Front Porch


Hi!! Come sit a few minutes on the porch before you take the grand tour of my "home". Front porches are nice for just sitting and rocking and talking about this and that.

November, 1999

I deliver Meals on Wheels one day a week to home-bound folks and really enjoy it. A few weeks ago, I noticed a small blue dish filled with water sitting by the front door of an elderly gentleman. I knew he did not have a cat or dog so when I went in, I asked him what the blue dish of water was for. He smiled and said that he had noticed a few baby lizards on his sidewalk recently and thought they probably were looking for water, so he had made it easier for them. Now, every time I deliver meals to his house, I smile as I approach the front door with the little blue dish by it and feel generally better about the world as I leave.



April, 2000

Went to an interesting event this month. Microsoft put on a show from Redmond, Washington that was broadcast live via satellite to 39 theaters in the country. One of the theaters was close to me so I attended and very much enjoyed it. The purpose of the event was to introduce some of their new products and software. They demonstrated the soon-to-be-released Windows Millennium, a palm-held computer,and several other products. Besides the interesting show, they also treated everybody to free popcorn and drinks, several free CD's, and free t-shirts. All-in-all it was quite an enjoyable afternoon.

July, 2000

It has been sort of a slow, lazy summer. Not a whole lot going on. My nephew, Scott, livened up the month, however, by getting married on July 22. He and Bobbie were married near Mt. Dora, Florida in a beautiful ceremony. Most of their families were there to help them celebrate the event. Here are a few pictures taken that day.


May, 2001

Had a nice family gathering at my daughter Pam and her husband, David's house to celebrate Mother's Day. Here are a few of the photos we took that day:




June, 2001

My cousin, Bill Mears and his wife, Cass, were vacationing in Florida and stopped by for a visit. It was nice to get reacquainted as I had not seen him in years and years. They both are in the Coast Guard, now stationed in Connecticut but soon to be moving to California. This is a picture of Bill and Cass.




September, 2001

This is surely a month that will be imprinted on all of our memories forever and will change the way we live our lives from now on. I was looking through some pictures of a more relaxed time, May 13, 1983, when my daughter Pam and I visited New York City. I found these two pictures, taken from the top of the World Trade Center.

        

and this one from the base of the building.



May, 2002

My granddaughter turned 16 years old this month so, in recognition of that momentous event, I made a special web page birthday card for her. If you'd like to see some photos of her growing years, please click here.




November, 2002

Made a second trip to Mississippi - this time with my daughter,Pam, and we went to Casino Magic in Bay St. Louis, Miss. They have really good buffets and this is a picture of us after stuffing ourselves.



November, 2002

November 13 is World Kindness Day. Random Acts of Kindness are truly contageous. When you do some small unexpected act of kindness for someone, it is amazing the effect it has. Besides making the person feel good, it causes them to stop and think "I believe I'll do something like that, too." And so it goes. The computer club that I belong to holds Random Acts of Kindness days where some members of the club work all day repairing computers for others at no charge.

Here is something that everyone can do to pass on a little kindness. Go to The Hunger Site and click on the "Click to Give Food" button. Corporate sponsors send a serving of food to a starving person every time someone presses the button.

March, 2003

Sometimes newborn animals, or injured animals, are dumped at the front door of animal shelters and humane societies. They are not yet old enough or in good enough health to be adopted out. Since the animal shelter only has a limited number of cages for their animals, they need someone to care for the babies or injured animals until they are old enough or well enough to go to permanent homes. A few months ago, I volunteered at my local Humane Society to be a 'foster mom' for baby kittens. After taking the required class, I got my first little foster baby - a 4 day-old baby kitten. I call him Freddy. For a couple of weeks,he required feeding with a bottle every 3-4 hours with special formula. He gradually was able to go longer and longer so that eventually, I could get a normal night's sleep. A heating pad was placed under part of his box but even so, I felt sorry that there was no mama cat or siblings for him to snuggle up with.





April, 2003

Due to a death in the family, I went to Delaware for a few days. While there, I was able to see many friends and relatives. I wrote a "trip report", along with some pictures I took, which you can find here.


October, 2003



My daughter, Pam, and I made our yearly pilgrimage to Mississippi to contribute to their economy. We stayed at the Grand-Gulfport Casino. Didn't win, but didn't lose too much either. And we had a good time - which is the main point.






November, 2003

                I watched the lunar eclipse on November 8 and attempted to photograph it. There were intermittent
                clouds so some of the images got a bit distorted.





May, 2004

My granddaughter, Brandy, graduated from Crystal River High School on May 25th. Everyone is very proud of this young lady. She is making plans to start college in the fall.





August, 2004

I play poker once a week with a group of ladies. We play with nickles and dimes so nobody wins or loses a fortune but we have a lot of fun. The group changes each week, depending on who is available to play. Here are some pictures we took recently at one of the member's home:

              



November, 2004

Had a really nice Thanksgiving day at my daughter, Laurie and her husband, Rex's home.




January, 2006





            My granddaughter,Brandy, got
            married on January 7. It was a lovely
            ceremony at Silver Springs Nature
            Park near Ocala, Florida

            She and hubby are both working and
            she is attending college so they have
            a pretty busy schedule.









April, 2006

       

My Uncle Wink and his son, Bill Mears, were here visiting for a couple of days this month.



September, 2006





The Mission Hills Tuesday Night Ladies Poker Gang







November, 2006



Went on a five-day cruise to Grand Cayman and Cozumel, Mexico with a couple of ladies I used to work with. We had great weather, entertainment and food. In spite of eating rich delicious food all day long, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had only gained two pounds. I guess that was because we did a lot of walking.


April, 2007

I deliver Meals on Wheels to homebound seniors and once a year, the Neighborly Care Network honors volunteers at a "Volunteer Appreciation Day". This year, we were honored at a luncheon at the Batter's Eye Restaurant at Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida.

After the luncheon, we were invited to stay and watch the baseball game between the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Baltimore Orioles.





April, 2007






          Mission Hills Poker Gang







October, 2007

A friend and I went on a cruise to Calica, Mexico and Grand Cayman. We went on the ship "Inspiration" which is one of the ships in Carnival Cruise Line's fleet.


           




  March, 2008

Five generations of my family got together for Easter dinner - Glen, Shirley, Laurie, Brandy and Dallas.



April, 2008



Wednesday Night Mission Hills Poker Gang



May, 2008
A friend and I went on a four-day gambling jaunt to Mississippi. We stayed at the Island View Casino in Gulfport. It was lovely and we had a good time but did come back a little poorer than we went. It is really such an easy trip from the Clearwater/St. Petersburg airport to the Gulfport airport - about an hour and 20 minutes flight time and then about a 20 minute bus ride to the casino.

While there, I walked around outside and could see many buildings still with windows out and houses on their sides or upside-down, not to mention the ones completely washed away. Talked with a few locals there who had to evacuate when Katrina hit and who lost almost all of their belongings. Really sad.


September, 2008

My daughter, Laurie, and I took a cruise to Cozumel, Mexico aboard the Carnival Cruise Line ship Inspiration. There many activities on-board ship and plenty of excursions at the port. One of the best part of a cruise, for me, is the plentiful, non-stop food. These are a few of our activities:



  




September, 2008


My father turned 99 years old this month!! We had a small family get-together to honor this memorable occasion.


     



November, 2008

The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall was in my area recently and I went to see it. The enormity of the pain and loss represented there is overwhelming. It is hard to fathom how many died.

     




February, 2009

My uncle Jack Mears, cousin Rex Mears and wife Sharon were vacationing in Florida and came by for a visit.    After picking up my father, we had lunch at a nearby restaurant and enjoyed a nice hour or so of catch-up.    It was great seeing them again.





This is a recent picture of the Wednesday night poker group that I play with.  Nobody wins or loses a whole lot but it is an enjoyable way to spend an evening.





September, 2009

                My father reached a milestone this month that not many are fortunate enough to achieve. He
                celebrated his 100th birthday among family and friends. Here are a few pictures we took that day. 


April, 2010


My cousin, Carol Ann, and her husband, Walter Dill were vacationing in Florida this month and came by to visit for awhile. It was so wonderful to see them - it had been many years. They both worked for the state of Delaware before retiring not too long ago.


June, 2010



The group that I play poker with every week recently went out to dinner at
the local Arigato's Japanese Steak House. It is fun to watch them cook your dinner while you watch.








September, 2010

I have been following a most interesting web site for the past couple of years. Dr. Chris Martenson has prepared a series of video-lectures called "The Crash Course" which describe how our economy, energy and environment ("The Three Es") interact and how they are all three reaching critical stages at about the same time. It is somewhat complicated and I don't pretend to understand it all but I do understand enough to be very concerned about the future of our country and the Earth. The web site has many different forums and topics but it is very important that you watch the Crash Course videos first as they are the basis of everything else that is on the site. Even though it takes a couple of hours to watch all of the videos, (you can watch them separately, one at a time) I think you will find it to be time well spent. This is the address of the site, now called "Peak Prosperity."

There is a comment on the site about enrolling but you don't have to enroll in order to view the Crash Course. Actually, you don't have to enroll at all unless you want to comment in one of the forums.


May, 2011


My granddaughter, Brandy, graduated from college this month. Everyone is very proud of this young lady. She has had a number of detours on the way but she stuck with it and accomplished her goal.


March, 2012


My cousin Jinny and her husband, Frank and daughter, Jessica, were vacationing in Florida this month and stopped by for a visit. It was so nice to see them again.



Mission     Hills     Wednesday     Night     Poker     Gang


     April, 2012                                                    October, 2012




November, 2012



As I prepared to move out of the neighborhood after 55 years of living in the
same house, my dear neighbors had a dinner and good-bye get-together for me,
inviting the "old timers" from the neighborhood.


It was so nice but made leaving even more difficult. I will miss the old neighborhood.


In the picture are: Nathan, Harry, Debbie, Ann, Joe, Kathy, Lilly, Dave, Amy,
Mary, Louise, Shirley, Terry, Stephanie, Dale









December, 2012
  After deciding that I needed to downsize my living space, I searched for about a year and finally found a villa a few miles north that I really liked. I bought this place and sold my old home all within a three-week period so December was quite hectic, to say the least.  




February, 2013


I hadn't seen my cousin, David Ellis and his wife, Lynn, in many years
so it was very nice to have them come visit me at my new home.



April, 2013

  My Clearwater next-door neighbors came up to visit. It was great to see them. I miss them and hope they will be able to make a drive up every once in awhile.






May, 2013


                    Two of my Delaware cousins, Carol Ann and Linda and their husbands, Walter and Wayne,
                                  were vacationing in Florida and I was able to spend some time with them.

                                        My nephew, Scott, also was able to get together with them one day.




July, 2013

     

A nice day-trip to Micanopy, Florida for some first-rate barbecue and then a visit to the home of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. The typewriter in the picture is the one she used to write "The Yearling".




          September, 2013



Visited a nearby Alpaca farm with my daughter and great-grandson. It is quite a big operation - they raise, breed, buy, and sell alpacas and currently have about 100 of them. They seem to be very friendly animals, eating out of your hand and seemingly not afraid of humans. We were warned, however, not to get behind them as they sometimes kick when nervous and also if they spit on you, the "aroma" is less than pleasant. The animals shown above had recently been shorn and were not particularly attractive but normally their coat is quite plush and luxurious.


October, 2013
      Sunrise over Crystal River

          So beautiful I just had to

                  take a picture of it



          October, 2013

             

A Clearwater neighbor and her daughters came to visit me and we met up with her/their nieces/cousins at a nearby restaurant for lunch. It was great to meet some of her family that I had been hearing about for years but never met. This restaurant has a little island across from it where a bunch of monkeys live. If you look closely, you can see one of them cavorting around the little "house".



          October, 2013


A friend and I went on a Caribbean cruise, leaving from the port of Tampa. We had good weather, good food, good entertainment and a good time. The ship stopped at Grand Caymen and Cozumel but we decided to not go ashore.     There is plenty to do on the ship itself.    Here   are a few pics from the trip.




          November, 2013

Some friends and former neighbors from Clearwater came to visit.   It was so nice to visit with them and catch up on what they've been doing and the whereabouts of their kids.  We lived in the same neighborhood when our kids were growing up.  



    Christmas, 2013


                                       




          Easter, 2014


                                 




August, 2014

Brandy's Law Enforcement Officer Graduation




August, 2014          




January, 2015

My Uncle Jack came to visit for a week in January. He lives in Delaware so we don't get together very often. It was great looking at old pictures and talking about old times.

   

January, 2016

Scott and Bobbie stopped by on their way thru Crystal River. Had delicious lunch at Seafood Sellers Cafe at the mall.

February, 2016

My sweet cat Molly died at the age of 15. Although she could never be replaced, after a few weeks, I decided I would foster a cat for a local rescue group, Precious Paws. They need foster homes for the lost or abandoned cats that they take in. I arranged to pick up a cat, have it spayed and all its shots and then return to the group for placement in a permanent home. Turned out that there were two they wanted me to foster so I agreed.

         
Everything went smoothly - necessary shots, spaying - and I prepared to take them back to the shelter to be available for adoption but found that I could not part with one of them and ended up adopting her myself.

Look at this and you can understand why I couldn't part with her.

October, 2016
Halloween on North Ensign Point


December, 2016
Christmas on North Ensign Point

Computer Club Christmas dinner

Time to plant the winter garden

January, 2017

    Skyline Chile - best thing since sliced bread. I first learned of this delicious dish about 20 years ago when a co-worker returned from a visit to her hometown of Cincinnati (original home of Skyline Chili) with a box of it stashed in her suitcase (inside of a ziplock bag, hopefully). When a local establishment
opened up, I tried it and have been hooked ever since.

  It is rather messy to eat so they serve it with a bib.



February, 2017

        Another trip to Micanopy with some friends from Clearwater. This quaint town is one of the oldest communities in central Florida . We came upon a wall with angel wings painted on it and a couple of us couldn't resist the temptation.    

March, 2017

I volunteer at a local elementary school, working with pre-kindergarten kids to help get them ready for kindergarten. It is a wonderful thing to see their little minds grow. Here are a couple of four year olds that I've been working with:



April, 2017

The newest addition to the family, Easton



May, 2017
A nice day at the Ellie Schiller Wildlife State park with my daughter, Laurie


September, 2017
Brandy's latest capture


November, 2017
   
The folks on Ensign Point get together occasionally to exchange news, current events, information and fellowship.



An afternoon at the Yankeetown Arts & Crafts Show - lots of neat things on display.


October, 2018
          My cousin and her husband, Carol Ann and Walter, visited for a couple of days in October. I don't get to see them very often so it was great to visit and catch up with each other.      


April, 2019
Great grandsons Easton and Bryce


November, 2019
David and Lynn Ellis came to visit and pick up some antique family furniture.
I had not seen them in quite a while so it was good to catch up a bit.

May, 2021
Enjoyed a really nice Mother's Day with my daughter, Laurie

October, 2022  
Turning 91 does have its advantages.
        Thanks Scott and Bobbie.

February, 2023
                  Enjoyed a nice visit and lunch with a long-time
            friend. Barbara and I had been friends and living in
            the same neighborhood many moons ago. As time
           went by, we both moved to other locations but                                       maintained our friendship thru the years.   As they
            say, there is no better friend than an old friend.


May, 2023

There is a newspaper columnist in my town who recently wrote a letter to this years' graduating class of the high school that she had graduated from. The entire letter was quite inspiring but I would like to quote just this bit:

       "We failed you and we failed ourseles...We've allowed you to grow up in a world that is full of 'us vs them' rather than
        'united we stand.' And so I'm asking you to succeed where we have failed."

I thought this was so very true. Hopefully the young people graduating from high school/college today will, indeed, take this to heart and approach all of the problems that are on their plate with an attitude of 'lets work together.' One of the best things that parents could do for their children would be to instill this attitude from an early age .

July, 2023

My next-door neighbors, Joe and Arlene, are in the process of moving to North Carolina.
Arlene, daughter Kim, and granddaughter Abby were here for a few days this month taking care
of some details. I am sorry to see them go and will miss them - but they will be much closer to family
and that is a good thing.

October, 2023

My great-grandson recently acquired a floppy-eared bunny
to raise as a FFA project. He named her "Foo-Foo." When I
first met her, I fell in love with her adorable little self and was tempted to kidnap her. I thought better of that, however, and just go to visit her.



March, 2024

  Bryce, my great-grandson, recently exhibited his bunny, FooFoo, at the county fair. FooFoo was part of the first place group of bunnies, based on her breed, health and color pattern. Bryce did really well in presentation and showmanship, especially for his first time.

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