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Our vacation officially ended at 8:45 p.m. this evening when we arrived chez nous. We made good time along clear roads. Our GPS, which I call Lucy, as in 'Lucy in the Sky with Directions,' gave unclear signals at one juncture which sent me the wrong way. It didn't change the duration of the voyage, but I did feel slightly ill at ease when I had to exit the pokey highway I was on to buy gas. I pulled up to a pump that wasn't working. I looked around and saw that I was in the 'hood. And it was not a pretty 'hood. The fellow manning the station was sheltered in a cubicle bunker of two inch thick bullet-proof glass. I could tell it was bullet proof because ... well, there were clues. The only opening was a credit card sized slot. A teenager in dreadlocks came up to me and asked me to take his money and buy him some liquor. He had forgotten his ID. I suggested he spend his money instead on a memory course. No I didn't. I found a working pump, pumped gas not in a leisurely fashion, and got my warm tires back on the sweet road.

Our travels brought us alongside New York City again. Even from across the Hudson River it is an impressive sight. For much of our trip today we enjoyed a sound track featuring the music of Bach. The man was a genius and in the resurrection I suspect he'll have a good career as a composer ahead of him.

Once we entered New York State we spotted snow again. And of course entering the Adirondack mountains re-introduced us to the material in a decisive way.

I took this photo while Carol was fishing out our winter coats again. Still, it was a good day and we are encouraged by the fact that tomorrow ends Quebec's mandatory period for winter tires on cars. From this we draw whatever seasonal encouragement we can.

For those of you who love verse, and I know that means none of you, here are a few lines that occurred to me while contemplating my Navel Orange in Florida ...

Vacation

A sky that is bright,
And sands that are white,
Some palms within view,
Some pelicans too,
Good book within reach,
Some shells on the beach,
A glittering sea,
Soft breeze upon me
Reclined in a chair
A sun hat to wear,
Sunglasses on face,
Sun lotion in place,
The waves’ plunging splash
The sandpipers’ dash,
A handy cool drink,
Some time just to think,
The joy to have freed
Some time just to read,
And also delight
With time just to write.
Home tasks must await.
Vacation? Vacate!

Thank you for following this little Blog and to all a good night.

Runnemede, New Jersey

The title indicates how far we made it today. Runnemede is only a few miles from a bridge that connects to Philadelphia. If ever you visit Runnemede, be sure to have a meal at Phily 50's Diner. This is no small diner! It's an institution here. We thought we were ordering modest meals but of course we were given plates burdened with food beyond what a sane person would attempt to eat at one sitting. But it was delicious, not at all the bland fare that often appears on a US restaurant table. And the price was also remarkably unambitious.

The following message is intended for Diana ...

Today we also took a short side trip to Australia because Carol acquired a hankering for TimTam cookies ever since she read about them in your newsletter. I was against this at first but finally gave in on the understanding we would stop only at a cookie shop, and not at the Australian equivalent of Winners. So when we got back and resumed our trip northward Carol was the happy owner of a supply of TimTam cookies.

Okay, the above photo is not among my best achievements in photography but, hey, it's late.
- End of Diana's message -

I'll close this entry on a sad note. I learned this morning that my friend for decades, Cy Devouge, has died. Since he was 95 years old it had to be expected, but he was a one-of-a-kind man, strongly devoted to serving Jehovah and speaking to others about him, a courageous person, and a man with a crazy sense of humor. We'll miss him and the spirit he displayed. It will be a happy day the next time we meet and I'll be able to say, "Cy, it is so good to see you again!"

Fayetteville, North Carolina

The first lap of our return trip brought us this far. No photos because I didn't take any. Besides, the rocket lift-off video in yesterday's Blog entry counts for two days.

Progress was slowed twice on the road, first by an accident involving a motorcycle which we passed after a half hour of crawling traffic. By the time we got to the accident scene the bike was being scraped onto a flat bed truck.

The second half hour delay was caused by an accident in traffic going the opposite way. Our slow down was due to all the rubbernecking on our side of the road.

Apart from those sobering incidents the day was good. The weather was outstanding. We found our supply of marmalade and achieved a reasonable distance. Supper at The Cracker Barrel next door was good. Our waiter - a young man named Trevor, with a strong southern accent - gave us excellent and friendly service. And that's all we have to report for Saturday, March 12, 2011.

The Sun Sets on New Smyrna Beach

The entire earth, all its continents, oceans and all that inhabit them, have completely carouseled in space a total of six times since we arrived here. You'd think such vast movement would take a much longer time than it has. So here we are seeing the sun set on New Smyrna Beach for our last time.

A last shot of the beach.

We were up to see the sunrise this morning again and it rose into a cloudless sky which remained thus all day. A two mile morning excursion to Edgewater, to visit a seller of citrus products, did not yield the desired selection of marmalades. They sold only the actual fruit which we find does not tough out the journey home all that well. Will we succeed in getting a marmalade supply before we leave Florida tomorrow? Or will we have to face a year of Provigo-purchased products on our toast? Stay tuned. Tomorrow will tell.

This afternoon was our final opportunity for beach-sitting and reading, and you can believe we took it. The Comedy of Errors has been completed and I recommend it.

Announcing a Blog Contest. Any one who can identify the thing in the photo below will win a free Florida seashell.

A long road awaits us.

P.S.
After writing the above, Carol turned on the 6:30 PM TV news which announced a rocket was about to be launched from Cape Canaveral at 6:38. That being about 45 miles south of us we hurried down to the beach to see it. A sudden bright flash on the horizon identified the spot and we watched the rocket climb until it was out of sight - an interesting conclusion to our week here.

Daytona - Part II

We went back to Daytona today. The skies were overcast, thunderstorms predicted, mistakenly, so we abandoned the beach to go looking for marmalade. We usually bring home a supply. You just can't beat Florida marmalade and they make such a good variety too.

We made for a Farmers' Market/Flea Market which advertised itself as a good source of the desired product, but came away disappointed. I also turned down some freebies offered in the Flea Market section.

Next we went to the manufacturer's store, Davidson's, down in Daytona Beach. It was a very fine store, well-stocked with what we wanted. A sign on the door bore the message, "Bike Week Hours: 9:00 AM - Noon" which we read at 12:30 PM.  I'm not clear on that concept but we are still without our supply.

Our tour of Atlantic Avenue in Daytona Beach was ... um ... interesting. More bikers than a quiet-loving person would care to see in his lifetime. We paused for a short excursion on Daytona Beach which is almost identical to New Smyrna Beach where we're staying, but New Smyrna Beach has fewer and smaller buildings along it.

 A couple of seagulls on guard duty.

 What they were guarding against.

Traffic was slow on the Avenue on the return trip and, for some reason which escapes me, bikers rev their motors frequently while waiting for traffic to move again. It's as though they're afraid the bikes will stall. In slow traffic this contributes the fragrance of exhaust fumes to the ceaseless, throaty, throbbing roar of motorcycle engines. Very many of these bike enthusiasts are older, gray-haired men. In fact I've never seen so many gray ponytails fluttering in exhaust fumes in all my life. If these fellows spent a lifetime in the uproar produced by their machines it explains why I saw some examples of sign-language communication too.

The above is not Atlantic Avenue. I wouldn't dare photograph bikers when they are swarming around me like bees. The above photo was taken on International Speedway Blvd. closer to the I-95.
And that's Thursday's story.

A New Day Dawns

At six fifteen this morning Carol suddenly called out, "Let's go to the beach! Let's watch the sunrise!" Having been sound asleep, I had to let myself down from the chandelier before we could go. We arrived on the beach ten minutes before the sun rose at exactly 6:41 AM.

The photo and video below attest to the event.

As you can tell, it was another magnificent day and we spent the first part of it around the pool, resting and reading. Our tans are becoming professional quality.

In the afternoon, when clouds moved in, we took a walk together through the neighborhood. We stopped at a small shopping area where Carol checked out a store while I sat on a bench with nothing to do but listen to an old hippie tell the story of his life to a woman he began conversing with in an outside café. I didn't mean to eavesdrop but the fellow spoke so loud it was hard to ignore, and I'm a man whose hearing isn't particularly good.

So now I, and a few other bench sitters, know all about his life and hard times, his two divorces, the fact he has no fixed address, how he stayed for two months with his brother in South Carolina who then kicked him out. But since things are not working out for him here in Florida he's planning to re-visit his brother again.

I could tell you more but this is not the time or the place to discuss these things.

Carol and I came back from our walk with me carrying a beautiful peach pie. By the way, there is an Eddie Street here and a Carol Street too. Unfortunately, these two streets have never met so there's no hanging out at the corner of Eddie and Carol.

I like the pelicans here. They fly in formation and never land on the beach, only far out in the water. I snapped these guys this morning returning from our sunrise adventure.

We're hearing of storms and reports of storms on the home front which make us wonder what we'll be facing when we come back. Two more days till departure but one thing for sure, we will not be tackling any storms head on.

Back to Normal

The weather found the pedals again and today we enjoyed a beautiful, warm, sunny day which officially began at 6:42 AM as the sun peeped over the Atlantic horizon. As the photo below shows, I was up and snapping. You can tell from the height that I was on our balcony. I have no idea who the lone soul is down there, but doesn't he add a nice touch to the general atmosphere?

It surprised me how swiftly the sun seemed to rise compared to it's setting, of which I've seen far more examples.

By the way, another interesting feature of our balcony is that once in a while a flock of pelicans will fly by very close to us. It's really quite an impressive spectacle. These are birds of substantial presence.

Later we took a stroll along the beach, opposite direction from last time. Carol tested the temperature of the water and pronounced it good. During the days Nathan was with us, he somehow acquired an interest in jellyfish but we saw none on the Gulf side. We did find several beached ones this morning. So, for Nathan, I post a photo. As I mentioned to him earlier this evening, none of them were smiling. Just click on the photo if you want to see it bigger, Nathan.

It was still early when I took the above photo but before long we installed ourselves on beach chairs and goosed up our tan. I'm still reading The Comedy of Errors and, yes, Shakespeare's humor is making me laugh. I use the name 'Shakespeare' loosely because I don't believe for a moment it was him who wrote those plays. But of course this is not the time or place to discuss that.

After finding a good spot on the beach we watched as it gradually accumulated a major population. I took the photo below to illustrate how it filled up but I snapped too early. An hour later there was even more. Interesting. At Englewood we had the beach almost to ourselves.

And that's Tuesday's story.

Cool Day

So whazzup? We've been here two days and the weather forecasters got both wrong. Today was to be warm and sunny. Instead it was not warm, and cloudy. Still, people sunbathed on the beach, reclining in the wind shelter of their parked cars. We put on our hoodies and went for walk along the beach, leaving it at Flagler Avenue to explore New Smyrna Beach's main street. Of course it's a string of restaurants, beach shops, and a few artsy enterprises.

It was a pleasant stroll except when I noticed a gas station selling gas for $3.65 per gallon. I hope that's just the beach price, although increasing gas prices are headlining the news here. The TV folks would have us believe this is caused by the trouble in Libya, the world's 17th largest oil producer.

Right. Well, this is not the time or the place to discuss that.

After touring the modest offerings of the local town hub, we returned to the beach for the stroll home, going in style by using the beach's main entrance shown below.

We spent the later part of the afternoon chez nous, relaxing, reading, checking out a few things on the net like a good place to load up on a selection of marmalades. The local products are magnitudes superior to anything available in supermarkets back home.

My current recreational reading is Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors. Whoever actually wrote those plays was unquestionably a genius.

Daytona Day

In need of supplies we traveled the fifteen miles to Daytona to take advantage of it's relatively superior shopping facilities. The weather forecast was for a cloudy day with thunder showers which added weight to our decision to shop but, after a very overcast dawn - which we were up to see - the day was absolutely beautiful.

Daytona is alive with bikers. It is Bike Week in Daytona. We saw hundreds of bikers and not one under fifty. Many gray pony-tails. As for the mommas ... do not mess with those mommas.

I came home with a copy of Shakespeare's 'The Comedy of Errors.' If anyone out there has already read it, please don't spoil it for me by telling me the jokes.

A few weeks ago I bought my first gasoline in Florida at $3.05 per gallon. It is now at $3.59. Today I had to tank up and serendipitously pulled into a place selling it for $3.54 and there was a line up. Of course that's merely in American dollars.

Below is a photo of the complex we are in. I took the shot from the Atlantic's edge. The unit with the blue dot is our place.

Turning left, and south) I took the photo below. Time: 6:45 p.m.

This environment is a world apart from Englewood. It's enjoyable, it's snow free, it's picturesque, but in a way it's like trading in a good book for an iPad.

It's our second day with zero grandchildren on hand. We miss Alexandria, Olivia and Nathan. Funny how grandparents are like that.

New Smyrna Beach

Today Carol and I parted ways with Robin, Anna, and Nathan when they left for Tampa and their flight home, and we left for New Smyrna Beach, just south of Daytona. We had a short time together in the morning during which Anna took this portrait of Nathan and me ...

We arrived in New Smyrna Beach at 4:30 p.m., found the address, took an elevator to the sixth floor, and entered our accommodations which are very attractive. The balcony overlooks the ocean and the photo below was taken from it. When we arrived people were on the beach. This photo was  taken a little after 6:00 p.m. We also have a pool in this complex as you will note.

We had initially understood that Net access was available only in the downstairs recreation room but were pleased to discover it is included in our condo after all. About an hour after we got here NASA launched a rocket from Cape Canaveral, not far away. It was a beautiful launch as we could plainly see on the TV news two hours later. It would have been visible to us had we been outside looking at the time. I'll have to check the Web and see if any other launches are planned.

It's a touch cooler here than it was in Englewood. About 77 degrees F here compared to 82 F there. By checking the map I see that should we take a boat and go due east from New Smyrna Beach we would eventually land in Morocco.

A Touch of Melancholy

Today being the last full day of vacation with the five of us together, and with the necessity to pack up in preparation for leaving this place, it was a day tinged with blue - still, it was a very good day. We started off with a second trip to the Country Hound Cafe for a great breakfast. Nathan loves the dog statue inside the entrance.

 I suggested taking a photo of Nathan with the Hound. He then suggested it be a photo of him hugging the dog. Later, on the way back, we stopped at a Beach Shop popular with the ladies. Time to take a photo of Robin, our patient chauffeur, at the wheel of the Jeep.

Early afternoon was very hot and sunny, somewhere in the mid-eighties (F). I sat for a short while on the lounge chair outside the condo and got cooked by a sub-tropical sun enough to realize a visit to the beach would be too much. So we didn't cook on the beach at all today. No food cooking either. We all went to Howards on the Water for supper. What a treat that turned out to be! Excellent fish and excellent salad bar. We came back with our appetite completely obliterated.

Tomorrow Robin, Anna, and Nathan depart for Tampa from where they will catch their flight home. Carol and I head to Smyrna Beach on the Atlantic side for our final week here. Internet access there will be spotty for me there so this blog may lose its daily rhythm, but it will continue.

It's been a great couple of weeks and passed by very quickly, as vacation weeks tend to do.

Beach, Birds, and Ice Cream

Another magnificent day. A little cloud moved in later which made us hope for a great sunset on the beach. That's one thing we enjoyed last year that has not been available this year: glorious sunsets. Without clouds a sunset is something like watching a light bulb slowly dim. So we finished supper in time to get back to the beach with our cameras. Sunset: 6:31 p.m.

It was a good one but distant clouds beyond the horizon prevented the sun from shining below them and spraying its reds and yellows onto their underbellies.

 We were joined in admiring the sunset by a very tame heron.

Sunset portrait of me and my dear wife. Photo courtesy of Robin Studios.

Me and my buddy returning from the beach. We had all decided to go for ice cream at a place where they boast of their home-made product. Good decision!

Here's Nathan with his chocolate ice cream. I had "Georgia Peach." It was fantastically good. Then, on the way home we stopped at a supermarket to pick up basics we needed that had run out. But this is not the time or the place to discuss that.

So let's finish with a little video called "Beach Birds."

July 15th on March 2nd

Spectacular, sunny, and a high today of 80 degrees F. That's 27 degrees in Canadaspeak. So it was back to the beach for adventure and a darker shade of tan.

I think Nathan was the first one to get wet today. But soon he had company. With weather and surroundings this ideal it will take a mountain of self-discipline to point the car north again.

 Anna, Robin, Nathan and Carol enjoying a calm sea.

 

 Robin and Nathan slowly moving in on pelicans to see how close they can get.

  

  Pelicans heading back to the comfort zone.

 Father and son, pelicanless in the sea, searching for some other kind of trouble.

The dolphins came out to play today entertaining us with above-surface appearances. They're hard critters to catch on camera but I got one a couple of times. And that's the height, breadth, width, and depth of today's story.

Stump Pass Beach State Park

The strip of land we are on terminates, a few minutes walk away, at Stump Pass Beach State Park. Nathan and his Grandpa strolled down there today and made an extensive exploration of the place.

Some highlights of the story follow ...

 We're not sure where the name Stump Pass Beach came from, but just in case this could have been the stump in question, we chose to photograph it, especially since Nathan eagerly volunteered to push branches aside and stand on it.

 Nathan immensely enjoyed his trip to the State Park, as did Grandpa. Everything and anything Nathan wanted to explore we explored. And there was much to fascinate and discover. We saw a man catch a fish, we saw a boat go down a back waterway and make many waves come ashore, we saw interesting birds and followed a foliage-covered pathway.

 Here is Nathan hollering at a crossroads. I asked him to say "Cheese" for the photo and snapped when he started to speak. However "Cheese" is not what initially came out which explains why his expression looks different. As for what he actually said, more details on that below.

On the State Park Beach I took several shots of pelicans hoping to bag a good one. I think this was the best of the lot.

The video below presents another occasion when I asked Nathan to say "Cheese" for the camera. By now, having learned his unique way of doing this, I chose to use video instead of taking a still shot. Enjoy.

Getting to Know the Neighborhood - Part II

We made a fresh, and successful, attempt to go in the service this morning and ended up in the same van as last Wednesday. This time the driver was the husband, Val. Carol was the petunia in the onion patch since the five others in the van were brothers. We had an absolutely great time with these truly lovable brothers, shown below ...

 From left to right: Val, Aaron, Jim, and Ken.

We asked each one for the story of how he learned the truth. Val, originally from Queens, N.Y. but who speaks with a delightful New Jersey accent, started studying when he was fifteen. A brother called on his parents who weren't much interested, but when the brother asked Val if he'd like to study the Bible he said yes. The brother said he'd need his parent's permission. They gave it. He was baptized at seventeen in 1972.

Aaron was more or less brought up in the truth. Jim always hid when Witnesses called. One day a brother called when he was outside the house. Jim recognized the brother's young son from school. So he politely chatted a bit and told the brother he was not at all interested. The brother said, "All right, but before I go, is there any question about God you'd like answered?" Jim did. He had an autistic daughter and couldn't understand why God would let a young girl suffer from that. The brother said, "Give me a minute and I'll show you the answer." He opened the Bible to the beginning of Genesis. Jim finally understood. He was baptized in 1995.

Ken was looking for the truth and joined a religious group called "The Way." It turned out to be a group of apostates who had left the truth. Ken learned enough to realize he had to find the religion that was actually out there preaching the good news of the kingdom. He did.

Later in the day we returned to the beach where I played with Nathan and spent a little time trying to get a good photo of a wave. The best I could do is posted below.

Another Sunny Sunday

We attended the meeting this morning at a different congregation from last week. It was the one we joined for service on Wednesday. Again we were treated to the outspokenness that characterizes the people here. It flavors the Watchtower Study comments which were plentiful. I liked one older sister's comment, "I'm not a good singer but I sing anyway because I know God cleans it up between here and heaven."

We had planned to go in service after the meeting but chose the wrong Sunday for that. The brothers and sisters had designated that day as 'Congregation Beach Day.' So there was no arrangement for us to attend. We were invited to join in that which sounded tempting but we came home for a quieter beach day of our own instead.

The weather of course could not possibly be better for a Beach Day. In fact I can't remember such a string of uninterrupted, gloriously warm, sunny days like what we've experienced since getting here.

This is the scene inside the Kingdom Hall after the meeting. All the halls we've been to in Florida have theater seats. And the grounds on which the halls sit are always very spacious. But no-window halls are definitely the rule.

After a quick lunch and a little rest, we returned to the beach, once the hottest part of early afternoon had passed. Here are a couple of photos of Nathan playing in the surf.

And here's a video of a hapless heron getting the Bum's Rush ...

Getting Warmer

According to my car thermometer the sun bore down at 30 degrees Celcius today. Not to get scorched, we left the beach alone and had a quiet day. We visited a couple of Flea Markets, the second one because the first one was so bad. Someone recommended it to us but when we arrived we entered upon the sorriest, dingiest, half-pint, wimpy specimen of Flea Market we had ever seen. We've been to more appealing garage sales on Maple Boulevard. The second one about a half hour away was bigger and brighter, with much more to offer, but still some aisles were vacant. It's a commentary on the dismal state of the Florida economy.

 Empty Stalls.

A souvenir T-shirt for sale. 

I didn't buy the above T-shirt which probably just made the situation worse. Which reminds me, I wrote something regrettably inaccurate in yesterday's blog. I said, "a financial monstrosity was gradually cobbled together, given a life of its own, and has now returned to destroy its maker." It merely threatened to destroy its maker who then deftly diverted the monster onto tax payers, who may look forward to feeling even more of its bite as inflation gathers steam. But of course this is not the time or place to discuss these things.

On the other hand, if people seriously want to know what's going on, what it all means, and where it's going, this Flea Market also offered such precious enlightenment. All the above literature is made available to browsers and bargain hunters without charge. Witnesses man this table every weekend at their own cost. (Okay, not 'man,' 'woman.')

Amazing Friday

This morning we all piled in the Jeep for a ride to the Country Hound Cafe, about ten minutes away, for a very fine breakfast. We'll likely do that again.

On the way back we stopped at a tempting Beach Boutique to check out their wares. I was with Nathan and he saw a magnifying glass that fascinated him. He always plays with mine when he visits, so he left with a magnifying glass of his own and I left with a T-shirt that says I didn't come here for a long time but I did come for a good time. Sounds about right.

Here's Nathan on the Jeep with his new scientific instrument.

Later it was time to return to the beach. Some folks there are really into sand sculptures using shells. There are turtles, sea horses, dolphins, and other creatures rather interestingly depicted this way. Below is an example ...

And here are two other beach creatures I encountered today ...

As for me, I've almost finished my book on the 2008 financial crisis, which of course continues to unfold as I type. It's been an interesting look into the world of big finance in which practically nobody knows what in the world is really going on. It reads like the story of Frankenstein where a financial monstrosity was gradually cobbled together, given a life of its own, and has now returned to destroy its maker. I could say more but, no, this is not the time or place.

One more thing ...

We were all very very happy to learn of Andrew's excellent win on a radio quiz today. Congratulations Andrew! Keep up the good work.