August 5^th.

This year, though, was special. Not only was it Jan's Sixtieth, but she and Dave have just moved back in from having to completely rebuild their home after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina three years ago. That's not all, though.

Jan has just retired from the Army Reserves as a full colonel, after four years of active duty. I hadn't seen Jan in over Seven years, so I talked to my boss and we found a way for me to attend. I'm sure glad I did.

I arrived on a Thursday morning and Jan picked me up at the airport. It was a pretty laid back day. The big party wasn't until Saturday night, but guests would be arriving from out of town over the next couple of days.
Dave was at the marina checking on their vessel, "Winter Solstice." It's a Carver Motor Yacht and a key piece of the puzzle for their retirement years. This boat was found in a very obscure parking lot after Katrina by Dave's son. The entire family had been searching New Orleans for a couple of weeks following the storm before its location and fate were discovered. The boat has been refitted and is just now being put back into service. Dave arrived back at the house as Jan took off for the airport again to pick up her son, Evan.

I hadn't seen Evan in over a decade and was pleased to find he had matured into a pleasant and thoughtful young man. Evan and I stayed up late that first night catching up with each other and doing some male bonding.

With Dave was Phil, a friend of his from his Army days. Phil works for FEMA and had some very interesting experiences to share with us over the next couple of days. Phil and I lounged around the pool for the rest of the afternoon, and were joined later by my nephew Evan. You can just make out Phil at the far end of the pool deep in relaxation, LOL.

The next day, Jan and Dave's friends Bob and Mary arrived. They are a delightful couple and also Army Alumni with Jan and Dave. Bob worked with Dave in a training division and a few years later, Jan worked with Bob's wife Mary in a medical outfit. Later in the day, the seven of us took off in the "Winter Solstice" for an afternoon of cruising across Lake Pontchartrain. Here's Bob and Mary sitting with Jan on the aft deck of "Winter Solstice."

I must admit that the theme from Gilligan's Island ran through my head as we set off for the horizon that day.

I had any doubts put to bed early by Dave's competence at the helm. It was fun joining Dave at the steering station. Yep. Two guys just out for a good time!

Here's a shot of Phil having way too much fun! Lake Pontchartrain is one big lake and you can't see the other side when you leave port. Our destination was all the way across the lake to Madisonville where we would be treated to a great meal at a local seafood restaurant. The distance involved gave us a lot of time to enjoy cruising on the boat.

Yep! That's me with Jan, the Birthday Girl.

Every one eventually made it up to the steering station.

Well, with one exception. Mary didn't make it up there, so we all went down to the aft deck to see her and Jan, too.

Of course, I was in charge of seeing to the needs of the captain, so I was in constant motion; at least

when my drink started to get low, anyways, LOL. As we reached the other side of the lake, we started seeing some very typical examples of just how beautiful Southern Louisiana really is.

I really loved the beauty and serenity of the lake over by

Madisonville! We were able to tie up at a dock along a sea wall almost directly in front of the restaurant.

A short walk across the street brought us to Morton's Sea Food Restaurant.

Here, we enjoyed a casual dining atmosphere and some great Sea Food.

Here's a shot of Jan and I after we finished our meal and before we boarded "Winter Solstice" for a very peaceful and pleasant voyage home. I was going to include more about the weekend, but I've put so many pictures in this entry that it is getting quite long. I'll do another, shorter, entry later to finish out my visit and her party.

Arrival: Star Date 10-13-08

2008-10-13T05:32:00.001-07:00

When I heard that AOL was canceling the Journals, I was shocked, just like all the others who used the service. It took a week before I decided my plan of action. I decided to save all of my entries into a word processing program and store them on my hard drive. During that process I weighed all the options and finally decided to wait and see if AOL really could transfer our journals successfully to another service. Imagine my surprise when they succeeded. So, here I am at my new home and wondering, "What now?"

While saving all my journals onto Microsoft Word 2007 documents, I realized that there was a template option I had never tried before. It was a template for a Blog Post. I have decided today to try it and see if doing this in Word is going to be any easier that the other method of posting. Once I chose this template option, I had to register this Blog with Microsoft and also my Photo Bucket account in order to display pictures. It was easier than I thought it would be and I'm excited to see how this comes out once I save it and post it.

As for any news my way, let's just say we are all adjusting to the rhythms of the school year for a fourth grader and looking forward to the Haunted Halloween Trail Cub Scout Camp Out at the end of the month. All the camping gear has been purchased or pulled out of storage and a costume has been selected thanks to Aunt Jan's generous donation to the cause. Thanks Sis! I won't spoil the surprise but I will promise a picture of Trenton in full costume before we hit the "Trail."

I have a lot to do to spiff up the place here at Blog Spot, but that will come in time. In the meantime, I will do a post, I hope, tomorrow all about my trip to New Orleans and my sister's birthday party celebrations. There will be many pictures, (too many, perhaps), and it will be interesting to see how that all works out with this new system. Thanks to all who followed my link from AOL Journals over here and welcome to any others that happened by and stayed to read.

It will be nice if we can preserve our sense of community as we migrate over to here and other locations. Perhaps we can even expand on it now that we are in a bigger blogging domain.

You want me to sleep Where???

2008-09-22T14:44:00.000-07:00

The date on both the entries tells me it’s been two weeks since I, and I quote, “revved up this journal.” Yet, it seems like only a few days. Life is being lived at warp speed compared to just a few months ago. Just this morning Paulette told me before she left for work that we had been getting, “too old too fast,” and that this was God’s way of bringing us back to a more active and youthful lifestyle. Yawn… personally, I’m ready for a nap, LOL!

Some might suggest that the title for this journal be changed from “Dock Lines…” to “The Trenton Chronicles.” When I think about why I started this journal originally, that would suit me just fine. However, in a more philosophical look at “the bigger picture,” I realize that no matter what the title, I have chosen to write about my life and this is a chapter that, though unexpected, I admit I am looking forward to write. I’m thrilled to have the little guy around for the full year and to be a close part of his life in these formative years.

His first week at school found Trenton bringing home a plethora of information about the coming school year including events and activities. Amongst the info was a pamphlet on the local Cub Scout Pack. I ended up taking him to the general sign up meeting two weeks ago and last Thursday Night we went to the first Pack Meeting. This Thursday night will be the first Den Meeting. By now you get the picture, Cub Scout meetings from now on every Thursday night. It’s not like the Boy Scouts where you drop them off and pick them up later. No, a parent or guardian must stay with the child during the meeting times and also must accompany the child on any camping trips that are scheduled.

I went through scouting as I grew up and loved the program. Now it is different in many ways. When I was in Cub Scouts it was run by mothers. We had Den Mothers and your parents did not stay for the meetings, but dropped you off. There wasn’t a Den Mother to be found at our first Pack Meeting. Nope, the men have taken over Cub Scout leadership.

To get the kids fired up about the coming year, the scout leaders were constantly touting how much fun the kids were going to have on the scout camping trips through the year. I started camping when I was eight years old with my family as we toured Europe. Dad was stationed in France and every break we got from school just about was spent visiting another country in Europe. We found that camping grounds were clean and friendly and heavy on the amenities throughout Europe in those days. They were far cheaper than hotels and camping afforded us the opportunity of meeting some really great families at the camp grounds.

I enjoyed camping in Florida as an adult. My best friend Ken and I outfitted ourselves with all the necessary gear and camped on all the barrier islands we could in the Tampa Bay area. We would set up camp sites anyone would be envious of and spend entire weekends on the islands leaving only to fish or scuba dive.

These days, my idea of camping out summons up a vision of a quaint A-Frame Chalet in the mountains with a log fire going in the huge fireplace, retiring to a bed filled with eiderdown, and eating out at the local restaurants. Imagine my surprise to find myself in the camping aisle at Walmart shopping for a tent and air mattresses.

Scouting is not cheap. My mother used to tell me this as a child and I had no idea of what she was speaking about. Well, brother, let me tell you, I do now! Just the scout shirt Trenton needs is over thirty dollars. There are about a gazillion patches and numbers and insignias and each one brings a dear price. Then there’s the neckerchief and the neckerchief clasp or holder, whatever it’s called. They have two part pants now. You unzip them and they are shorts for the summer and zipped up are long pants for the winter. One must rob Ft. Knox to own a pair. Oh, and don’t forget the books, they are a MUST!

Paulette bought him the book with what remains of her pay check and I bought half of the camping gear with what I had left over from my pay check. Next pay day I’ll get sleeping bags and whatever we lack as far as flashlights or lanterns are concerned. I’ve been told that at these campouts we will eat in a communal fashion and the food will be cooked at the Boy Scout Camp cafeteria. Thank goodness! I’d hate to be buying propane stoves and camp tables as well. Oh, Paulette will start assembling the uniform with HER next pay check. Disposable income is a thing of the past in THIS household!

Trenton is having a blast with the other kids in the barely controlled chaos they call meetings. He can’t stop talking about the first planned campout of the year, The Haunted Trail Camp Out scheduled for October 31st. The kids are supposed to bring their Halloween costumes and will go through what I’ve been told is the most complete and elaborate and scary Haunted House the scout masters have ever seen.

So voila… I’m now a Cub Scout again. Let’s all say the pledge together. “I promise to do my duty, to God and my county, to help other people, and to obey the laws of the pack!”

Summertime, and the living is EASY???

2008-09-06T02:20:00.000-07:00

Hello again, my friends. Summer is over and it’s time to either shut this journal down or rev it up again. I’ve decided to rev it up again. This may turn out to be my only link to a semblance of sanity for the coming winter. I’ll explain that statement in a little while.

I’m not going to recount the entire summer in one entry. I’ll touch on the high points and then revisit some of them in subsequent entries in more detail. We did get to Disney World and had a great time. I did go to my Sister’s birthday party just outside of New Orleans in Slidell, Louisiana. They finally completed rebuilding their home three years after Katrina and had moved back in. What a great job they did with the place. It looked beautiful. I got out of Slidell a few days before Gustav took aim on the area and Jan and Dave had to evacuate once again. This time the damage was so slight it’s not worth mentioning. I’m glad; no one realizes how stressful that whole process has to be for the ones who went through Katrina. Glad you guys made it through okay this time, Jan!

I put a lot of energy into this summer. As most of you know we had Trenton, my nine year old grandson, stay with us for the summer. So, out came the bicycles, we joined the community pool, and we took him to Disney World, MGM Studios, and Universal Studios Theme Park.

I had been worried about Trenton learning how to swim as the summer began. It turns out he learned how to swim like a fish and was diving off the high dive in short order. Before the summer was through, he could do flips off the diving board. They even asked him to join the swimming team. So, mission accomplished … Trenton learned how to swim.

When the summer was over, I was feeling pretty good. We got through it in one piece, although I gained all my weight back. Trenton left us to return to Michigan with a ton of lifetime type memories and quite a haul of toys and videos we spoiled him with. Time to lay back and recoup … you know, return to the peaceful routine we have all grown accustom to in this household.

Then it came time for me to fly to my sister’s in Slidell. It was less than ten days since Trenton had left. My flight was very inexpensive, but was at an unbelievably early hour in the morning. I was to get up at Three Thirty A.M. to get ready. The phone rang at Three A.M. that morning. Not good!

Trace, Trenton’s father in Michigan, had been missing for over twenty four hours. It was his fiancé letting us know that she had reported him to the police as a missing person and that Trenton had been left alone in the house for the duration with no adult supervision. I had to really think about whether to get on that plane that morning or stay with a badly shaken Paulette. She insisted I get on the plane.

Much later that day riding from the airport to my sister’s house, I learned Trace had finally turned up. He claims it was a gambling jag at a casino, but we will never know if drugs were also involved. Paulette was going to call me again when she had more information.

To make a long story short, DEFAX, (family services), in Michigan began searching for Trenton and were going to place him in a foster care situation until they could evaluate whether to let him live with his father again or not. Paulette used the emergency credit card and that Sunday morning, while I was still in Slidell, Trenton arrived back in Savannah.

Georgia recently enacted a Grandparent’s Emergency Custody Act. Because of this new act, we were able to cut through a lot of red tape and get him enrolled in fourth grade within a matter of a couple of days. He has just completed the first full week of the school year and likes his teacher and the school.

During the summer Trenton slept on the couch in the Living Room because we had set up a big TV and DVD player in a wall unit in that room. Now that he was going to be with us the entire school year, he would need his own room. Immediately upon my arrival back in Savannah, I started shopping for a twin bed and changed around some wall units and moved the TV and DVD player and wall unit into what had been our computer room/office. We moved furniture out and moved furniture in. The net result is that Trenton has his own room now. I’m exhausted. We are all exhausted. It is no accident that humans bear their children when they are young and have the energy for it.

But, we are a family and we take care of our own. We come together in emergencies and provide what we must to get through it as a family.

I now get up at 4:30 A.M. in order to get ready and not be tripping over both Paulette and Trenton as they prepare for their day at the time I USED to get up and get ready. That means that I now fall asleep at night between 8:30 and 9:00PM. Honest… it just doesn’t seem real, but that is what’s going on in my world. Not complaining, mind you, just letting my friends and family catch up with this old Dock Master and the ever changing circumstances that life tosses my way.

I’m back, but making the rounds very slowly. Bear with me; I haven’t turned any alerts back on yet. I plan to do that gradually over the next couple of weeks. Meanwhile, I’m getting used to a parenting role that is so unexpected, but so very necessary. Paulette and I are exhausted at the end of every day now, but we are holding our own, hanging tight, and will make it through all of this.

I send my thanks to all of my family in Louisiana that has been sending so much love and emotional support our way. My thanks to all of you, my friends, for wading through this long post and for all the emotional support I know in advance you will lend. That’s just the way J-Land is and I’m so very glad to be back with you all.

Sam

Taking a Break For Awhile!

2008-06-10T08:46:00.000-07:00

As you all can see, I've been on a break from journaling. I just wanted to let you all know that I am fine and all is well in my world at the moment. I will be continuing this journal, but must take a break from journals for at least the first half of this summer.

With all the price increases in fuel, who would have thought that the marina is busier than it has ever been in it's history? I think the high price of fuel may be causing folks to stay home instead of taking trips this summer, so they are using the money saved to fuel their boats. At any rate I have my hands full at work.

On the good news front is the fact that our Grandson Trenton will be arriving by plane this afternoon around 5 PM for a visit. We will be able to enjoy his company for six weeks before sending him back to his father. I can't possibly tell you how excited we are and how much preparation we have been doing leading up to this visit.

Trenton is now nine years old and he has never been to Disney Land or Disney World. We plan to remedy that by taking him to Disney World in Orlando later this month. If we survive the trip, LOL, I'll have pictures to post when I resume this journal again in July.

We also joined the commnity pool association so that Trenton will be able to go to the swimming pool while he is here. I just found out that he still does not know how to swim. As a former competitive swimmer, I will not let him leave here without knowing how to swim this summer. It could save his life!

It was really tough for me to get some time off in the summer because its our busiest time of year. I'm lucky that I have a very understanding boss and that I was able to hire enough help this summer to cover for me while I am gone.

I'm going to be taking advantage of those two factors again in late August when I fly to New Orleans to attend my sister's 60th birthday party. I haven't seen Jan in at least six years and I am really looking forward to the trip. By the time I arrive she will have retired from the Army Reserves as a full Colonel and will be enjoying a much deserved period of rest in her life.

So, that's that! I am fine, the family's fine, but I'm outa here for a while longer. I can't bring myself to shut this journal down, it still means a lot to me to be a part of this community. So, please bear with me and my eccentric writing schedules for yet another year. I look forward to spending a great fall and winter sharing photos and news and just being here with you all once again.

I had to turn my alerts off sometime last month because my mailbox topped out a few times at 999 and I hate to just delete Journal Alerts from my friends. I'll try and get around from time to time during my hiatus to read and comment if I can, but those instances may be sparse, so please forgive!

I wish you all a great summer and I pray for everyone to be safe and sound until we can meet up here again.

Showdown at the Back Porch Door!

2008-04-01T18:16:00.000-07:00

The famous “ Docklines …” opening: “It’s been a while …,” or, “I can’t believe it’s been so long since my last post.” Take your pick; these lines seem to have become interchangeable for this journal in recent years. I almost always have good reasons. Never excuses, mind you, but reasons. This time is no different.

Since my last post I have been very busy. I lost one of my full-time employees, (my Assistant Dock Master joined the U.S. Coast Guard and gave his notice), and I hired a new hand and worked many overtime hours because I wanted to train this one myself. I have also been attending concerts. Yes, I said concerts, LOL.

The Savannah Music Festival kicked off on Thursday March 20th at the brand new Charles H. Morris Center with a concert by Brazilian Jazz musicians Daniel Santiago and Gabriel Grossi. Santiago’s fluid fretwork on the guitar was matched by Grossi’s masterful technique on the chromatic harmonica. It was a brilliant performance and, because it was the first concert ever at this new venue as well as the first event of the festival, it was heavily covered by the local media. My picture was on the front page of the Savannah Morning News the next day as I was sitting front and center at the performance. That’s me sitting there in the middle of the photo wearing the red and black jacket.

The next concert I attended was the following Wednesday night, also at the Charles H. Morris Center. The first concert was by the blues trio of Eric Culbertson, followed by a concert by another blues trio fronted by Sean Costello. Each artist was masterful in their own right, each with their different styles of the blues. The blues doesn’t get any better than it did that night!

I was fortunate on Friday night to have the pleasure of seeing Bruce Hornsby and Ricky Skaggs in concert. These two recorded an album together a while back and have performed together many times since the release of the CD. I thought it was an unusual pairing, but was not prepared for the shear mastery and perfect blending of these two talents. Ricky had his Kentucky Thunder Band on stage with him and Bruce Hornsby’s piano was another addition to the band for the evening. They played some of Bruce’s hits and some of Ricky’s hits and some hits they did together. Then Ricky did some of Bruce’s songs and Bruce sang some of Ricky’s songs. The way these two voices blended you would have thought they were brothers.

Tomorrow night after work, I get to see The Derek Trucks Band. Derek is one of today’s foremost guitar players and just got back from his tour with Eric Clapton. He is also married to Blues guitar artist and star, Susan Tedeshi. It promises to be one heck of a concert. Thursday night I will see a performance by slide guitarists from around the world. Derek Trucks will be one of the four performing artists in that show; he is one of the most respected slide guitarists in our nation.

So, there you have it. The stress of losing an employee, the hiring and training of a new one, the burning the candle at both ends by indulging my passion for music at night, and reporting to a regular job by day. Oh, and add to that the fact I had to go in on my day off yesterday due to the fact that it was the last day of the month and I had to do the month end inventory for the Ship’s Store and the monthly walk-through of my wet and dry boat storage areas.

When I got home from work yesterday, I was in my bedroom changing back into shorts and tee shirt to kick around the house in and I noticed some activity out on the porch. I did a double take when I peeked out there. There was a full grown peacock staring at little Miss Emmie through the glass door on the other end of the porch. I quickly made my way out there with camera in hand. The peacock, a female, was not fazed by my presence and continued to examine Emmie as though she might be a future meal, LOL.

Emmie held her ground and did some championship staring right back:

I went into the kitchen to get a shot of the bird from a different angle and was able to catch a shot of the only time the peacock spread her tail feathers:

After a while, the peacock wandered around the yard a bit and then just moseyed on off:

In what spare time I have had, I have also been practicing my guitar and trying to do the extra credit Photo Challenge presented by Marie last month. The challenge was to do a photo project that you had never tried before and, after learning how to do it, present a tutorial on what you started with, what you ended up with, and what you did to get that result. I have finished my project, now I just have to figure out how to present the tutorial. I’ll get back to Ya’ll on that one.

I’m sorry I have not been around to read journal these past two weeks, but my whole sleep schedule has been thrown off and I find myself over sleeping in the mornings and I have not been home a lot at night. I usually don’t get out much, so these night time forays are taking their toll on me. I hope to get back to normal by the end of this week. Until next time, take care!

AOL Community Photo Challenge - March into Spring {Advanced}

2008-03-03T15:42:00.000-08:00

ADVANCED CATEGORY - MARCH INTO SPRING

This week's challenge is MARCH INTO SPRING...Is spring popping up in your neighborhood? Daffodils and crocuses popping up through the snow? However spring is arriving (or did in the past, if you're still snowbound), share it with us!

This week's Photo Challenge made me take a close look around and, sure enough, there it was! Spring popping up right there in my yard. Here is my entry for the March Into Spring Photo Challenge. The top pic is the official entry, the second one I included because I thought it was a good shot and deserved to be seen, too. There is still plenty of time to join the Challenge, all are welcome to participate. Click the Photo Challenge banner above, or right here: Community Photo Challenge.

I used a new set of close up filters that I recently purchased. This is the first time I have tried using them. There are three in the set with a magnification of 1X, 2X, and 4X. They are stackable, so you could have the equivalent of 7X if you cared to. For these two shots I stacked the 4X and the 2X. I found I cold get closer and more detail with these filters than I could with the macro setting on my camera. I shot some with that setting two, for later comparison, and I really did like the new filters better. I did not crop these at all they are framed just as they were in my viewfinder. I also played with contrast, color temperature and saturation when I developed the raw files.

The trip to Athens came and went without incident. I did not get to shoot any pictures while I was there. My fault more than anything else, but I'll blame horrible weather on the second day. I spent the first day driving around the town and walking around the campus of the University of Georgia. I fully expected to come back the next day and shoot anything of interest I had noted. However, the skies opened up on that second day and it was not fit for man or beast outside. I'll plan and execute better next year when we go to the same training seminar.

Well, I'm looking forward to getting around and seeing all the other entries in this week's Challenge. I'm sure I'll be treated to a lot of good photography!

New Extra Credit Photo Challenge

2008-02-23T15:17:00.000-08:00

Creative Challenge-Collage

We have a new extra credit Challenge going right now:

Another Creative Challenge-COLLAGE

The Self Portrait Challenge seemed fun & successful, so I wanted to add another this
week. Again, you can enter anytime you want.

The collage can be of anything...you decide, post it on your blog, come back here &
leave a link. You can add a little explanation on what you did & why. PLEASE
follow GUIDELINES (use permalinks). Like the last creative challenge, there will
be no judging.

I have posted these collages in past entries, years apart. I won't make you go back through the archives to find them, I am putting all three collage examples up here for this extra credit. I have done other collages of sailboat regattas, too, but hey, that would just be overkill, LOL.

I saw in another entry on this Extra Credit Challenge some editing techniques that are new to me and I want to spend some time learning how to create in a similar fashion. Don't be surprised if you see more collage samples in the future.

This is the first collage I ever attempted with my digital camera which, at the time, was a Fujinon. I was inspired by our newly acquired kittens.

Most of my long time readers have come to know about our cat Emmie and the special bond that developed between the two of us. This collage was inpired by Emmie.

This final collage was done over two years ago to demostrate the process of removing huge items of debris that gets trapped in our marina from time to time. These items, if left in the river, would prove to be a danger to any boat. They are hard to see and easy to hit.

I wish I had the time right now to experiment with the new techniques I have observed, but I must finish two loads of laundry that are both in progress and get ready for a road trip tomorrow.

Paulette has to attend a training seminar in Athens, Georgia, about a four and a half hour drive from here. I have taken a few vacation days to drive her there. I will take my PC with me, (the hotel advertises wireless internet), and my guitar as well as my camera. I'll amuse myself each day while she is in her training sessions and I hope to return with some good photos. The hotel is on the grounds of the University of Georgia, so I am gauranteed some interesting sights right off the bat! We will return home on Wednesday. For all the thieves and burglars out there, Sandy will be remaining at home. (Just kidding J-Land, I have more trust in you than that, LOL).

If you see a guy on a street corner in Athens, Georgia over the next few days playing guitar with a cup on the ground in front of him, toss in a coin or two, it could be me and you know what the price of gas is these days. (WINK)!

Photo Chalenge Extra Credit

2008-02-16T18:31:00.000-08:00

The gang that is hosting the AOL Community Photo Challenge has challenged us to do a self portrait for extra credit. This is just for fun so that we might get a glimpse of those that are joining in on the Challenges. Its fun to put a face to a screen name.

At any rate, I am going to submit my self portrait, presented here in collage form. All the shots in this collage were taken yesterday, 2/15/08. I used a tripod and the timer setting on my camera and took off or put on different work jackets for the different colors.

I encourage everyone to click on this link to the challenge and go to the comments section to get the links to all the other self portraits of the Challenge Gang! There are some really creative responses to this one and it is fun to see how each photographer responded.

AOL Community Photo Challenge: Self Portrait

AWARDS

2008-02-12T08:34:00.000-08:00

First of all, I just want to say how excited I was to learn that Monica and I won first place awards for the recent AOL Community Photo Challenge. I am humbled by the judges choices and I also want to say thank you to all who left me such nice comments about my photo. I must say, Monica's photo was great, too, and I'm glad we are getting to share the award. Interesting that a winner in the advanced Challenge and Nancy, the winner in the Beginners Challenge had a cat in the shot, LOL. For a complete list of winners and links to see their entries click on this link: AOL Community Photo Advanced Challenge.

While I'm at it, let me add that I was really impressed with the photos in the Beginners Challenge. We have some great photographers here in J-Land at all levels! Click on this link to see the winners of the Beginners Challenge: AOL Community Photo Beginners Challenge.

Now, while we are on the subject of awards. There has been an award being passed around J-Land sinced the beginning of the month. It is the Nice Matters award and it is really a great way to tell each other that we think they are nice and that someone appreciates them. I want to thank those that have sent this award on to me and apologize about taking so long to post on the subject. You will see my award proudly displayed now in my sidebar on the left. There are two versions of the award, one for the ladies and one for the gents.

As I traveled around J-Land these last ten days or so, I have noticed that almost everyone already has recieved one of these. So nice to see the widespread show of kindness. Here are some very deserving folks who need to have one of these on their sidebar, too. First the ladies:

SUSAN: http://journals.aol.com/rjet33/CountryLivingSouthernStyle/

Catherine: http://journals.aol.com/chatzeekay/LifeandLessons/

Sharon: http://journals.aol.com/tpiez4me/just4me/

Barb: http://journals.aol.com/bvaneps834/LaughterandTearsintheLast50Years/

I have chosen one male to recieve this award from me. He actually sent me one, but that is not why I chose to send him one back. There is no one quite like Guido here in J-Land. He has a heart big enough to fill two continents. His compassion towards his fellow man is evident in almost all he writes. He is ever vigilant to alert us to visit those who might need a little encouragement or comfort. His sidebar should be filled with these awards.

Guido: http://journals.aol.co.uk/pharmolo/NorthernTrip/

Well, I'm off now to go on a little photo adventure. If I'm successful at shooting the event I am about to go witness, I'm sure you will be seeing the results here in some future post. I need to stop and get a haircut on the way there, so I'd better get a move on. Take care everyone, I'll see you all next Monday or Tuesday for sure.

AOL COMMUNITY PHOTO CHALLENGE

2008-02-04T08:32:00.000-08:00

The subject of this week's AOL Community Photo Challenge is: Love

With Valentine's day upon us this month, our next challenge was suggested by Betty.
Of course, this can be of anything that represents love. There are many forms of love, so this should be an easy challenge.
Love is all around us......so find it, capture it, or just use a photo from the past, that says it!

I had no idea how few photos I've snapped over the past couple of years that really demonstrate this subject. I finally found this shot taken two years ago of my grandson, Trenton and our kittie, Emmie. There was a lot of affection between these two during the time that Trenton was living with us. Here is the shot:

I did enjoy this opportunity to go back through my archives and I hope you enjoy this cute shot of the two of them. Now its off to visit the other entires in this challenge to see what the rest of you have come up with.

An Ode To My Favorite Gadget

2008-01-30T17:51:00.000-08:00

It's that time again! Judith Heartsong's Artsey Essay is wrapping up for this month and I am sneaking in under the deadline with but one full day left to compete. Here is this months challenge:

An Ode to Your Favorite Gadget

Weave a story about your favorite gadget.... something from the kitchen, the car, the garage, the living room, tool shed or your favorite styling tool. Who knows? It could be anything. Surprise us! Be creative and show us in words or pictures just why your stupendous gadget is the very best. Make sure you spell-check, use colorful and descriptive language, and tell your tale in an engaging way!

You have until the very last minute of the last hour of the last day of this month to spin a yarn to share about your favorite gadget.

It's not too late for any of you out there to enter, here's the link: Artsey Essay Contest, and here's my latest effort:

Favorite gadgets, you ask? I’ve had more than a few over the years and I really had to think long and hard as to which one I’d pick and call my favorite.

My current camera would have to be given consideration. It has a dark, black, and mysterious finish to it. The body is curvaceous and snuggles neatly into my hands as I caress it and coax out its secrets. I can push buttons and turn knobs for an endless- seeming array of options and settings. I can make this gadget seem brand new with the simple purchase of a myriad assortment of accessories. That’s right, put this baby in your hands and feel its sleek design and enticing curves. Try not to fall for it, go ahead, I dare you!

What really is a gadget, though? The North America English Edition of the Encarta Dictionary defines gadget as:

1. Ingenious device

A small device that performs or aids a simple task

2. trivial device

A small device that appears useful but is often unnecessary or superfluous

Now, my camera is an ingenious device, however, taking a good picture is no simple task, and if one is going to take a picture, a camera is certainly necessary and not superfluous. I think something along the lines of the 3 foot long thingy with the claw grabber that opens when you push the button on the end of it may qualify as a gadget. One uses it to reach behind or underneath something to retrieve an object. It is very useful but, if you move the object that you are reaching behind or underneath, it becomes unnecessary or superfluous. I really enjoyed getting one of these years ago, but needed to use it only rarely.

Now, when I think of gadgets, one name comes to mind. That name would be Popeil, as in Ron Popeil who, according to Wikipedia, is the master salesman who won the Nobel Prize in 1993 for Consumer Engineering. He was described by the awards committee as the “incessant inventor and perpetual pitchman of late night television.” The only problem with that statement is that there is no such thing as a Nobel Prize for Consumer Engineering. The IG people named their fun prize awards the IG Nobel Prizes and that is what Ron Popeil actually won. I thought it was a hoot that someone had written that on Wikipedia and thought I’d let you know it just wasn’t so. Ron Popeil was, however, honored for all posterity with a display in the Smithsonian Museum.

I never knew his name until I was an adult, but Ron Popeil had me at a very early age. I’ll never forget the Pocket Fisherman my Mother gave me as a present one time. At first, I thought it was cute but unpractical. I still owned it when I started riding motorcycles with my friend Ken in St. Petersburg, Fl. in 1978. We loved riding around Tampa Bay and exploring off-the-beaten-road beaches and coves. We’d stop and admirethe water and wish we had a fishing pole with which to try our luck. I had never used it before, but remembered this gadget was stored in the closet in a box. One time, before one of our rides, I took it out and threw it on the bike.

The Pocket Fisherman was only about nine or ten inches long and was a complete spin casting system in one handy unit. It featured a hinged rod that folded up, a smooth reel with anti-reverse and adjustable drag and a mini-tackle box in the handle. The best part of all was that Ken had no idea I had it with me. We found one of the best spots on the water yet and, as Ken and I were admiring the view, I was just waiting for him to say, “Boy, I wish we had a rod and reel with us.” I didn’t have to wait long.

You should have seen the look on Ken’s face when I pulled out my Pocket Fisherman. He had seen these advertised on television but could not believe I had one with me that day. I fished a lure out of the handle and tied it on the line. I got a strike on my first cast and actually landed a fish on my second one. We were hooked and carried that gadget with us until we finally wore it slap out. I’m here to tell you folks, it really worked as advertised! Reminiscing about the Pocket Fisherman brings me closer to what would have to be my all time favorite gadget.

First I have to comment on another one of Popeil’s inventions my family owned. It was the Chop-O-Matic. Yes,theChop-O-Matic was a little jar with a screw-on lid. The lid had a hole in the center with a set of blades attached to a shaft going through the lid. Outside the jar, above the lid, a small round ball-like handle was attached. Underneath the lid, between the lid and the blade, was a spring system. You would fill the jar with nuts or an onion or anything else you wanted to chop, screw the lid on, and start pumping the handled up and down thus chopping up whatever might be in the jar. It was cute, quick to use, but it was superfluous and unnecessary when you considered the time you took to load it, chop, empty, and wash. I could dice a whole onion with a sharp knife in the amount of time I would spend just cleaning up and washing this little contraption. Fortunately I did not go out and purchase it, my mother had one and I could use it anytime I wanted to.

I came by my love of gadgets honestly; I inherited this trait from my father. Dad couldn’t pass up a gadget he took a fancy to, and believe me; he fancied a lot of them in his day. Every other year my mother would have to completely clean out and reorganize the drawers in the kitchen because of all the gadgets my father would drag home. There were peelers, scrapers, and corers. You could find slicers and dicers and knifes. He had pickers, clippers and chippers. I’d see pitters, and presses, and all kinds of things that made messes. I sure do miss him and all of his gadgets!

My all-time favorite gadget was owned by my father and I was not allowed to touch it. The problem was that when he purchased it I was still but a boy and into everything at the time. This gadget had sharp blades and I was liable to cut one of my fingers off if I wasn’t careful, so I was just plain old forbidden to use it. Of course, forbidding me to use it added greatly to the mystique! You see, this product could slice it and dice it and cut a tomato paper thin with all the seeds still intact. This product could cut a whole potato into French fries in one second flat, and it is so easy to clean. But wait, there’s more! Yes, my favorite gadget of all time is the Veg-O-Matic, invented by Samuel Popeil, and sold and marketed by his famous son, Ron Popeil.

All of America remembers those incessant TV commercials of the sixties and seventies describing the magic of the Veg-O-Matic and how this gadget would make your life easier. We would wake up to see Ron Popeil on TV with his Veg-O-Matic and, if you stayed up to watch late night TV, then you were continually bombarded with this sales pitch. Popeil was the first to buy an extra minute of time for his pitches and his two minute commercials are the forerunner of the modern infomercials.

Dad purchased one of the early models and demonstrated it at home one night when he decided to make hamburgers and French fries. This contraption had a plastic base that consisted of four legs supporting a center that was high enough off the counter to leave room for the finished product beneath it. The midsection was square with a round hole in the center. Different slicing and dicing blades that were round in shape could be fitted into the round center to cutthe desired shape. I really should saythat the blade holders were round, the blades themselves crossed or crisscrossed the round holder allowing thick slices or thin slices, with the crisscrossed blades producing French fries or diced produce. The top of the gadget was raised above the circular cutting hole and the supports for the top were fed through holes in the base that kept it perfectly lined up with the cutting area. Dad would put the potato between the top and the center of the base, aligned directly over the cutting area, and push down on the top, which pushed the produce directly through the circular cutting hole in the midsection. I was amazed to watch a whole potato be pushed through and come out as French fries. The tomato slices were so thin as to be impossible. His diced onions were, like the potatoes, instant and efficient. I was enthralled by this gadget and was promptly forbidden not to touch it. Ever! There are pictures of the Veg-O-Matic on the Internet, but I didn’t have permission to use any of them, so I did not insert one here.

Dad was a pilot in the Air Force and flew a lot. That meant that he was away quite often during those years and I rarely got to see the gadget in action. The mystique never died, though, and on those occasions when we was home and pulled it out, I’d hover around and Dad would have a captivated audience as he made short work of all those vegetables. Because they were afraid I’d hurt myself if I tried to use it, Mom and Dad hid it pretty darn well when he was not using it.

Time passed and the Veg-O-Matic was used less and less. Part of it was the out of sight, out of mind syndrome and part of it was a reluctance to have to clean up all the individual parts once Dad was finished with it. I truly thought it had fallen out of the family inventory until either shortly before or shortly after my mother’s death many, many years later. I was living on our boat at the time and did not have room for any more gadgets and let it out of my grasp.

I did find a few Veg-O-Matics on sale at Ebay for a very reasonable price, so who knows, I may get to play with one yet. Paulette is well aware of my proclivity for gadgets, though, and I doubt I would be allowed to consummate any deal on one. That’s a shame. Another gadget I would love to get my hands on is the Popeil Showtime Rotisserie. I’ve been asking for one of those since they first came out and to this day Paulette says absolutely not! But a man can dream, can’t he? But wait, there’s more… (wink)! Y’all have a great week!

Photo Challenge

2008-01-22T19:13:00.000-08:00

The new year has been a busy one and I am ashamed I have not been back sooner. I've been trying to keep current with everyone and have not always commented when I was in a hurry, but I've tried to let just about everyone know I was arround. I hope the new year is being good to all of you.

I've decided to start doing the weekly photo challenge. After the Blog Father departed AOL, Marie decided to keep the tradition of the weekly Photo Challenge alive and is graciously hosting this friendly competition.

The theme for this week's challenge will be Hometown, suggested by Donna.

Select a photo that best represents "Hometown"
This could be something you love about where you live, either your hometown, home state, country....anything that shows your home. It is your interpretation of "Hometown" or "Home"

Repeat from another post....
[Marie: "Examples; NYC, the city skyline at night. or Could be a seaside cottage, or country home..... I recently was part of a photo challenge & was asked to suggest a theme.
This was mine "Home is where the Heart is"]

You may add something about why you chose this photo.
All entries must have a description of the photo, including when it was taken (the year) & where. Anything that would be of interest to visitors checking out your image.

There are two catagories, beginner and advanced. I wanted to enter in the beginner catagory, but I've posted enough pictures over the last three years that I fear I'd get booed out of J-Land. I swear, this is true: When I went out this afternoon to shoot the picture for this challenge, I had to read the manual all over again for my camera. I decided to shoot in a file format I've never tried before and it has taken all afternoon and evening to get to the point of posting a final result.

So, My entry is in the advanced catagory and it is a waterfront scene on the Savannah River.

This is a picture of the Convention Center as seen from River Street on the waterfront of the Savannah River taken today, January 22, 2008 at approximately 3:30pm. I wanted to take a shot of River Street, but the sun was at the wrong angle for a great shot and I suddenly realized that most of the visitors to our city go to River Street, not Hutchinson Island where the Convention Center is located. That means that the view they take home of Savannah in their minds is of the Convention Center as seen from River Street. The tall buliding to the right of the frame is the Westin Hotel.

There are some tugboats docked on a River Street warf in the lower left hand corner of the picture. These belong to the Moran Company. There are only two tugboat companies on this river so these boats are a very familiar sight to native residents.

Given my track record, I know you won't believe that I am going to post each and every week now to do this photo challenge. You know, you may be wrong there. It was fun getting out and shooting today. I wanted to enter last week's challenge but events conspired against that happening. I'm glad I put things aside today and got out there. I had a blast.

I'll be posting again in a day or two because I have chosen a topic for Judy's Artsey Essay Contest and will be entering that this week as well.

Until then, take care and get out and have some fun with your camera if you have one.

Happy New Year!

2007-12-31T16:52:00.000-08:00

My gracious thanks to Donna at D's Designs for these great graphics! Wishing you all a great new year and all the best in 2008!

A Christmas Story

2007-12-24T15:45:00.000-08:00

The renowned blogger and artist Judith Heartsong is very timely this month with her chosen topic for her monthly Artsy Essay competition. Although I don’t enter every single month, I try to enter as often as I can and I encourage other journalists to enter as well. It’s a fun competition and a win, win situation for all.

This month Judith challenges us to write about:

The Funniest Gift
I Have Ever
Given or Received

There is no explanation needed... let's light up the holidays with some laughter here and make sure you spell-check, use colorful and descriptive language, and tell your tale in an engaging way!

You have until the very last minute of the last hour of the last day of this holiday month to spin a yarn to share.

I have taken many days to consider this topic, and almost passed on this assignment, because I don’t have that many funny gift stories. An interesting thing happened during this process. I forced myself to sit down and really try to reflect on the Christmases of my past and the gifts I received through the years. The memories started flooding back in.

I am one of the fortunate ones that had a great childhood. My parents loved my sister and me very much and did everything in their power to protect and nurture us. They didn’t let us get away with much, but their discipline was meted out with our welfare in mind and with much evident love.

Every Christmas Jan and I were asked to write out a wish list early in November. Mom always hoped she got it well enough in advance that we would forget exactly all that we put on our lists. You see, the lists were guidelines and she never wanted us to think they were absolutes. We may have gotten one or two items from the list or, some years, not even one item depending on costs and availability of our requests.

We never went wanting, though. Christmas morning Mom and Dad always made sure we would enjoy a great Christmas under the tree and we never went away disappointed. Sometimes the occasion would call for extreme action to ensure that happiness, but if it was within their power, they would do it.

One such occasion was the year 1964. That year I wanted a model car racing set. Not the little tiny ones, but a set with the larger race cars, oh, say, six to eight inches long. The track was a figure eight design and could be set up in our living room without much problem and plenty of room.

We were living in Smyrna, Tennessee that year. My father was stationed at Sewart Air Force Base and we were about twenty miles south of Nashville. This part of Tennessee is of temperate climate and gets snow on the ground for one or two days perhaps twice a winter on average. 1964 was the year that Smyrna would have a white Christmas.

The snow began to fall late in the afternoon on Christmas Eve, big white flakes, wet and sticky. Much different than the almost dry, tiny flurry type of snow we were more accustomed to. The kids in the area were elated and hopeful. Too many times we had snow start only to stop a few minutes later and disappear like a phantom in the night, silently appearing and leaving with no notice or trace.

Every few minutes I would leave the comfort of my usual spot in front of the TV, where I would be ensconced on the couch in our den. I would run to the picture window in the living room or open the back door and peer out. Once assured that the winter onslaught was still coming down, I’d march through the house and deliver the great news to any I happened upon that, “Yes, it was still snowing and it looked like it was sticking!” Or, “Yes, it’s still snowing and it looks like an inch deep now!” … and so on as the evening progressed. By bed time we were assured we would have some snow on the ground come morning. The only question was, how much? I fell asleep that night with that wonderful feeling that we would finally experience a White Christmas.

Until that Christmas, a White Christmas was only something I had seen in the movies or heard about from adults who had been raised in a colder climate. The linking of Christmas with snow on the ground was like magic to me, mystical in a sense that I could not fathom. When I awoke that Christmas Morning, I sprang out of bed and hurried to the front door. I opened it on a magical scene that I will never forget.

Every tree was covered with a white blanket. The road in front of the house was indiscernible from our front yard. There were two or three feet of snow out there and it was still falling lightly as I stood in awe. The term, “winter wonderland,” seemed no exaggeration at the time.

It was cold on that door step and I pulled myself back into the living room, withdrawing from the cold and reveling in the warmth of our house, my immediate attention fixating on the tree in front of the window. The lights were twinkling like a thousand stars beckoning to me. Pretty colors played from the lights and were reflected on the wrappings of our collective gifts. There, on the floor in the center of the room, my race car track had been constructed and two shiny cars were poised at the starting line, set to speed off at the drop of a flag.

Our custom was that the kids did not do Christmas without Mom and Dad. I danced around the house as I waited for everyone to assemble in the living room so we could open the presents. It was pure torture that Mom insisted on taking the time to brew that cup of coffee before we began. But, alas, the time finally came. My opportunity to feel the controller in my hand and press the accelerator control had arrived. I pressed the button and waited with great anticipation for the little race car to roar to life and command that little figure eight track … and waited, and waited! Nothing happened!

I checked the power cable, I checked all the connections. I read the instruction manual forwards and backwards. The car still would not budge. My racing set did not work. In today’s retail parlance it was an out of the box failure.

There I sat on Christmas morning with a toy that did not work and, for the first time in years, we were snowed in. Two feet of snow in that part of Tennessee pretty much paralyzed travel in those days. There was no equipment available to plow the highways; all you could do was to wait for it to melt.

I will never forget my father for what he did the next morning. We still had more than two feet of snow on the ground, (it had snowed some more), yet he loaded me and my defective race car set into the family vehicle. There were few cars on those snow covered roads as we made our way the twenty miles into Nashville, back to the store where the toy had been purchased.

I thought there would be no chance that the store would even be open with that much snow on the ground, but, lo and behold, we made it there and was able to make the exchange. The ride back home was one of the scariest I’ve ever made. Shortly after leaving the store, the snow began to fall again.

The visibility on the highway was about ten feet. The slippery roads became even slicker. We almost got pushed off the road by a trucker barreling down on us trying to get out of the area before being stuck there and losing precious time. The car lurched as we went into a skid, sliding across an unseen tarmac, frantically trying to maintain our path.

We made it home without further incident. I saw a side of my father that morning that I had not seen before. It was only after I returned home that I realized to just what extent my father would go and what he was willing to risk to insure the happiness of his son. Yes, that was truly a magical Christmas that year and one I will never forget.

Thank you, Judith Heartsong. I may not win a prize in this Essay Contest, because my gift was not a funny one, but the memory I retrieved was priceless. Merry Christmas everyone, and a very Happy New Year!

Caroling Through J-Land

2007-12-18T17:56:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Donna at D's Designs for this great graphic!

My apologies to those who have dial-up. This is my first Video Only Post. If you can't get it to play, Email me and I'll let you know what it is all about.

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-11T16:11:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone is having a Happy Holiday Season. We are all doing fine here in Georgia and enjoying this unseasonably warm weather spell. Who can get upset about the weather when the highs are in the mid to high seventies each day?

My Thanks to Donna for the graphic above which really spruces up this place!

Our household is not that much different than most of Y’all’s. We are still doing Christmas shopping, most of our cards are in the mail, and we are still decorating the house. Oh, and I am performing my usual Christmas screw-ups. Yesterday I mailed a beautiful card to my sister and did not realize until after it was in the post that the gift card had not been put in the envelope. So, today I wrote another card and ‘fessed up to the deed. A second card is in the mail and fully armed this time.

I was given eighteen postcards yesterday to take to the post office. My instructions were to, and I quote, “Buy some Christmas stamps for these and get them in the mail. “ So, I wait in line for a good twenty minutes, get up to the clerk and do my Priority Mail transactions and ask for eighteen Christmas Stamps. I take the stamps over to a counter top and stamp all the envelopes and stick the cards in the mail bin.

Last night when Paulette got home I got the third degree. Did you get receipts and tracking numbers for the priority mail? (Yes!) How many stamps did you end up having to buy? (Eighteen, honey, there were eighteen cards.) What? Eighteen stamps? How many stamps did the larger envelopes take? [Suddenly I knew I was a cooked goose]. (Honey, you said to buy Christmas Stamps for the cards and mail them. That is exactly what I did). No, what I sent you to do was to hand the eighteen cards to the clerk and have the clerk weigh and size them and affix the proper postage on each for you. [We are now in danger of four cards being returned for insufficient postage]

I held my tongue and did not ask why she did not explain it to me if she wanted it done in a certain manner. I am a typical guy who does not keep track of postal rates and wonders why a thin, light card would cost more than normal airmail postage no matter what the dimensions are. After all they are all about an eighteenth of an inch thick for goodness sake. This is a normal part of marriage, and next year SHE will be in that postal line no matter HOW busy she claims to be, LOL.

On a positive note, I have maintained my diet that I started in July and now have officially lost thirty pounds. I’m pleased, but the goal is to lose twenty more. I may not get there for another few months, but I know I’ll make it.

Just how many months it will take will depend on what I succumb to during the Christmas Season. I have lost the three or four pounds that Thanksgiving threatened to stick me with, now it will be the battle of Christmas’s repast, not to mention those innocent looking stocking stuffers. We have always loaded our stockings with little trinkets and lots of nuts, fruit, and chocolates. We may break with tradition this year; Paulette and Sandy have gone into diet mode, too.

Last Christmas I wrote a post about the music of Christmas that filled our house every year growing up. I even recorded the song, “Here Comes Santa Clause,” and included the video in the entry. It was fun and well received. This year has been no different than previous years. I held true to my annual pattern of practicing my guitar playing through the holidays and into spring time. Then, as work got busier, I put the guitar away for the summer. The vicious cycle continued. All the progress I had made went by the way side and all the songs I had memorized became faint memories and had to be learned all over again.

I have said it before, but this year I mean it. I am not going to put the guitar down this summer and I will not let this progress I’ve made go by the wayside this year. When I set my mind on a goal, I don’t often fall short. So, I think next year’s post may have a much higher quality to the home grown music offering.

All this is leading up to this year’s offering which is quite short, and … if I get really industrious… may be joined soon by another song if I can get another one on tape, so to speak. I get real nervous when the camera is on and don’t perform very well. 30 years ago it was a much different story, but this is the reality of today. So, for those of you who have requested another Christmas music offering, here it is. Merry Christmas, everyone, and I wish you all a very happy holiday season. I hope to post at least one more time before Christmas, but I have a lousy track record and don’t know if you should trust me on this.

The Great Fig Caper!

2007-11-06T05:16:00.000-08:00

This might be a bit rambling, but I’m going to take a stab at it, so here goes. Yes, it has been a while, and yes I know it’s a lot longer than I promised in my last post.

Everyone is fine on my side of the screen. A lot of things have happened since we last got together here and I’ll try and go through a few of them. I think it all started in August with our fig tree. We had a bumper crop of figs this year.

As I grew up, many of my relatives had fig trees in their yards. My paternal Grandmother had a couple of them. Every year she would can her figs and would give me four or five jars to take back home and remember her by. I loved her figs. They were in this sweet syrup and tasted so good on a hot buttered slice of toast.

I got very excited when I learned that we had a really nice fig tree in the back yard of this house. As the summer progressed and I saw what a bumper crop it was going to produce I started making my plans. I searched the web and got twenty or thirty recipes for canning figs. Culling through them, I found the one I thought must have been the one my grandmother had used. I then searched for a canning outfit with the double boiler and pressure cooker, oh and don’t forget the mason jars. Thank goodness I didn’t go out and buy this equipment.

I had made my lists and located local sources of everything I needed. I was going to put up this fruit myself and then I would have some nice homemade goods to share with friends and relatives. I watched the crop mature and about a week before I was going to press the go button on everything, someone snuck into our yard and stole the entire crop. I stood in our back yard with my mouth agape as I realized that our tree didn’t have a single fig on it anymore. There wasn’t a single fig on the ground underneath the tree, either! On close inspection, it was apparent that some sort of snipping tool was used to cut the fruit from the branches. You could see the fresh cut marks.

I was pretty upset, as you might imagine. I decided to talk to the widow who lives next door to warn her of what happened in our yard. Sandy caught up with her the next day and let her know of the theft. The neighbor had a bumper crop on her tree, too, and kindly invited us to have a few of her figs if I wanted. Then the thieves came back a few days later and stole all the figs off of her tree.

Poof! There went my faith in humanity. Sigh. It seems that figs were commanding top dollar on the grocery shelves this year. My crop became someone else’s profit, at my expense, I’m sure.

There are several areas of the county where you can expect to see roadside produce for sale during the season. These are different operations from the larger produce venders with brick and mortar buildings and year round inventory. No, these roadside operations quite often sell right out of the back of a pickup truck. When you see these micro produce stands, you can reasonably expect that the produce is absolutely right from the fields, fresh, and of very good quality. I’ll bet my nonexistent canner that my figs ended up on the back of someone’s pickup truck with a handsome price tag.

I was having a pretty decent summer right up to this little incident. Oh, well, next year I will rig some kind of surveillance equipment and train it on the fig tree during the month of August. I’ll catch those sticky fingered miscreants!

I thought this entry might be a little longer, but I’ve got to run right now and get busy. I’m taking a few days off and trying to clean out the storage unit we have kept for so many years. It’s time to try and cull out the items we have discovered we really can live without and bring the rest home. Believe me,there are several days’ worth of work ahead of me. I’ll check back in here soon and share a little more of what has been going on in my part of the word. Take care!

Taking a Break!

2007-08-19T03:25:00.000-07:00

Once again it’s budget time at the marina. This happens every year just as I lose my summer staff and the weather is at its hottest. Business is still brisk and every spare moment I am huddled over this computer crunching numbers.

I have decided to take a break from computing for a few weeks. When I get home at night these days I don’t feel like pulling out the laptop and spending another hour or two with my nose to the monitor. I just don’t have the energy right now. All I really want to do is put my feet up, have a cool beverage, and get to bed early.

I didn’t want y’all worrying about me, I am fine. I just need this time to take care of business and get through the last of the blazing summer heat. I’ll be returning to post again after Sunday September 16th. That is the weekend of the Leukemia Cup Regatta and I should have some good pictures to share after the event.

Because I won’t be spending too much time online between now and then, I will be turning my alerts off for now. I’ll turn them back on again in mid-September. In the meantime, I wish everyone the very best and I hope everyone makes it through Labor Day Weekend safe and sound. Take care, and I’ll see you in September.

A Wonderful Contest Revived!

2007-07-24T10:49:00.000-07:00

One of the saddest moments in my time here in J-Land was the day Judith Heartsong left the AOL journals community as a result of unsolicited advertising being insert into our journal pages. Besides losing one of the best written and most read journals In J-Land when Judith left, the monthly Arsty Essay Contest died a sudden death and our community suffered a big loss.

The monthly Artsy Essay Contest was set up to bring writers together to share and explore their talent. It was to encourage individuals to try and explore their creative side and to practice writing skills. It was a contest for beginners and seasoned writers alike. There was never anything like this contest before Judith Heartsong created it and there has been nothing like it since. Until now!

There is life on the Internet beyond AOL Journals and we are fortunate that Judith set up shop elsewhere in the land of HTML and continued Blogging. Time has passed and Judith has decided to revive her Artsy Essay Contest with some new ideasand expanded formats.

I really enjoyed the challenge of these contests and the ability to discover other writers through this forum. I also coveted one of those Heartsong awards and compete I did! Nope, I never won one, but the fun was in the trying. So, here goes my entry into the newly revived Artsy Essay Contest.

The theme for this month is:

What is your favorite and most inspiringpossession? Tell us about it, and if you want an extra creative challenge... tell us about it without naming it until the very last sentence of your essay:):):)

My favorite and most inspiring possession first came into my life on my fourteenth birthday. It was a gift from my parents and with it, I was told came responsibilities and obligations. I think my mom was afraid I would be entertained by this gift for a while and then it would be set aside to collect dust like so many previous possessions through my early years.

This item required care and dedication. One gets out of certain items only what one is willing to put into them. To my parents’ delight I devoted myself and took the time to care for this item as it deserved. It was not long before I wanted another one.

Oh, we have had our rough times, this possession and I. There were periods that I was so frustrated and fed up with it that I didn’t even want to look at it again. That feeling would wane and I would catch myself staring at it fondly and imaging it in my hands as it would take me places. Most would think that I would be the one doing the taking, yet there were times past when this possession would take me to places I never dreamed possible.

Through this possession I soared to the heavens and felt a Rocky Mountain high. I was transported to Shangri-La and have experienced the summer breeze. I have gone over the rainbow and have found my happiness.

Yes, as I said, I did not have it long before I wanted another one. I was given one that was bigger, brighter, and shinier the following Christmas. I cherished it and was devoted to it. Since that time many of these have passed through my hands and my heart. Some were purchased and some were traded. Some were quite rare and my current one is quite expensive. At one time I even contemplated making one myself, however, I knew I would fret over it and did not want to subject myself to the rigors the craftsmanship would require.

There is no feeling quite like it as my hands touched this item for the first time and each time I touch it seems like the first time. I follow the gentle curves of its body. I feel the tightness and tension within. I know the myriad of emotions this possession can invoke.

Inspiration comes to me often as we spend our time together. Through ownership of this possession I have been inspired to express myself in ways never possible to me before.

Sometime my hands shake as I caress this possession and sometimes they ache. Aching with pain as I produce sensations of pleasure, I feelthe vibrations through my soul. Others around me can sense my emotional intensity while fondling this item, sometimes to my pleasure and sometimes to great embarrassment.

There is no other feeling like it, though, when I know that my caressing, my fondling, my gentle and harsh stroking brings pleasure to others. It is my wish to keep this possession to the day I die. I never want to be without my guitar.

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This Summer

2007-07-16T10:44:00.000-07:00

This summer has caught me up and carried me away. This has to be one of the busiest seasons we’ve ever had at the marina. I have a good staff this year, but we are one short of what I had last year.

My staff is a little older and more mature this summer, so the work has been getting done more efficiently than last year even with the shortage. My role seems to have changed. I was more hands on in past summers, sharing in the daily grind type of chores right along with the dock crew. Now, with the Ship’s Store and some major maintenance projects I have subcontracted out I am playing a much more administrative role.

My normal routine used to include me going over to the main kitchen after opening up and getting one last cup of coffee to help start my working day. I’ve been hitting the ground running lately and that last cup now seems like a luxury item from the past. I’m not complaining, mind you, I’m just reflecting on the changing characteristics of my job and justifying a bit why it has been so long again between posts.

Summer has always given me many more photo opportunities that seem to end up here in my journal. I still take my camera to work each day, but have not been able to get out and utilize it to the extent I have done so in the past. Here’s an example of a past situation and how I had to handle it this year.

The weekend after the fourth of July each year we host the Firecracker Regatta. In years past I have taken pictures and posted an entry after the event here in Dock Lines. It is a much different event for me now due to changes in our facilities and changes in my capabilities in the office.

I used to help launch the committee boats and then man the sailboat hoists to help launch the sailing fleet before the race. After the boats left for the starting line I would have down time until the races were over and they all returned to the marina. I would then launch a club boat and chase the fleet to get pictures of the action.

We have installed a ramp for small sailboats and they no longer have to be launched from a hoist. The kids can just wheel them down the ramp and push them off into the water and go. I now assign two strong young members of my staff to help lift the boats off the dollys and get them into the water. We can get the entire fleet into the water in about a fourth of the time it would take to launch each and every boat using the hoist.

We had a very unstable weather forecast during the race weekend this year. Saturday morning dawned with bright sunshine and calm waters. We had a 40% chance of thunderstorms with the chances increasing as the day progressed. There was little wind although the forecast proclaimed it would be five to ten blowing from the northeast. The delay of race pennant was hoisted and the fleet waited and waited.

About ninety minutes past the normal start time the wind picked up and the races began. I was heading to get a club boat into the water when I was stopped by the race committee and asked to put up the local Doppler radar on my computer and monitor the weather during the actual races. We had a front system approaching and they wanted to squeeze every safe minute they could to make up for lost time.

For the first two races I was consulted before the start of the race and that was about it. Then came the third race of the day. We could see some weather in the distance and what we saw looked nasty. I was asked to stand by and give a weather update every five minutes which coincided with the radar animation as it updated on a five minute schedule.

We pretty much took over VHF radio channel 68 for the next forty five minutes as I was relaying the approach of the weather front to the safety boat who then was analyzing the 36 mile radar they had onboard their boat. The difference was that my radar showed the weather over a map of the local area and the boat’s radar screen did not. However, the boat’s radar screen could pick up lightning strikes. I gave them a thirty minute prediction to the storm hitting the race course, then a twenty minute prediction.

The safety boat wanted confirmation that the front was south of the Savannah River and heading in an Easterly direction from Garden City towards the race course. I confirmed the position and movement and predicted fifteen minutes until it hit. The ship’s radar picked up a lighting strike ten miles to our south. I predicted ten minutes until arrival and more lightning was seen by the safety boat’s radar.

They blew the whistle and the boats beat it into the marina. I sent four young men down to help get the boats out of the water. The front hit exactly on the minute I predicted.

The race committee had known it would be close for the third race, so the course had been set right in front of the marina. The small boats had little distance to go to get to safety and many of them got a tow by all the safety boats. There were only four or five boats still in the water when the first lightning bolt struck within a quarter of a mile. All the racers were already on land and undercover and then the sky opened up. My crew, bless them, got the few remaining boats out of the water in the rain and that was it for Saturday’s racing.

The captain on the safety boat made a point of finding me amongst the crowd and shakingmy hand for such an accurate running commentary on the impending weather front. We were being monitored by other marinas on Channel 68 and they started calling wanting to know when the weather would hit them! I never got a chance to launch the club boat and was not able to snap a single photo that day.

Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny much as the day before. The difference was that, although the entire fleet launched for more racing, the wind never came up and the regatta was called. They got enough races in on Saturday to meet the official criteria for a regatta and winners were determined from Saturday’s standings.

I understand some nice words were said before the audience at the awards presentation about me and the performance of my staff. I didn’t hear them, though. I was back on duty at the docks. Perhaps next year I’ll figure a way to get pictures again.

My thanks to Donna for this tag.

A New Shack

2007-06-06T03:30:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my last post, my Dock Shack was torn down recently and a new structure built in its place. This had been long overdue and, even though I was a displaced person for a few months, it was a good thing. Here is a picture of my old dock shack in its glory days. Notice the awning over the front of the shack. That was my idea; there was no awning when I took this job seven years ago.

The day finally came for me to clear out of the old Shack. A temporary pod was dropped off for me to occupy during the building phase. I liked it, but in spite of the promise that I would have plenty of notice and time to move out of the old shack, I was informed I had an hour to move out before they were to haul it away. So, I threw everything into some boxes we scrounged up and got out. I also spent the next 12 weeks trying to find everything that was tossed haphazardly into those boxes. To this day I still can’t find some of those items.

They decided to try and move the old shack in one piece in the hopes that it could be put to some use in a new home somewhere. I found out later that the guy they hired to haul it away lowered his bid for the job with the provision that he got possession of the old shack. Personally, I say more power to him. That shack had more spiders living in it than Carter had pills. Some were poisonous. Here they are putting a strap around the shack to keep it on the forks of the forklift.

It looked like it was going to be lifted with no problem, but that was not to be.

The shack was too heavy and everyone in the immediate area was pressed into service to hang on to the back of the forklift to try and budge the little building.

You can see here how small the footprint was that the old shack left. It measured six feet by eight feet. About the average size of a jail cell, I’ve been told. I can’t tell you how many thousands of hours I spent in that cell; sometimes, during the summers, six of us would squeeze in at one time if it started to rain.

They finally got it over to the flat bed truck and loaded it on. I said my final good bye with a big smile on my face.

Then the building project began. The job took longer than originally estimated because one of the building crew quit the day before this project was due to begin. There was a crew of two who built this from start to finish except for the subcontracted brick work and roofing work. Look at how small the old shack’s footprint looks as the new foundation dwarfs it.

The frame took on the appearance of a skeleton at first.

Then the plywood sheets that would form the outer walls were applied and it started to look like a kid’s fort or tree house project.

Next we add a roof just for good measure.

The building is being built up high off the ground to comply with the building codes for hurricane protection. Remember, we are on the coast here. So the second picture above is of the porch you step on to enter and exit the building. In the next shot we add the insulation and hurricane proof windows.

The next step is to add Steps and railings.

Concrete siding is applied and then it is painted.

The finished product is one of the best built buildings I have ever seen. The quality of craftsmanship that went into this was well worth the wait. If I were to be stuck on this property in the path of an approaching hurricane, this is the building I would take cover in, it is built that strong!

My office is the door on the left and the Ship’s Store is the door on the right. There is an adjoining door between them inside the building. Here is a picture of the inside of the Ship’s Store. Not all of the fixtures have arrived yet and nor all of the planned stock, but you can get an idea of the feeling and look that the store will have.

So, that is how my winter was spent this year. Listening daily to the sounds and enjoying the sights of a new building taking shape. Good grief! It just about drove me insane!

The Great Shrimp Boat Project

2007-05-30T15:31:00.000-07:00

One of the earliest entries in this journal was about an abandoned shrimp boat that had sunk in the Wilmington River. It was near our marina right on the Intracoastal Waterway. In the original entry, I commented about how sad it was that people could just abandon their boats like this when they are wrecked. Click here for a link to that original post if you care to read it and see all the early pictures.

To my surprise, something has been done about this and other wrecks in our area. One enterprising individual decided to contact his local state senator and state representatives to lobby for funding and action to remove theses hazards and eyesores from our waterways. Here is a link to an article in the Savannah Morning News about this man and his efforts. $180,000 Proposal

Imagine my delight one January morning as I observed a tug and barge with a crane positioning itself adjacent to the wreck of the “Treasure D.” I knew immediately what it was there for and was happy that the funds were finally released to remove this wreck. I also knew it would be interesting to watch this process fromstart to finish.

The wreck was almost a mile away from me, so I had to rely on my telephoto lens to capture what action I could during the removal operations. In the PIC above, two men have been lifted over to the wreck by the crane and are cutting the boom arms that hold the trawling nets off with torches. After they are cut into pieces, the crane lifts them up and deposits them on the barge to be hauled away.

After the big metal parts on deck are cut and removed, the scoop bucket on the crane is used to scoop up portions of the wreck from below the surface of the water. In the above picture, it appears that parts of the engine, drive shaft, and transmission were being lifted with other huge chunks of debris.

Within the space of about ten working days, all that was left was the barge and crane and a pile of debris that was once a sea worthy and working shrimp trawler, plying the waters of our coast. It was hard to imagine the men that worked this ship and the life of this vessel as I gazed upon this heap of timber and steel. I had to get a closer look before it was carted off to be dumped in some unknown location, possibly in a landfill, or even far offshore somewhere. I coaxed a friend at the marina to carry me over in his boat while I took some final shots of this nautical autopsy and the remains of the recently departed.

At one end of the barge I could still make out what used to be the ship’s fuel tanks.

Shooting into the sun, I was still able to make out the ship’s planking that was once her hull and decking.

A working ship is a living, breathing system of engineering and equipment that takes on a life itself. It serves as a means to make a living and a lifestyle to those who choose to adopt it as their own. The hundreds of independent mechanisms and systems that work in concert to keep the boat afloat and in motion thrive with a pulse-like rhythm, unique in itself, that can be distinguished from other ships even of the same build. It has its own personality and traits and is life-like to those who work these ships.

I thought about the life of this ship as I watched the silhouette of this once proud vessel fade in the background. It was a sad ending, in a poetic kind of way. But lest we mire ourselves too much in the romantic notions of a time gone by for this ship, it was a good thing that was done here this past, cold January.

For, as romantic as this last picture is of the wreck that once was, it was a danger to shipping and boating interests in the region. We can now be assured that this wreck will not capture another hapless vessel in the middle of the night and pull it down with her. And that is the end of the story of the Wreck of the “Treasure D.”

Addendum:

Just a note to my family and friends and readers: I know I have been absent from these pages for too long of a time now. I thank those who have sent Emails and comments checking up to see if all was well. As it turns out, I have been well, but busy. Spring always kicks us into high gear as we get ready for the heavy boating season Memorial Day Weekend always brings.

This year they tore down my dock shack about the same time this tugand barge showed up. I have pictures and will share them next post. At any rate, I was moved into a temporary office like you see on construction sites while they built me a new and modern Dock Master’s Office and Ship’s Store. I only had ten days before the holiday weekend to move into the office and get set up and only five days before the weekend to stock, merchandise, price, and display my wares in the Ship’s Store. Remember, we never had a Ship’s Store before, so I was starting from scratch. I even had to design my own inventory sheets and systems of tracking inventory and sales. No fancy professional sales software or equipment was provided. I made it, but perhaps I’ll save details for the next post.

I keep this journal because I have come to love it and the people I interact with here in the AOL J-Land community. I was never one to state a commitment to posting something every day. I understand those that do try to keep a daily commitment for posting and enjoy that for them and with them.

For me, it was a way to let my Grandson have some sort of sense of who I was while I was here when he gets older and also to have fun with it. I am still having fun with it, and will continue for the foreseeable future. But, I have to put all my energies into my family and profession as needed and, from time to time, drift away as life happens. For those of you who still drop by and read here as I post, my deepest thanks for hanging in there with me. I still cannot promise a more regular post schedule but I do promise I will return as I can each time and share a little more with you.

Our J-Land Visit

2007-04-28T11:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, I’ve resized my photos to fit in the journal and uploaded them into my FTP space for web storage. I’m ready to share.

Jeanette had planned her trip to the United States many months in advance and contacted me around Christmas time saying she would be in my area and perhaps we could meet for a cup of coffee or something while she was in Savannah. The trip was original going to happen in March, but there was a snag on the part of her agency and the trip was rescheduled for the last part of April.

I wrote back to Jeannette that, of course, I’d like to meet her and Andy while they were visiting and set about planning our day. I made arrangements over a month ago to borrow a boat from a friend so that I could show them the area from the water. I asked her if she would be interested in a boat ride and she said that would be great.

I want to say right now that Andy is a great guy and I really enjoyed meeting him and spending the time with him. Andy does not do online journals and did not want to be in any of the pictures. He let me take a couple of shots of him with the understanding that they were for my own collection and not to be shared online. So, you won’t be seeing Andy in any of these pictures, but he was a big part of this day and I know you would all like him if you got a chance to meet him.

This first shot is taken through the driver’s side window of my pickup truck as I pulled up to the hotel to pick Jeannette and Andy up. Andy saw the camera in my hand and ducked out of the shot with but a second to spare, LOL.

This next shot is of Jeannette and I at the marina with the docks in the background. I should have taken off my hat for this picture.

This next one of Jeanette who is sitting in the seat next to me while I am drive the boat. You can tell she is enjoying the ride.

Andy was kind enough to take my camera and get this shot of Jeannette and me together on the boat.

I shot this next shot of Jeannette as she was trying to get a picture of a container ship that passed near us as we approached the Savannah River. The shot next to it is of the ship she was trying to shoot.

When we left the marina, we went out the Wilmington River to Wassau Sound and cruised the beaches on the south shore. At that point we were in the Atlantic Ocean for just a few minutes as we turned north and before entering the sound again on the north side, checking out the beaches on that shore.

We turned into the Bull River and headed west, back in the direction we had come, but on another river that would take us close to the Savannah River. We could see the huge container ships and tankers as they made their way in and out of the Savannah River, so I turned into the Savannah River for a little while to see the ships up close and personal.

That last picture was slightly blurred, but I think you get the idea. This tanker was heading right for us. We ducked over into the Wilmington River again and headed back to the marina where I got these two shots of Jeannette.

After we got the boat berthed and secured, we headed for my house to meet Paulette, Sandy and our cats. I let Jeannette hop on the computer to check Email and do a short entry into her journal “Welcome To My Travels.” We had been on the boat for three and a half hours. I looked at my watch and the theme song from, “Gilligan’s Island,” went through my mind. You know the refrain: “The Three Hour Tour.” I laughed because we had returned safely, unlike, “Gilligan, and The Skipper, Too!” Here are couple of shots of Jeannette safely ensconced on my recliner posting her entry.

We capped off the day by grabbing Paulette and going out to eat at a local restaurant. I must say that it was an enjoyable day from start to end. I felt as though we all had known each other for some time and really enjoyed the time we spent together. We met that morning as online acquaintances and parted that evening as friends. I love it when there is a real life story with a happy ending!

A J-Lander Visits

2007-04-28T08:09:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since my last post. This was unintentional and to my friends and family that are Emailing me to see if I am okay, yes, I am doing just fine.

I get extremely busy every spring trying to get the marina in shape for the coming boating season. I am pretty tired in the evening during this period and fall behind on my posting. So, the situation is normal here and all is well.

Some of you know that I have been looking forward to meeting my first J-Lander. Jeannette (Jlocorriere05) has been visiting the U.S. from England and her journey brought her here to Savannah, where we had a fun day together yesterday along with her mate Andy. I'll be doing a post later today to show our visit in pictures, but I thought I'd post a short video we took yesterday just saying "Hi!" to J-Land.

I alway find it interesting to put a voice along with a face to those I encounter through my journaling. In that regard, we made this video to show you. Still pictures of our adventures will follow in the next post.

Just an note: I have edited this now to try and make the video brighter. I got the video brighter, but the audio was unrecognizable so I put it back to the original.

The High School Regatta

2007-03-27T09:58:00.000-07:00

The first weekend in March we held a high school sailing regatta at our marina facility. I mentioned this in a previous post and there seemed to be quite a bit of interest in the event. It’s been hard for me to get around to posting the pictures because, as usual, I shot way too many to post and it was very time consuming to sort through all of them and decide which ones to use. I ended up making a collage just to get more of them included in this post.

I was not privileged to attend a high school while growing up that had a sailing team and I’m sure most of you were not, either. Most of the high schools participating were private schools, however, public ones were eligible, too, and there were some of those that attended. Here’s how it that would be possible in my area.

We have a wonderful facility on a fresh water lake in Savannah called The Savannah Sailing Center. It is a non-profit organization set up for the purpose of furthering Youth Sailing Programs in the area. The center is located within one of our county parks on Lake Mayer and kids, families, and local schools can pay an annual fee to belong to and use the center’s sail boats and training facilities. If you sign up for their program, they will train you to sail and race their sailboats. Here is a link to their website: http://savannahsailingcenter.org/

This sailing event was an official SAISA sponsored event. That stands for the South Atlantic Interscholastic Sailing Association. The South Atlantic District encompasses Florida (except the panhandle), Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Northern Alabama and outside the continental boundaries, islands in the Caribbean. Note this and other districts in ISSA are very similar to the collegiate districts in both sailing format and geographic area. For those that are interested in checking it out, here is the link to their website: http://www.saisa.org/

This was the second year for our facility to sponsor and host this sailing regatta. We were descended upon by 180 kids from around the South Atlantic District along with their parents and other observers.

We had plenty of wind for the event so the racing was brisk and competitive.

In each race, each boat has a crew of two. Every School entered in the event has at least four teams of two. The boats were identical in accordance with the SAISA rules and were not owned by the individual sailors. Most of the boats were provided by the Savannah Sailing Center.

After each race, the boats would be sailed back to our front dock and one team would hop off and another team would hop on and sail out for the next race. By rotating the boats and the teams, the competition was kept fair with no team having a particular advantage over another one.

These kids were good and very competitive. Because of the favorable winds, the races were able to be held right off of our docks and gave the spectators an almost unprecedented view of the entire regatta.

I love seeing this kind of event. It restores my confidence in the younger generations. These kids are polite, well mannered, clean cut, and dedicated to their sport. The competition was stiff and the race results were close. There were several mid-race collisions and close calls and the viewing audience was kept well entertained keeping up with it all. I look forward to next year when this event will once again return to our docks here in Savannah.

The New House

2007-03-20T17:10:00.000-07:00

Okay, I’ve stalled long enough, its time to deliver. This post is going to be all about the new house. So much has happened recently, I thought I’d combine this subject with another one just to get things in, but it would not be fair to either subject. Shucks, I may have to break down and do more than one post this week. I guess stranger things have happened!

First of all, you are only going to see the common areas. We share the house with Sandy, Paulette’s sister and it would not be fair to show her rooms and I know our bedroom is not something Paulette wants to log on and see on the web! The office is not going to be featured this go round either.

Paulette has taken over the office and I have not been allowed to hang a single picture of my choice there or make any decisions on the décor in that room. Take my word for it! That room is not camera ready yet.

The natural starting place would be the exterior shot of the house, but we will depart from convention here and go directly to MY room. Yes, capital letters, this is MY room. The one room in the house I can do with as I please. It is my entertainment center, music room, recording studio, bar with rustic fireplace and general lounging area. Oh, yes, I forgot, my computer room, too.

Here is my throne from which I rule my kingdom, (and if you believe I rule, you’ve never been a male living with two adult women).

This next shot is my view while sitting on my, ahem, throne.

We move around the room now to the music corner just behind the throne area.

I call the long wall of the room the music wall. It is home to a stereo system, a pair of drum tables and my vintage stereo speakers. This sound system is separate from the Bose audio system the TV is broadcast through.

Next we step into an area that is coming together, but is still a work in progress. This is our living room and dining room.

We have not had a TV in the living room in the past, but Paulette refuses to have a TV in the bedroom and has declared the living room as her private TV room should she not like what I am viewing in my room.

Now we step over to what I refer to as “No man’s land.” Yep, it’s the kitchen and breakfast nook.

This is the other side of the kitchen so that those that care may see the fridge and stove setup.

We have a long porch that is accessed through my room and also the master bedroom which Paulette and I camp out in. This shot is taken from the outside door to the porch looking towards our bedroom door.

This next shot is of the porch taken from the viewpoint of our bedroom door.

I am going to throw in a shot of the fireplace mantle and the items I have displayed there. I do this because the two carved ceremonial masks that are on display were inherited by me from my parents. These two beautiful carved masks were on display in my parent’s house for many years and I have always admired them. Paulette hates them and does not want them on display. She is of the opinion that they are of demons and have no place in a Christian home. I have tried to explain that these ceremonial masks were used to ward demons off, but I am having trouble with this argument. Oh, well, that’s why we call this room MY room, LOL.

Here are two of the smallest pictures on display in my room by the door leading to the front hallway. These may be small but they each are very special to me. Looking around the room one might think the boatman has a nautical theme for this room.

Finally, I present you with a shot of the front of the house taken from across the street. We live on a cul-de-sac, so it is very peaceful with almost no traffic.

That’s the house, delivered as promised. I must admit it’s been kind of fun taking you on this tour. I’ll be back soon with the promised post of the High School Sailing Regatta. Until then, I’ll see Y’all on the docks!

American Glory

2007-03-07T18:29:00.000-08:00

It’s been an exciting week at the marina with a regional high school sailing regatta featuring sailing teams from high schools as far away as Tennessee and North Carolina. I’ll try and post some of the pictures in an upcoming entry. This coming weekend we are hosting the Deep South Sailing Regatta for the 51st year of this event. We had over 50 boats entered in last year’s 50th anniversary race and expect a good turnout again this year.

Now, I know I promised PICS of the new house, but I am begging at least one more week to post any. Paulette would kill me if I showed all the boxes, etc… Bear with me on this, they will come soon.

Now, have you ever seen an Agatha Christie movie or read a book where the action took place on a small cruise ship or tramp steamer and thought, “How romantic?” Did you figure that mode of transportation is of a different era and a thing of the past? Well, the small cruise line business is alive and well and I have some pictures to prove it.

At least twice a year, since I started working on the water, I have seen this small cruise ship pass by going one way or the other on the Intracoastal Waterway. I have always wondered about it. Where was it from? Where was it going? How does one book passage? I have snapped a few photos in the past that did not do the ship justice. It made an appearance this past fall and I was able to snap a shot or two. This time, on Dec.27th, I was better prepared and better armed for the task.

Here is a shot of its approach on the wide angle. You can only see a white spec, so I edited in the arrow to direct your eye to the part of the frame that the ship occupied.

I knew as soon as I saw it on the horizon that it was The American Glory cruise ship. I zoomed in and started shooting as it neared.

I did a web search and came up with some facts about the ship.

American Glory

Launched in July of 2002, American Glory was purpose built to cruise the Intracoastal and inshore coastlines of the eastern coastline. She is also very adaptable to larger rivers and lakes.

*Operator: American Cruise Lines*	*Capacity (double occupancy): 49*
*Builder: Chesapeake Ship Building*	*Full Capacity: 49*
*Inaugurated: July 2002*	*Space Ratio: 30.2 / 30.2*
*Gross Tonnage: 1,480 gt*	*Crew: 22*
*Length: 174 ft. / 53 m*	Berlitz® Rating: **

The actual Web Site for this cruise line, if you are interested is here: http://www.americancruiselines.com/

As the ship neared our marina I could just picture me on deck sipping a mimosa as the ship passed our docks.

I envisioned what dining aboard might be like as the stars twinkled above and I made my way forward, dressed to the nines in white dinner jacket and dress pants.

I could just hear the knock at my cabin in the middle of the night. The scream in the corridor, the crack of the gunshot, and the mysterious stranger crumpled on the carpet as I threw open the door. The vivacious damsel in distress would fly past me into my stateroom for protection from enemies unknown and unseen.

Then my radio would crackle to life where it hung on the belt clip at my waist and I would remember I was still the Dock Master walking the docks and dreaming of things that will never be except in that place of great adventure and fabulous journeys… my imagination.

I watched as The American Glory passed me by again, wending its way down the ICW, passing America by, and providing the passengers with breath-taking view after view on the American waterway.

After its passing, I stood there on the docks reflecting on my own fate and position in life. I must admit, after the wake had settled and the ship had departed the horizon, I felt at a loss to want for more.

I was privileged to enjoy this view every working day of my life and could not come up with any reason to feel slighted or unfulfilled. I have my own adventures every day in some small way and really could not imagine a life different than the one I have forged and am living. I turned in the other direction, and gazed at the spot on the horizon where The American Glory had first appeared. The waterway was calm and the wreck of the old shrimp boat stirred more thoughts in my imagination.

Yes, I smiled as I turned and walked off the docks. With all of this, who needs to travel for their adventure? In my mind, I have all the adventure and intrigue I need right here in my own back yard.

A Bird's Story

2007-02-28T18:15:00.000-08:00

Ok, the move is officially over. We had the final walk-through at the old place today and were praised for our cleaning efforts. A Marine Inspector General would have found no dust on his white gloves had he checked it out. The owner was very pleased. Later, the leasing agent, who was there, too, made a comment that it really only had to be “swept clean” for them to give us back the full deposit. I did not want to hear it, LOL! Back to life as I once knew it.

Many commented on my last post that they would like to see pictures of the new house and I promise to post them. Next time! Tonight I want to share some pictures that I am quite proud of taken with my new camera that I got for Christmas.

I did nothing on Christmas day except to charge the battery that it came with and read the manual cover to cover. The next day I turned it on and experimented in the house with it.

The camera is a Kodak P712. You could not buy these in stores before Christmas and it was ordered online for me. This camera is not an SLR, but has all the features of an SLR and comes with a 12X optical zoom lens.

I took it with me to work my first day back after the holiday and found an excuse to launch one of the Marina boats. I had a mission and I wanted to see if the new camera was up to the task.

There is an island nearby that hosts a huge nest high up in an old dead tree. The tree is on the back side of the island away from the boating traffic on the river and is very hard to see if you do not know it is there. Even on the back side of the island, it is a great distance inland from the bank.

This nest has hosted osprey families as well as a family of eagles over the years. This year’s resident is an osprey and I was dying to get a good shot of the nest. I did not dare think I would be lucky enough to even see the bird on this trip.

I had tried to get a shot of the nest from the back side of the island, but the sun was in the wrong position, so I motored to the front of the island on the main river. After I shot the above picture, I looked to my right down the shoreline and something in a tree on the bank caught my eye.

I could not tell what was in the tree, but I shot this picture and then tried to get closer at a better angle to check it out. Applying the great zoom feature, I was able to make out that is was, indeed, the osprey.

I had to try and get a better shot of the bird. I wanted a solid background behind it and I wanted to be as close as I could. I would start the motor and get a little speed, then shut it off and drift towards the bird’s position. Then I would take a shot and repeat the process.

The osprey kept its eye on me but let me approach much closer than I had any right to expect and that is when I snapped this picture. I was in a rocking boat and had no tripod with me. There is no editing except for sizing on any of the pictures shown here… no cropping or anything.

Shortly after I shot this picture the osprey decided that I had gotten a little too close and flew away. I sat there in the boat with my heart pounding from the excitement of the experience. I thought I had taken a good shot but did not realize until later just how good it really would turn out to be.

Looking around while I sat there and composed myself, I saw two interesting features on the shoreline that I captured as well. The first was a fallen tree that caught my eye.

<FONTFACE=ARIAL size="4" color="#0000a0">The second was a system of roots from a tree long ago fallen and not apparent anymore.

I just thought it looked interesting and shot it. Next time I’m back at this location, I’ll try and get into a position where I can shoot the root system without the houses in the background. The houses, by the way, are a lot farther away than they appear to be in this photo and are not on the island at all.

It was a fun little excursion for me and exciting, too. I’ve had occasion to shoot a few more things on the river since then that I’ll share some of those in future posts. I’ll also throw in some pictures of the new house next time. I hope you enjoyed some of these pictures, because I had a blast getting them. Until next time, take care and be safe!

The Big Move

2007-02-21T17:05:00.000-08:00

I figured I’d better post an update just to let everyone know that we are alive and survived the move, well, er… more or less. At any rate we are in the new house. One of the drawbacks of not posting for such a long time is that so much happens and one doesn’t know where to start to bring everyone up to speed on what’s been going on. I’m going to give it shot, though.

When I posted last, it was the week before Christmas and the great housing search of 2007 had just begun. We looked at so many houses, my head began to hurt. We found and bargained for more than one where we were assured we had a deal only to be let down when it was time for pens to meet paper. After slap wearing out two different agents, we finally found a place on our own and struck a deal we were happy with.

During the great search, Paulette changed jobs, the family desktop computer died a ghastly death and Paulette’s car bit the dust and our kitty, Emmie, became sick. It was getting her a new car that became top priority, I couldn’t do without my truck and transportation became critical because Paulette has to do a great deal of driving for the new job. With the kind help of one of my customers at the marina, we were given a deal on a good car that met her needs and did not totally bankrupt us.

Due tothe tightened money situation, our only way of keeping costs down for the move was to pack the household ourselves and to have me take a week off and move all the boxes and loose stuff in a least a million trips with my little pickup truck. We had professionals move the furniture, but moving everything else by me saved a few hundred dollars. It did not save my back, though, and I am keeping the Ben Gay Company in business by generously applying their ointment nightly to the offended area.

All that is left to be done at the old place is to remove the screened gazebo that I constructed, have the carpets cleaned and blow the leaves out of the eaves one final time. Only one or two more trips over there and I am done with it.

We took Emmie to the Veterinarian twice. The first time was the week before the move. The Vet found a place on one of her pads that had cracked and did a repair to it and thought she might have a sprain, as well. He told us to keep an eye on her and let him know in a week if she did not get better. She seemed better for a day, but became lethargic and seemed to be getting more crippled each day after that. We knew that we would have to take her in again, but had to get through the big moving days of last weekend first.

Monday saw Sandy and myself taking Emmie in to see the Vet again and this time her temperature was more elevated than on the last visit. He gave her a cortisone injection in her left hind quarter and gave me some antibiotics to mix with her food twice a day. I’ve been getting the medicine down her successfully and she has improved dramatically over the last two days and seemed her old self as I left for work this morning. What a relief!

I was able to purchase a computer on Sunday at Best Buy using the generous gift card my sister had sent me for Christmas, thanks Jan! I chipped in some of my other savings as well. It is a basic computer on the budget minded end of the spectrum, but will suffice. I think it will be just fine after I upgrade the Ram memory in a few weeks. It turned out that the Cable connection for our high speed broadband service did not work in the room where we set the office up. Figures! The guy finally came and fixed it at 5 pm on Tuesday and I unpacked the new beast and put it together.

I was very happy with the Windows XP operating system and all of my software is for Windows XP. Almost all new computers now come with the Windows Vista operating system and most of the software programs I needed to install, (McAffee Security, Drivers for my printer, etc…), would produce a warning that said that the program had known compatibility issues with Windows Vista and warned not to proceed.

The saving grace is that with a high speed internet connection Windows Vista makes it very easy to go to each software manufacturer’s website for the Window Vistas Fix download for their respective programs. Whew, time consuming, a bit scary, but a life saver and successful, so far. It took over three and a half hours last night just to get the computer online, protected, and successfully connected to a working printer.

To say that I am emotionally, financially, and physically exhausted right now would be an understatement. I’ll survive, though! There is light at the end of the tunnel and good living is once again within my grasp by the end of another week. I received a new camera for Christmas and I am looking forward to telling you about it and sharing some of the shots I took before this whole moving thing took over my life.

To those who have been coming to this site from time to time to check for any new posts and were disappointed, I am sorry for the long wait. I promise that I will post again by Tuesday night of next week and will try to, at the very least, get back on my weekly posting schedule. In the meantime, I hope you are all well and wish you all the best for 2007.

Christmas Feelings

2006-12-23T19:25:00.000-08:00

This Christmas season has been different. I started out as I always do playing Christmas songs and trying to get more in the spirit as the big day looms. But something was out of kilter. I have read many journals in J-Land where the Christmas spirit seems hard to muster for 2006.

My heart goes out to those of you who are having a hard time of it. You will all be in my thoughts this Christmas morning. My own worries pale in comparison to what others are experiencing and I hesitate to even mention them. I want to keep everyone in the loop, though.

We learned about ten days ago that our landlord’s father fell and broke his hip. His father and mother are in their mid seventies and he feels the need to move them to Savannah so that family and friends can check in on them each week. He will be renting the house to his parents when our lease expires at the end of February. We will have to move!

So, amid all the rush and hoopla of the season, we have been looking at real estate with more of an eye towards buying this time instead of renting. Yes, we have decided to start putting down some roots here in the Savannah area. We’ve lived here ten years now, so I guess it’s about time.

With the added stress and time invested in looking at available housing, I have been behind in my shopping and had to play catch up with all my Christmas chores. Finally, my shopping is all done and I only have to work until noon tomorrow on Christmas Eve. I’ll finish wrapping all the presents when I get home.

Tonight I am going to push all of the thoughts of anxiety out the window and sit down once more with my guitar to share another seasonal song. I hope you have a Merry Christmas come Monday and may all your prayers be answered. Peace and Joy to you all!

Christmas Boat Parade

2006-12-08T16:42:00.000-08:00

Are we all in the Christmas spirit yet? This time of year provokes so many emotions on so many different levels; it’s hard to sort them out sometimes. I start to miss family and friends I haven’t seen in what seems like forever. I sit in quiet moments reflecting on Christmas Seasons past.

I remember my mother, as I was growing up, always trying to provide us with a Christmas to remember for a lifetime. She liked to get the tree up as early as possible and always tried to find something new to add to the decorations. We would have holiday music on the stereo as we came home from school each day. There was the planning of shopping excursions, lists being made, and something special always seemed to magically come out of the oven as we arrived.

I try and capture at least a little bit of that same feeling each year. Time just seems to move faster as I grow older, though. There doesn’t seem to be as many days now between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day as there used to be. Did someone take some of those days off the calendar or did the world start turning faster?

My mother was the type of person that liked to sing when she was happy in the kitchen. Not by herself, but along with the radio when an old favorite would start to play. As I got better on the guitar each year, I would pull out the Christmas sheet music and play while she puttered around singing to the tune I was playing.

Mother has been gone many years now, but every year I pull out the Christmas sheet music sometime around Thanksgiving and start practicing the old songs again. This year has been no different. It makes no matter that I am usually alone when I play the favored songs. In my mind I am surrounded by family and good friends as we mangle our way through verse and note. I still think about you Mom, and I still play our favorite songs. God Bless You!

Christmas season on the waterfront is kicked off each year with a boat parade. The boats are decorated like Christmas trees and, on the designated night, they motor by the viewing area in single file as each boat is judged for Most Creative, Best Overall Theme, Best Use of Lights, etc, etc…

This was the first year our facility hosted the Thunderbolt Boat Parade, not to be confused with the Savannah Parade of Lights that was held the week before on the Savannah River. This Parade is held yearly on the Wilmington River and meanders through the waterfront community of Thunderbolt and the surrounding area. We really had a blast and will probably be hosting the event now for years to come. I am not very experienced at using my camera in total darkness, so many of my shots did not come out at all and most are rather dim, but I put this collage together to give you the flavor or the event.

This next shot is one I took that afternoon because I did not think this little boat would show up very well in the darkness. It does put a festive look to the little craft though, don’t you think?

Some of you asked about the crafts that Paulette created that were mentioned in my last post. Her main endeavor this year has been with scented crystals. It’s her thing, though and I am just on standby as chief gofer and bottle washer. If she has any degree of success, you may hear more about this next year.

I’d like to end this on a lighter note and, in my attempt to get you into the Christmas spirit, I may just send you into a fit of laughter. Let me just say now that I am not a professional singer. This song I offer up as one of my favorite songs I used to sing with Mom in the kitchen chiming in. Sister Jan and Cousin Lynn, if you are reading this and listening, I hope it evokes the same good memories for you as well. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas, J-land; I will be posting again before Christmas. See you all then.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-23T04:53:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! Today is not just about big meals and good food; It is a day to reflect on our blessings and to remember all that we have to be thankful for. For me, this has always been a day to reflect on loved ones, family and friends, who touch our lives in so many ways.

My thanks today include the many friends and acquaintances I’ve made through this journal. How lucky I am to live in an age that made this virtual community possible. J-land has proved to be a community beyond the virtual boundaries where real and tangible friendships have been forged. May you all enjoy the warmth of family and good friends today. Yes, Happy Thanksgiving, J-Land.

I’d like to take a moment to right an oversight and give credit where credit is due. When I posted my Halloween entry for trick or treat, I credited Donna at D’s designs for the graphic I used. I forgot to give credit to Dona at, "Blue Skies and Gentle Breezes," for the Halloween theme colors and fonts used. The instructions for the J-Land trick or treat series was to copy and paste the instructions into your post. I was reading Dona’s journal at the time and copied and pasted from her page and completely forgot to give her a mention in my post. Sorry Dona, it was not intentional.

Just to make sure I don’t pull the same mistake again, my thanks to Donna over at, “This and That and Hockey!” for the graphic I used today at the top of this posts.

We have been busy at our household this fall season. I spent an entire weekend cleaning out one of our two storage units, a holdover from the days when we lived aboard the boat we owned at the time. I was able, with Paulette’s help, to consolidate into one unit and cut our storage expenses in half.

About that time Paulette decided to do some arts and crafts to sell this year. That meant that I would be involved, of course. We finished up just in time for the first crafts show we had booked into and have at least one more weekend of selling scheduled in the near future. Yes, this fall has been a much busier season than I would have normally anticipated.

There have been a couple of interesting events at the marina since my last post. The first one was an opportunity to get a few shots of the Coast Guard Cutter Anvil. This is the tug and barge the Coast Guard uses to maintain the navigational markings in the Intra Coastal Waterway and in bays and harbors up and down the coast. This work is critical to the safe navigation of these waters by commercial and recreational vessels.

This first shot shows the name on her stern.

The Anvil passes by here several times a year as it goes up and down the waterway. I have always been just a little too late to get a good shot of her in the past, even though I really had wanted one. The other day she stopped right in front of the marina to take some core samples of the bottom of the waterway in this area. I was off to grab my camera in a flash and got a great series of pictures. Here’s one more showing her in all her glory.

I have posted shots in the past of interesting things I have had to pull out of the water at the marina to dispose of. I will probably never run out of these kinds of things to show and tell here. A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a tree floating in the side creek part of our marina. I couldn’t do anything about it that day due to the tide, current, and time of day. The next day I looked for the tree and did not see it. Whew, I thought, and started walking my rounds up and down the docks. It wasn’t long before I spotted this tree again. This time it was floating towards the dock at a higher rate of speed. I watched as it hit a portion of the dock and immediately got wedged, half under the dock and half out.

I launched the tiny club work boat and got a line wrapped on the tree. The boat was too small to pull the tree out from underneath the dock. Thank goodness the tree lodged itself under the dock right next to our hoist system. I was able to carefully dislodge the tree using the hoist motors.

We loaded the tree onto our work trailer and hauled it off to the back part of the property. We’re going to let the tree dry out, then cut it up with a chain saw and stack it up for firewood. Its a black hickory tree and will make fine firewood once it is dried.

Well, that’s about all I’ve got to share for now. I’ll try not to let so much time elapse before my next post, but I’ve promised that before and life always seems to step in, presenting me with new situations that keep me away from the keyboard. Take care and God Bless! Oh, and once again, Happy Thanksgiving!

Halloween Potpourri

2006-10-26T15:41:00.000-07:00

I don’t know about the rest of you, but dealing with software issues is scary for me. With that being said, here is my scary Halloween story.

I have been having software issues for a couple of weeks now. I really enjoy getting my AOL for free these days, but I would almost be willing to pay three or four dollars a month to have that “Live Support” option returned. I’m sure a few of you have felt the same since the “big change.”

My troubles seem to have started small with little annoying things happening like not being able to turn the computer off in the normal way. Later, they escalated and when I got Emails with those cute video presentations, the presentations would never load and play.

I cannot tell you how many times I clicked on the button that said click here to download the Adobe Flash Player 7 in order to see the video. Every time I did this, nothing happened. Well, actually the screen said that the download was successful, but I would click on the play video button in the Email again and got the same message as before. Each time I would fiddle with my Internet Explorer settings and try again. I would save the Email as new for days and try, try, try to get the #### video to play, but to no avail.

I got a notice on the screen this past week that one of my security software packages was about to expire and I needed to go to the link and pay more than I would at the local store to “renew” my security subscription. Hmmm, I thought, in view of my other problems, perhaps it was time to review my entire security strategy.

I decided that I would no longer piece together a mish mash of different software for anti-spy, anti-virus, firewall, and so forth. I would buy a total package from one of the major players and cover everything under one umbrella that would all expire on the same date next year. The price of getting it all bundled together would be less than half of what it would have cost to buy each package separately. Off to the store I went this weekend and was extremely pleased at the price I ended up paying for this total security package.

I spent my free time Monday uninstalling software and installing the new security package. Everything went well enough and my computer now shuts down in the normal way and in a very timely fashion again. What was the problem? Well, it turns out that AOL does not support this manufacturer’s software so the security screen on AOL tells me that the firewall and antivirus software is not detected. This was the point where I wanted to chat live online with an AOLtechnician or call them on the phone.

I kept with it, though and got a screen up finally that told me that AOL does indeed detect that I have this security loaded and running, but since AOL does not support this manufacturer’s software anymore, it did not know the status of these programs. At one time AOL offered security protection from this same company, then one day AOL said they no longer had an agreement with that company and that they were going with a different company for their free online security. I guess the falling out between the two companies was not a nice one, LOL.

I finally found a way to verify that my computer was being protected even while using AOL and breathed a sigh of relief. The next day AOL would not work right. I could not access other journals and it took forever for AOL to recognize my password and sign me on. Now, instead of doing the smart thing and asking other journal writers if they were having the same problems that day, I over reacted and uninstalled all of my AOL software.

I must have at least ten AOL software CD’s that I’ve received in the mail in the past couple of years. I grabbed one and loaded it up. Turns out it was a pretty old version compared to what I was running before I wiped AOL off the computer. I was able to sign on quickly,but had other problems and AOL was continually sending me downloads trying to update this version for me. I located a more recent AOL CD and removed the old program and installed the new one.

Things are working pretty well again with all the features I’ve become accustomed to however, AOL is still taking a long time to recognize my password at sign on. I’ll live with it! Another day spent in front of the computer uninstalling and installing software. Another day off burned up faster than one can say Dock Master. At least I made it to my yearly physical in time Tuesday morning before starting the final round of software battles.

The good news is that I am the picture of health! My cholesterol numbers were some of the lowest the doctor had seen and my PSA reading was right on target. I have to lose some weight, but other than that I am good to go! Whew! I was so happy I even let them give me a flu shot while I was there.

The point of this post is to share this experience with others so they may better choose how to react if the same things start happening to them. Had I asked some of the other journal writers about my AOL problems, I would have found out that AOL in general was having problems that day. The problem with downloading the Flash Player 7 software was caused by some free software I had downloaded called Download Manager. The very first time I downloaded the Flash Player, it was successful, it just would not install because of where the Download Manager program had store the installation file. I was able to ferret it out with my file search tools and got it to install properly, but only after I got rid of the Download Manager program.

I ran the disk defragmenter program after all of this was done and my computer is running as fast as it ever has, I now have complete security across the board under one manufacturer with a common installation date, and my computer turns itself off like it is supposed to when I tell it to. The exercise was not a loss at all.

Before I forget, I must tell you that the effort that Paulette and I put into her resume last week paid off. In just one week’s time she has two interviews lined up both as a result of sending that resume out. Way to go Paulette, knock ‘em dead and get that job! I would just love to be a kept man. Well, one can dream, can’t they? LOL!

I had some pictures I wanted to share and tell you about. I’ve taken up so much space just writing this time I think I’ll leave you with this pretty shot of one branch of the marina and post the rest the next time. Happy Halloween everyone and don’t forget to set your clocks and watches back for the time change Saturday night at 2 am.

Trick or Treat through J-Land

2006-10-26T15:27:00.000-07:00

Want to play? Title an entry "Trick or Treat Through J-Land", then copy & paste these instuctions so others can play.

Visit as many journals as you can that have a "Trick or Treat" entry & leave comments with your links.

BOO!

(My thanks to Donna at D'sDesigns for the graphic I used above.)

Flowing With The Tide

2006-10-18T17:01:00.000-07:00

I like to do my posts every Monday or Tuesday. Here it is again, though, another Wednesday and I’m just getting this down. Oh well, at least I’m sitting here doing it and not letting it slide this week.

I have an excuse this time. I was helping Paulette on the computer. I’d better word the rest of this entry very carefully or I might end up sleeping on the couch tonight, but here’s what happened.

Paulette wanted to update her resume on the computer and did not know how to access the program or programs that we use to do our resumes with. More than that, she wanted me to instruct her on how to use the program herself so that I would not have to help her each time. Sounds easy and a win – win situation, right? Well, you forgot I used the word, “instruct.” There was trouble brewing and I was going to be right smack in the middle of it!

There is one thing you may not know about me. I was a part-time college instructor for a two year period earlier in life. I taught broadcast communications at a small college in Florida in the mid 1980’s. I was working as a producer/director at one of the local television stations at the time and taught to supplement my income. Armed with these credentials, the task at hand should be easy. Instructor… communications… okay, should be a snap, right? Let me just warn you right now: I am a trained professional, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!

Picture this: Paulette sitting at the keyboard with me hovering over her shoulder. I say put the cursor over the start button, she does and I hear “click, click!” I say, “Why did you double click on that? It takes a single click only.” The gauntlet is laid!

Paulette is smart and she is fast on the keyboard, much faster than I am. She held her ground with me getting louder with each exclamation and she getting madder. It was a fierce battle with both sides making thrusts and parries, the ultimate objective finally being met. I don’t know how, but we ended up with a new resume and kept our marriage intact. It took most of the day!

With all the weird weather across the country these days, I was intrigued when I saw a weather front push through our area the other day. I had my camera handy and snapped this shot of the leading edge of the weather system.

I mentioned in a previous post about our spring tides here in Georgia. The reference was made in regards to the marsh grass that the spring tides wash into the marina. We have been having much higher spring tides than normal and I snapped a few pictures to show you what a difference there is here between high tide and low tide.

When I lived in Florida, I got used to tides and tidal movement. The tides in the Tampa Bay area averaged about two and a half feet to three feet high. Here in Savannah, Georgia, our tides average seven and a half feet to eight feet. Recently the spring tides have been running over nine feet and it makes for some dramatic pictures. This first picture show the ramp from our sea wall to the floating docks going upward instead of the usual downward slope we are used to seeing.

In this next set of two pictures, I stood on the sea wall and shot the ramp first at high tide and six hours later from the same spot, I snapped one at low tide. Look at the difference!

This next shot was taken from the floating dock shooting back at the shore line. Notice we are shooting at a downward angle towards the shore… it makes for a very strange sensation.

There is a hole bored through the sea wall near the very top of it to allow fuel lines and power lines to feed through out to the dock. This same hole allows the salt water to pour onto shore during the extreme high tide.

This next shot shows you the ramp as seen from the water side looking down the ramp back towards shore and then there are two shots side by side showing the angle of incline as seen from the side view.

These rare and extreme high tides draw a lot of attention locally and, as I said earlier, it is a very strange sensation looking up at docks you always look down at. Just another peek into my little corner of the world, I hope you enjoyed it. As the sun sets in this final picture, I post this entry and wish you all the very best until next time we meet.

The Great Safari of '06

2006-10-04T15:43:00.000-07:00

I can’t begin to tell you how much fun I have been having with the tripod I recently acquired, and my camera, now that I have learned how to shoot in the macro mode. The camera tripod was an early birthday present I purchased a couple of weeks ago.

Yes, I said the “B” word. I turned 55 since my last post. I am now officially in the prime of my life. I’m way over the hill. I hit the ‘ole double nickel. Yes, that’s my age, not the speed limit. And the clichés and the adages go one, LOL. Honestly, I don’t feel any older but I guess I am.

It’s a beautiful day at the marina and I finished my daily check list very early in order to go on a little photo safari around the property. This shot above was taken not ten minutes ago just to give you a peek at how nice it is. The temperatures are hitting the low to mid eighties for a high today and it will get down into the fifties tonight. Here in southern Georgia, that’s a beautiful fall day.

I armed my self with camera and tripod and hopped into my golf cart to seek out the beauty hidden amidst the mundane. I only had to travel about twenty feet from my dock shack to find my first target of opportunity. It seemed hardly worth the use of the golf cart.

What you are looking at in this wide shot is an electric transformer, actually two of them, that supplies electricity to half of the marina. Management decided to hide them behind these bushes which flower nicely and grow quickly. Macro Man zeros in on his target!

Demonstrating his adept placement of tripod and the fact that he actually CAN center a subject in the frame, he goes in for the extreme close ups he has been stalking.

I got really carried away, so there are going to be quite a few of these in this post. Sorry, but I threw in the very first shot above for those who stopped by just to see some boats and the water, LOL.

Here is a close up of the two blossoms. For the next shot, I moved the tripod over and captured a vertical grouping of some of these flowers.

This next close up of the single blossom is one of my very favorite shots I’ve taken to date.

I took a few more shots for good measure and loaded my tripod and camera back into the golf cart and traveled to another far reach of the property. Here, by a corner of a fence, is a grouping of orchid type lilies that caught my eye. First the wide shot so you can see what I first saw before I once again became Macro Man.

Here are some close ups taken from the blossoms in this patch of flowers.

I decided to do some experimenting. In this next shot, the flower is too high and I have to shoot up at it. There is a bright background and because of this the blossom appears to be a little dark. I turned on the flash option and pressed the shutter once more. Here is the before and after.

I wanted to find a bit of autumn colors on the property, if I could. I went to the other end of the main building at the marina and looked up to see that some leaves had changed colors in one of the trees. I took a shot so you could get an idea of what the tree looked like, then, I zoomed in a bit. Next, I went around the corner of the building and shot back at the tree with a different lighting situation and that produced quite a different shot, I think.

The last shot I will leave you with is one that I am really proud of. I have admired the Spanish moss hanging from this one oak tree on the property for ages. I’ve tried to shoot it a few times before and never felt I did justice to the subject. I turned around after the last show of the changing leaves and realized I had never tried shooting the moss from this angle and snapped a shot that I think really captured the feeling of the old south.

The birthday celebrations were good. We had gone out to dinner for our recent anniversary, then a few weeks later for Sandy’s birthday. I decided I wanted to stay home and order pizza, which we do not do very often anymore. So, I had pizza, cheesecake and great company. Now, somebody roll me over to the exercise equipment. I have got to start working all of this off again!

A Shipyard Tour!

2006-09-26T10:56:00.000-07:00

It’s been an interesting week for me with a combination of some new discoveries, a lot of hard work, and new contact with a couple of very special people. I’m going to share my new discovery first.

My camera has a macro setting on it. I never knew that before. I was reading the instruction booklet to learn more about using it as a webcam and camcorder and I stumbled across the instructions on how to use the macro feature. Macro is just a term for extreme close up. I recently purchased an inexpensive tripod for shooting some video so I’m all set to try the macro feature. Here are two close up shots of some blooming flowers in the front of our house.

As you can see, I’m not an expert at framing, background, and subject matter yet, but it’s a beginning. I was just happy that I could now focus on something that close up to the camera.

The hard work was because of a very busy weekend due to some great weather and the absence of my new assistant. He had to go out to Wyoming to be the best man at his best friend’s wedding. This was no surprise; he covered his need to be away this weekend in the interview process. I had my high school part timer to help out, but he didn’t come in until 3:30 each afternoon and believe me when I tell you I was really running to keep up with it all. I got through it and did not have even a single complaint, so all is well on the work scene.

The new contact with special people was great. My sister, Jan, has two fine offspring whom I have lost contact with over the last couple of years due to career constraints, busy schedules, and very long distances between us. I had the opportunity to catch up with both Carrie and Evan and learn of all the happenings in their lives right now. They are living out in Arizona at the moment. Carrie is on active duty with the US Air Force and Evan is a food and beverage manager for a very upscale and popular restaurant out that way.

I learned that Evan has developed a vocal talent I did not previously know about and he is learning to play the guitar as well. If I can ever get what I need in order to do some good video, I plan on exchanging tapes and tips with Evan. He used to really enjoy listening to me play the guitar when he was a youngster. If I can be of any help to him now, I would welcome the opportunity.

That pretty much sums up my week. I have something else I want to share today, as well, though. Not too long ago, I was given a tour of that big Ship Yard in Thunderbolt. That is the yard that does the work on the mega yachts and I’ve posted some PICS in previous entries of the facility as seen from the water. I always was curious as to how they moved those huge ships around on land to work on them and I finally got my answers.

Here is a shot of the work yard area of the facility as seen from the water.

They have a railway system that goes out on a pier. The ship is maneuvered at the end of the pier over a platform that has supports and can be lowered into the water and raised up again with the ship resting on the supports. This next shot shows the supports on the rail system without a ship on it.

This next shot is of the same railway system but with a ship.

You can also see one of the tractors that are used to pull the rail system with the ship on it. This tractor has a front loader on it like a bulldozer.

There are some huge airplane hangar-like buildings that they take these ships into for certain types of work. The different sections are called work bays. They can move the ship off of the pier and into each work bay via a sliding track rail system. One work bay might be a paint shop; another one might be for mechanical work. Here is a shot of the sliding rail.

The next shot is of a ship in the paint bay.

The last shot that I have to share gives you a feeling for all the activity going on at this shipyard.

So, there you have it, the Georgia Boatman’s dime tour of a real working shipyard. I’m sure you can sleep better at night now that you are armed with all of this information. Personally, I was thrilled to get the tour. Until next time, I’ll see Ya on the docks!

VIVI Time Once More!

2006-09-19T10:39:00.000-07:00

It’s been a very busy week for me and, as much as I enjoyed it, I am glad it’s over now. We hosted the Leukemia Cup Regatta at the marina for the tenth year in a row. I took my camera with me to work, but for the first time in a long time, I was not able to get away to shoot any pictures of the event. We were hosting a big fishing tournament at the same time this year. You know me, when there is something going on and I have my camera, I squeeze off a few shots. That I didn’t get any shots at all should tell you just how busy we really were

Other than a couple more fishing tournaments, that is just about the last big hoopla of this year’s season. We will settle into our winter routine in the coming weeks and I’ll have a lot more time to take pictures again.

It’s that time of year again here in J-Land, too!

The Vivi Awards will be held again this year thanks to the dedication and hard work of this year’s committee. To put this together and pull it off takes some very hard work and all of the committee members deserve more than just a pat on the back in my humble opinion. Thank you, to all who are

doing so much to make this happen again this year.

The Vivi Awards are a way of recognizing the excellence of our fellow journalists within the framework of AOL Journals. The huge benefit each year to all is the exposure we all get to new journals, that is journals we have not discovered and read before. There is so much talent here in J-Land and to be able to search through the recommended journals always turns up some great finds for me.

If you haven’t done so yet, please take the time to go to the Vivi Awards site and see all of the names that are being suggested this year. Just click on the above link. Go to these journals and have a read and be ready with your own opinions when the voting starts.

While I’m on the subject of new journals, I’ve been reading a couple lately that I only recently discovered. One is an AOL Journal and the other is not. The AOL Journal I refer to is “Comments On The Events Of My Life.” Bill has had an extraordinary life and shares with us stories and photos. He is a true American hero as he was one of the volunteers helping out at Ground Zero after the attacks of 9-11-2001. His background as a former New York City police officer and a New York City fireman gives him an insightful perspective. He just got a new digital camera and I am really looking forward to seeing him make that baby sing in upcoming posts. Click on the above link and check him out if you get a chance.

The second new journal I want to tell you about is written by a Lady named Nancie who works for AOL and is in charge of Community Experiences here. She has started a journal, “Hummingbird Mind,” in which she talks about becoming an Empty Nester and also updates us on new literary offerings as they appear on the scene. Give her journal a read if I’ve stirred your curiosity. You can find her by clicking on the above link. If you visit any of theseor other journals you have not read before, leave a comment so they will know you’ve been there. Even if you only say, “Hi!” all of us journal writers enjoy knowing someone has stopped by to scan our sites.

I’m off now to spend the rest of my day off experimenting with some sound and video equipment. Who knows, I may have some very interesting (or not) entries in the coming weeks if all goes well. Take care and I’ll see Ya next time!

Memories

2006-09-05T15:23:00.000-07:00

I have a story I want to share with you about a film commercial that I was a part of years ago. I have yet to find the pictures of that shoot, but in my search for them today, I found some of Paulette and I that were taken in 1989 during the period of our courtship.

I believe the pictures that I was searching for are now living in a box in our storage unit. That storage unit is a ten or fifteen minute drive from here. That’s a drive that I don’t want to make today so I decided to show you these pictures instead. After all, these pictures live in a picture envelope that is stuffed in a drawer and are serving no purpose at all to anyone. So, I wiped the dust off of them, popped them onto my scanner and I offer them up to you now as a glimpse into a period of our family history right about the time we were deciding to become a family.

This first shot is of me standing on the deck of the Halcyon sipping a drink as the sun falls over the yardarm. Not that there ever was a yardarm on the Halcyon, but it’s a nautical phrase and it sounds kind of neat to say.

This next shot is of me holding up a grouper that Jack Cosgrove and I caught while trolling in the Tampa Bay ship’s channel on the Halcyon. One of my very first entries in this journal was of that fishing trip with Jack, but the picture I used in that post showed Jack holding the fish. To be fair, Jack hooked the fish. By the time I got the boat into neutral and got down from the upper steering station to join Jack on the deck, Jack thought the fish had gotten off the line. He handed the rod to me and I started reeling it in. I, too, thought there was no fish on until the fish was reeled in close enough to see the boat. Suddenly the rod doubled as the fish strained to get away. Jack and I stood our ground and finally got the fish over the rails and onto the boat.

This next shot is of me holding up an eight and a half pound lobster that I caught while scuba diving with my pal, Ken Kelly. We were about twelve miles off of Clearwater Beach diving from my twenty foot Wellcraft named Reel To Reel. I stumbled across some pictures of the Reel To Reel today and may post one in a later entry for y’all to see. This lobster took me three full meals to eat. Lobster is my favorite meal right behind a good steak. I had a big appetite even back then, so you know that this was a huge lobster.

The next two pictures are of Paulette and I as we were leaving the marina to attend a Christmas party in Tampa, Florida about a thirty minute drive north from where we kept the Halcyon docked. It’s hard to believe we were so young. It’s even harder to accept that we are no longer young like that, LOL! Oh well, we are still young in our hearts and spirits and that is what matters, I guess.

Although Paulette and I were not married yet when I purchased the Halcyon, we were seriously dating and Paulette was very involved with me in the selection process. Our lives centered on boating back then and we seized every opportunity we could to enjoy the Halcyon. There was a little island in Tampa Bay near the shipping channel that had a perfect little cove on the protected side of it. This little cove was perfect to anchor the Halcyon in. We would pull up on Friday evening and drop anchor and not leave until mid day on Sunday. Since the Halcyon had a generator, we had all the comforts of home right there at the island for the whole weekend. This shot is of Paulette and I on the top deck of the Halcyon with the Island in the background as we motored home. I’m sitting at the upper steering station and Paulette is right behind me sitting in a deck chair enjoying the breeze, the view and the taste of salt in the air.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look into the past with me. I do think these photos look a lot better on here than tucked away in that drawer. I found some pictures of film and video shoots I was on during my search through the family archives so I may show some of them soon. Unfortunately they were not the shoot I wanted to write about today. I’ll go to my storage unit in the next week or two and try and find the pictures I originally wanted to use today, as well.

In other news, everyone made it through the holiday weekend in one piece here. We are still experiencing weather in the low to mid nineties and 100% humidity. Science tells us that cooler weather is on the horizon, but it would be hard to prove to us right now. As for me, well, I had the day off today and I stayed in the blissful air conditioning all day long. It was a good day. I got in a little guitar playing, took a short nap, and threw this post together. It’s been fun, but I have some serious loafing to accomplish to finish out the day. See you next time!

The Great Bracket Caper

2006-08-29T12:55:00.000-07:00

This coming Labor Day will mark the end of my seventh summer at the marina. Yes, the final holiday weekend of the season is at hand. This always gives me pause to reflect and to try and gauge my successes and failures. Fortunately I’ve had few failures this summer and many successes. Not a bad way to close out a season.

Thinking back about all that has passed this summer I am struck by the size and scope of even small projects around a marina facility such as this one. Take, for instance, the brackets that had to be changed out at the beginning of this month.

These brackets are L shaped and are about 36” long on each side of the L. They are bolted through the docks at intersections to hold the dock together as one piece. We had two brackets on one intersection break in storm winds this past spring. In high wave action the docks could possibly sway enough for this failure to allow chafing of electric and water lines.

Part of the challenge is to get the company that services our docks out to our location for a job this small. With hurricane season upon us, we persevered and they finally arrived to change these brackets. What a major production this turned out to be.

Here is a wide shot showing the barge and crane that was part of the required equipment.

This next pic is of the intersection that needed reinforcing.

The shot above is of the brackets that broke and need to be replaced. The foul looking stuff in the water is called marsh grass and comes into the marina on what is called spring tides. A spring tide us an unusually high tide periodthat happens once a quarter and occurs on an average over a four day time span.

Guess whose job it is to pull the marsh grass out of the marina after the spring tides are over. Yep! You guessed it, mine! I use a device I fashioned myself that I pull behind a work boat to tow it out of the marina And I release it on an outgoing tide to drift out to the ocean.

These are the threaded rods that have to go all the way through the dock to the other side to bolt this whole bracket assembly together.

This next shot is one of the old, broken brackets being removed.

Here is a wide shot from the opposite angle. Quite an operation, I’d say. It took about a half day’s work for this crew to bring the barge and crane in, do the work and leave again with the barge and crane.

My new assistant is working out just fine and is a real help. Everyone likes him and I cannot tell you what a relief this is to me. This has been a good week and a great way to close out another season. If I don’t post before the holiday weekend, please take care and stay safe.

See Ya on the docks!

It's Been Awhile!

2006-08-21T10:42:00.000-07:00

Hello to all again! I’ve taken a bit of a break from this journal during the summer as the demands on my time and energy in the real world left me drained at the end of each day. In addition, there was a lot going on emotionally that took a toll. Don’t worry; Paulette, Sandy, and I are okay as well as the kitty, Emmie, and our newest addition, Emmie’s new kitty pal, Gracie. I'll write more about the new addition at a later time.

Right now I’d like to take a moment to thank all who wrote comments and Emails expressing concern over my absence. Thank you, my friends, for your concern and the support you give to me and all of our J-Land community.

This brings me to a big: HAPPY ANNIVERSARY J-LAND! Yes, we celebrated J-Land’s third anniversary this weekend. There were numerous celebration events including a huge J-Land chat session last night that I was lucky enough to take part in. It’s always a good time when all the journalists get together!

The graphics that you see here and on the sidebar were provided by Donna over at D’s Designs. She really did a great job this year providing celebration graphics for all of us to use and enjoy. Thanks, Donna!

Journals Editor Joe provided the Three Year Graphic on the side bar. If you've not found your way to Magic Smoke, you owe it to yourself to pay him a visit.

Many of you wrote to me asking if we had heard from Trenton and his parents. There is not much good news to share. Trace and Danielle have split up and moved to different states. Danielle is back in Reno, Nevada and Trace is working in Arizona.

Trenton is with Danielle and she refuses to let Trenton come and live with us until she gets back on her feet. She is filing for divorce and welfare at the same time.

Trace is doing well for his company in Arizona and is trying to live a drug free lifestyle. He sounds good and we have great hopes for his future.

We talk to Trenton on the phone twice a week now and he sounds as good as a youngster can considering his parents are not living together. He has been promised by his mom that he can come visit us for a few weeks next summer. We hope she does not change her mind.

As for Paulette and I, it’s out of our hands now. We just want to be loving grandparents and be kept out of the back and forth accusations and blame game that seems to always play out in these situations. The kids finally seem to realize what we are saying and we are now being spared the day to day drama.

As for me, life goes on. I’m still at the marina and taking care of things. It’s been particularly challenging this summer because I’ve gone the entire season without an assistant. I’ve had high school and college kids helping me, but I’ve had to do so much more than normal due to the lack of another adult on the staff.

We finally hired an assistant for me and he started a week ago. He’s a fast learner, thank goodness, and is going to work out very well. Things will settle back into a routine I’m more comfortable with now and I can devote more time and energy into keeping up with my J-Land friends and writing in this journal.

Lest I forget, let me wish my sister, Jan, a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SIS! Jan is a Colonel in the Army Reserves and is on active duty at Ft. Polk, Louisiana. We love you and are thinking about you and all of our troops on active duty!

I’ve still been taking pictures from time to time, so I’ve got some things from this summer to write about and share in future posts. I hope you have all been well and in good spirits.

I’ll be going around to all my favorite journals in the coming days and weeks to catch up again on the news and share a little gossip. Save me a seat on the back porch and we’ll share a cup of coffee or a spot of tea, as well.

Sam