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This was a very full year, with twists and turns we would have never suspected when we set out.
We wept, we laughed, we hugged and prayed. We worked hard, we played a little, and when the year wound to a close, we could look back to rejoice in our victories, share our miseries, and remember in awe the many moments when God was clearly with us. This recap is roughly chronological and written by me, "the father figure", except where noted otherwise. |
Our good friend and neighbor Alex died unexpectedly in January.
Alex was a great guy -- always helpful wherever he could be, and friendly, outgoing, and sharp. Whether it was having a good time on a Saturday night, working on the yard, or just visiting, he was always looking for ways to help out or solve whatever problem you might have.He had passions for computer stuff, roller blading, scuba diving, the Kansas City Chiefs, and Dakota, his wife.
We miss him.
Dakota is wonderful and they shared great times together. She has opened her heart to us even as we have done our best to be there for her.
Now, through her grief, she has broadened her horizons. She has done volunteer work with Mercy Ships to help the underprivileged receive medical care. She's gone camping and enjoys gardening (some of which she already did), as well as picking up motorcycling. Her newfound love for motorcycling has been enjoyable for Lamar as well, since he'd been looking for someone to share the road with (Laura has a definite aversion to the sport).
I think it's safe to say Andy was more surpised than this trout when he brought it in. We had heard of him getting some fishing done during his spare time out in Nevada, but when he sent this picture, we were speechless.
He had told us the whole hairy story. It definitely sounded a bit fishy to me. (Hyuk) So because the thing was tagged, he presented it to the Game and Fish Commission, and then (here's the even better part) they gave him $300 for bringing it in.
Luke, in his truly inimitable style, succeeded in getting his birthday cake almost fully involved this year.
The picture really doesn't do it justice.When you get that much flame in one place, it's really best to have a fire extinguisher handy. Nevertheless, we were able to get it under control in time to have a celebration, and this year it was all about big boy toys.
(Is it ever possible to have too many knives?)
Well, he did a good job of hosting the birthday party for the special day his brother shares with him, anyway.
Just because Will was 1200 miles away in Wisconsin for the event didn't mean we weren't including him. It was just that he was a little harder to give a gift.
And taking a picture of him was right out.
Of course, even if we had travelled up there to celebrate his landmark day with him (21st this year), I doubt he would have been terribly excited about us taking pictures of him blowing out his candles and opening CD's instead of going with his buds to find a place where he could present his ID as a pass to legally paint the town red.
We prayed a lot that night.
It was with some style that Laura celebrated her birthday this year.
It was the big 5-0!Now we typically celebrate birthdays at home with the family, but this seemed like too much to contain within the confines of our little family, so I set it up with some of her teacher friends.
Oh, they weren't to difficult to convince we needed to make a big deal of this one. In fact, they seemed to be downright gleeful about keeping the secret among themselves while passing the word that there were to be festivities at the local gathering spot to commemorate the event.
Laura couldn't figure out why Simon and Luke were dragging her over to Gator's when we had planned supper that night, but seemed okay with the change of plans once she saw the table of twenty or so of her cohorts, including the famous "Women of Building 9."
If you want to see a lot of people who really like to get loud when they get together, find a group who have to be restrained and professional every day of the week, all the while dealing with slews of pubescent teenagers every day of the week.
I think they invented the phrase "cut loose."
Yes, it's true. I'm now officially in mid-life crisis. While I've heard and seen a lot of bad things about it, I'd have to say most of it is blown way out of proportion.
I mean, you get the impression something just snaps in someone's head one day when they've turned in one too many triplicate forms for office supplies or they blow a gasket by missing a crucial meeting because of a traffic jam.Then they go off on some crazed jag, trashing their previously stable lives in search of ever-greater thrills and long-supressed desires, only to come to their senses after making a complete fool of themselves, right?
Personally, I've been planning my mid-life crisis for a long time, and it doesn't involve losing my marbles. No doubt Laura would have argued the point when I drove my first motorcycle off the lot last October. I know she had that classic view of a crazy-eyed short-sighted idiot in mind and saw our world crashing down around us in that one fateful moment.
But the fact is, here we are a year and a few months later and things have settled down, if anything. I love my life. I love everything about it. I have a great wife that I means the world to me and four fantastic boys that are growing into young men I'm very proud of. I wouldn't let them down for the world. The good Lord has shown us a way of life that is full of blessings, and I really would be a total fool to turn my back on all that now.
So being able to ride down the road on a great bike and feel more alive in the process doesn't seem too crazy to me...
I went to Bike Week in March this year, with a friend from work. The annual Bike Week in Daytona Beach involves an awful lot of older people who like to dress up in leather and mingle with a few thousand of their friends who look ... well ... disreputable. While contemplating this huge event, a few facts are important to keep in mind in terms of the crowd:
- Harley Davidson makes the most popular motorcycles in the US. My ballpark guess is that about 75-80% of those in attendance (or for that matter, on the streets) ride Harleys.
- A typical new Harley runs between $10-25,000, pre-customization. Most don't use them as their primary transportation, and often trailer their bikes to Bike Week behind their pick-ups, SUV's or even motor homes.
- Often, a couple will have two rather than riding "two-up" on a single bike.
- Many Harley owners prefer older bikes, but get little price break in the process. While a Harley a few years old does drop a titch in value, beyond a certain point they actually increase in value over time. Of course, customized parts to make them look flashier, louder, or faster add to the sticker, so even if a Harley is a couple of years old, it can easily go for more than the original MSRP.
- An additional 5-10% or so ride custom bikes -- the kind you may have seen built on those cable TV shows from a unique idea, a lot of sweat, and costing somewhere in the vicinity of $30-50,000.
- The small remainder of bikers ride what are commonly referred to as "metric bikes" -- those made largely in Japan by Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, and the like. These are (surprise!) the least expensive bikes, running in the vicinity of $5-10,000. (Mine is a Suzuki.)
While there are a few in this lot that are truly a bit scary to look at, the fact of the matter is, my own preconceptions about those riding bikes have definitely been dashed by the reality. If you haven't ever been in a Harley dealership, I would challenge you to see just how Harley has turned into a big business (and how expensive things all those Harley jackets, shirts, and keychains are).
At the end of Bike Week, Simon's Regional Band Festival was held in Daytona Beach.
"Great timing," I thought to myself, on my way over. I found the high school where they were without a problem, and saw I wasn't the only one on a bike -- though there weren't more than a few among the cars and busses. There were a lot of students and their parents or faculty having lunch in the open courtyard when I got there, but I didn't see any Lake Mary folks. A little checking around and I found the room where they were practicing.It never ceases to amaze me how professional-looking and -sounding these high schoolers have become. Their performance seemed perfect to me, and the judges seemed to agree, awarding them a "Superior" score -- the highest possible.
On a beautiful day this spring, we took a little trip to Gainesville. The Florida Natural History museum at the University of Florida had caught our attention, and we wanted to check it out.
It's a trip!Of course, our scientific backgrounds would dictate our enjoyment of something like that, but they've also done a great job of making it attractive, modern and informative, all at once.
I've never seen so many huge shark's teeth in one place! And the jaws of those prehistoric beasts ... well, they'd have no problem swallowing you or me whole.
Elyse and Will are engaged! They've been dating since high school at Lake Mary, where they met. Then Will went to Wisconsin, and Elyse pursued her degree at the University of Central Florida (UCF). There was a brief period there where they tried to be logical and tell themselves that a long-distance romance wouldn't work, but they soon realized that logic isn't everything.
It was great fun looking at engagement rings and anticipating Elyse's reaction to Will's proposal. And then before long, Elyse went to visit Will in Wisconsin and came back with the ring on her finger. Will tried to act cool about it, but we could tell he was excited.Since then we've been making all kinds of plans, looking at variations on the rehearsal dinner -- settling on a location in Daytona Beach. We wanted to host the rehearsal dinner on the beach, and they'd decided the wedding will be in Orlando.
Laura went with Elyse to look at dresses and came back with some great pictures.
Now Elyse has just graduated from UCF, and is trying to maintain her composure as she awaits the wedding.
They're planning their wedding this May, and they'll get Elyse up to Wisonsin for the remainder of Will's schooling at University of Wisconsin -- Stevens Point. He'll graduate at the end of the fall semester.
This was Luke's senior year at Lake Mary HS and of course, that means Senior Prom.
The guy has surprised us all with the wide variety of girls who regard him with obvious affection, though we had seen him making friends at the various athletic events as a trainer -- working his brand of quiet charisma and sparkling blue eyes as he taped their ankles or attended to their injuries. Based on the number of girls we have seen giving him a musical, "Hi, Luke!" and/or hug around the neck, it's obvious they know true quality when they see it.He swears there's no one girl right now. He's working on his degree at Seminole Community College in Law Enforcement, and between that and holding down a job, he just doesn't have a lot of spare time.
Another landmark birthday this year for Simon -- he's now officially old enough to begin learning to drive. Watch out, Florida, he'll be on the road soon enough.
We celebrated his birthday with a variety of gifts, but I don't think I saw nearly as much excitement about those as when they put that warm piece of plastic in his hand at the DMV.He's starting by mastering the intricacies of a manual transmission in the Jetta. It's a bit of a rough ride as anyone can attest from their own memories of tackling it, but so far, so good.
Super Smooch. When Laura and the boys were out and about one day, they saw these doggie goggles, and couldn't resist.
I think it took a little getting used to on Roxy's part, but she soon saw the wisdom of just going along.
Now Laura thinks it would be good to start training her to ride in one of my saddlebags on the bike, but we haven't quite gotten that far.
At some point in time, it's inevitable. You look around and ask yourself, "Where the heck did I put my umbrella?"
But, at about that same time, you realize the woman you're married to isn't the same girl as when you were first married. Now, some folks get to this point and decide there's nothing more to say -- that everything that could be said, has been.And when that happens, it tends to get a bit quiet, and also, a little sad. Not because you can't find your umbrella, but, well, you get the idea.
Fortunately for us, the surprises have never stopped coming, and our 28 years together have never ceased to present new interests along with new challenges.
The Lord and our boys have taught us much about love, and we've been blessed to have each other!
The Harley Night Train. One heck of a power pack of welded iron, chrome, and leather that makes your toes curl and gets your blood moving just a bit faster. Consider a sensation somewhere between a cup of fresh, hot espresso and a shot of tequilla -- and multiply it by a hundred.
Luckily for us, Harley rents these and other models. Why was that so important? Well, Andy had flown out to Orlando from Nevada to attend Luke's graduation, so he was without transportation. So after picking up the rental, Andrew and I set out to make a long-held dream come true. Ever since he was old enough to drive, we knocked around the idea of a road trip on bikes.Almost a decade later, it was becoming a reality.
Our plan was simple. The cardinal rule: Getting there is half the fun.
We headed east to the coast and down US 1. The going was good at first. It wasn't until we reached the densely populated area around Boca Raton that we began to realize the "getting there" wasn't going to work for us at a pace of a couple of blocks at a time -- after all, we had to get back for Luke's graduation.
Never mind the details ... we ended up on I-95, which quickly took us into the heart of Miami at about 4:00 on a Friday afternoon. I don't know if people actually have any use for drivers' licenses there, but it sure doesn't seem like it.
I should have recognized right then and there that Andrew and I would have a tendency to find the most challenging traffic for miles around no matter when and where we were. But more about that later.
After several hours, we emerged on the south side of Miami and finally rolled into Key Largo. We rode a little further, spent the night, and headed out after breakfast for Key West.
I guess it was all the anticipation coupled with having only about an hour in Key West, but it was more of a symbolic victory than the kind of thing you'd write about -- after all, it's a smallish kind of place.
We took a spin around town, stopped for a picture at the southernmost point, and headed back -- by way of the Home Depot there for a quick stop on the hammer isle ... another story for another time.
The road back was fast and uneventful. We took the turnpike and ended back home in Orlando that night -- tired, but satisfied in the knowledge we'd accomplished our mission.
Another page turned in Luke's epic story with his graduation from Lake Mary High School this year.
It was great to have all the boys and Laura's folks here for the event, held at the T.D. Waterhouse arena in downtown Orlando -- the same place where the Magic pro basketball team hosts their games. It's BIG! Lake Mary High is a pretty big school, so there were lots of graduates to cross the stage. Even though they crossed in alphabetical order, there were still quite a few ahead of Luke.After the ceremony, Luke was the center of attention as he posed for pictures with family and friends, enjoying hugs from some of the girls' athletic team members he helped as a trainer.
We celebrated the day by eating dinner at Boma, the Disney resort restaurant specializing in African quisine. Dinner centers on a wonderful buffet with all kinds of African exotic food as well as good ol' American standards like prime rib, all in a resort hotel on a large property with native African livestock and birds, so after dinner you can (and we did) walk a bit to settle your meal.
We are in a unique and enviable position here in central Florida, because we can easily view launches from Cape Canaveral to our east.
Even standing in our backyard, we can easily see launches of all kinds, especially in clear weather.
But assuming a clear schedule, we can also drive over to US 1 in a matter of about 45 minutes, to within about 15 miles of the launch pads.
And that's just what we did on July 4, with our good friends Keith and Cheryl, who came visiting for the day from Tampa.
The weather was really clear, and we were rewarded for our efforts with a beautiful shuttle launch.
The great thing about being close by the launch pads is that after you see the shuttle up in the air for a few seconds, the pressure wave catches up!
You feel the rumble in your chest. If you're standing close to a building, you can hear the windows rattle. It's so cool!
And we got to share it with Keith and Cheryl, who had just moved from Oklahoma and had not witnessed a launch in person before.
They were suitably impressed.
After graduation, Luke began the process of finding his place in the working world. Within a short period, he was delivering pizza for Papa Joe's. Using the '93 Subaru wagon, he was all over town. And though he was dutifully putting half of his income away for his fall semester at school to study law enforcement, he soon found many wonderful uses for his new folding money, including a GPS to make it easier to find the houses where the pizza was to go.
But all was not wonderful in paradise, and soon Luke found his job less and less desirable, until one day his boss pushed him around once too often, and Luke decided it would be okay to have two weeks to find a new opportunity.So the hunt was on.
Since he'd just landed the Papa Joe's job a few months earlier, he was now confident in his ability to successfully find and interview for a job. With a little looking, he was soon able to secure a position bussing tables at Chili's. More money, and no driving or filling car with gas, much less having to make repairs (like the new alternator, CV joints, and brake pads he'd put into the Subaru.
Later on, when Andrew returned from Nevada (see the story below), he, too, was on the job market. Fortunately, besides having been on the firefighting crew at the Marine Mountain Warfare Training center, he'd been working part-time at the Harley-Davidson dealership in Carson City. In no time at all, he found himself working full-time in the parts department at our local Harley dealership (Seminole H-D), ten minutes up the road!
In these days of conflict in the middle east, when American blood is being spilled for the ideal of freedom for a country that has struggled for thousands of years with oppression, violence and injustice, our Independence Day celebration was especially meaningful.
Our usual cul-de-sac party and fireworks display was staged, with friends coming to visit, barbeque grills, and watermellon. Again we were reminded of our friend Alex, who thoroughly enjoyed all about fireworks, and was typically on the front line of any fireworks displays.We played with matches and cigars, watched booming displays, and dealt with the local law enforcement trying to keep everyone happy ... both those who were enjoying the fireworks and those who don't like them.
When it was all said and done, the brooms and garbage sacks came out, and everyone pitched in to get all the paper debris off the ground. We have a great bunch of folks who look out for and help each other in our little corner of the world.
What is it about being at the end of a road that makes that possible? Is it that all our houses face each other? That we haven't had people move out of our little community for some years? Because we have great neighbors?
Life in the cul-de-sac is a wonderful thing.
by Laura
Summer school ended and Simon and I were "outta here!"
We flew to Little Rock and had a great visit with Neil and Wanda and the two gia-normous guys that have replaced the little boys that used to be Jim and Daniel. We spent a day Terry Tourist-ing in the Little Rock Rivermarket area – the Clinton Library, the future site of the nature center, the library book store, and lots of other cool shops. Some fried okra at the Flying Fish ("we catch and release, into really hot grease!"), and some fresh blackberries from the farmers' market ("best in the world" according to Simon) – our tour was delicious!Thanks to the Curry car rental company, we drove through the "wilds" of Arkansas – lots of curvy roads, to spend a little time with Mom and Dad. We ate our way across Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri to see Aunt Jane and her new "digs". Grandad introduced Simon to the joys of carp fishing, unfortunately, the joys of carp catching will have to be the next lesson. Sitting hopefully, on the riverbank with a fishing rod on a summer evening has always been a good time – and it was once again!
Not wanting to mistake endurance for hospitality, this year's visit was shorter than last year's. Time with the folks always seems to go too fast.
On a beautiful day in Daytona Beach, the annual National Reptile Breeders' Expo was a great place to be ... if you adore snakes and other reptiles as much as the Barnett family.
With hundreds of exhibitors who all brought reptiles or reptile-related products side by side in the convention center, it was paradise for my guys (and their mother) who adore these fascinating creatures.The father figure was stuck at work.
The Barnetts on site carefully studied all the products and exhibits, shuffled their money, and chose carefully. A whole new set of snakes came home. From Florida King snakes to color variant Corn snakes, there was something for everyone.
Of course it didn't take very long for a few of them to escape their confinements at the house, but that doesn't cause any problems around here, you just keep your eyes open for the occasional prize on the loose.
Then Will had to go back to school, so he took one of his snakes through the TSA line at the airport. While we thought that would be a really big deal, they just took it in stride and he carried the snake through the metal detector while the container went through the X-ray machine.
Washington state is a great place to be for specialized training, or so the US Army thinks. LDAC (Leadership Development Assessment Course) Training was on Will's agenda for the summer, so when he graduated from that, I flew out to see the ceremony and congratulate him.
I flew into Seattle, rented a car, and drove to Ft. Lewis for the event. Nestled in the shadow of Mt. Ranier, Ft. Lewis is home for artillery training and a variety of other fun things, so while the graduation ceremony was staged on the parade field, the booming of artillery could be heard in the distance.
Will was finally free for a brief period of about two hours prior to his air lift out for additional training in Oklahoma, so he and his dad spent the time having a taco at the base exchange and reviewing the highlights of the training.
Will was tired and still a bit on edge, but it was a good opportunity to catch up on all that had happened and to see him before his time in Oklahoma.
Many would agree with the old adage that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and I would be one of them. It sure was good to see Andrew again and be able to spend some quality time with him. Since his departure from Jacksonville, he had moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, and subsequently to Wellington, Nevada. His mother and I hadn't had much chance to see him since his departure, though he did make it into Orlando once when I wasn't there.
It was all about firefighting -- Corpus was an opportunity to do flight-line firefight support at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi and lasted about a year, and Wellington was where he and Jenn went to take advantage of an opening at the Marine Mountain Warfare Training Center in the hills of Bridgeport, California, just across the state line.Since then, Andrew and Jennifer decided it would be best for all concerned if they were divorced, so that's what they did.
I had flown out of Seattle the afternoon after Will's graduation, arriving in Reno, Nevada, in time for chinese food with Andrew. We had planned it all out ... well, mostly, anyway. A west coast itenerary on motorcycles to bookend the keys expedition we had carried out just before Luke's graduation.
Our base of operations was Reno, from which I would rent Harley this time, and we would ride to local areas of interest. Andrew's bike was a Buell, a more sporty model -- that's him with his ride in the middle to left.
I had arrived Saturday afternoon. Sunday morning, we had breakfast and trotted over to the Harley shop and picked up my rental bike. That's it on top at the left -- an FLHRS, commonly known as the Road King Custom. Now, my Suzuki Boulevard is a great bike and I enjoy it immensely, but at 805cc and 570 pounds, it's a bit less than the Custom, weighing in at 750 pounds of pure power and sheer beauty. With a fuel injected 1600cc engine, this one means business!
We beamed back over to the hotel, picked up our gear, and hit the road. Our first ride took us southeast to Virginia City, where we enjoyed a bit of the flavor of the old west. A mining town back in the day, many of the buildings have been preserved or rebuilt to vintage.
We walked down the main street on wooden floor sidewalks, had a beer in the saloon, and watched tourists pan for precious metals in the creek running through town.
Then it was time to mosey along, and we headed out to venture along several mountain roads and see the terrain. After a great afternoon of riding, we headed back to the barn and got some rest.
Next morning, we went southwest to take a turn around Lake Tahoe. It was a bit cold that morning, and got cooler as we climbed up to the lake's elevation, but as the morning went on, it became a just plain gorgeous day.
And the road around the lake is perfect for a bike ride! It winds through the woods, often with glimpses of the lake below -- sometimes far below -- and provides sweeping vistas at the turnouts.
Our tour around the lake was ended by our arrival at the city of Lake Tahoe, and we stopped to grab a bite. Tahoe is an interesting mix of big casino gambling, ski slopes, and rustic scenery. It's all the glory of natural beauty at its finest combined with the unmistakable sensation of nausea induced by the way big money has swooped down, bought up all the land, and is selling every last aspect of the experience for as much as they think people are willing to pay.
But enough about the City of Lake Tahoe. We wound down the rest of our rental time and turned the bike back in, and then enjoyed a day of goofing off prior to boarding the plane for home.
All in all, a great adventure with some fine memories!
Dakota's got a brand new bag. After a few less than stellar adventures with new vehicular toys, she's settled on Harley as her ride for recreation.
This is the Harley Davidson 883 "low," a bike set close to the ground so those like her -- unencumbered by excessive height -- could enjoy the exciting sport of motorcycling. A fine bike with all the classic character of Harley (including a crying need to be customized), this little jewel packs a lot of punch into a compact package.Sorta like Dakota.
Of course, it's opened a whole new universe of activities. She accompanied me astride her bike to "Biketoberfest" in Daytona Beach last year. Laura, Luke, and Simon joined us by car to marvel at all the glory, noise and humanity -- and to choose from among the vast array of accessories, t-shirts, and jewelry on sale. These big bike events have their own unique crowd and ambience, and it's worth the trip just to drink it all in.
So, while Dakota doesn't ride as much as me, she definitely has lavished her bike with affection. It now sports modified gold and chrome Harley eagle trim, a new seat, handle grips and tassels, and with a little coaxing, is a few inches shorter than it started out.
After telling Andrew how much trouble she'd had keeping it upright, we settled on changes to the suspension that Andrew was able to effect with a few evenings of work. With that, it was shorter and she was happier.
Now we just look for opportunities to hit the road on some of these fine Florida days.
Presidents' day weekend is coming, and then It won't be long until Bike Week ...
Joe was turning 50. What a great opportunity to get together with family on an otherwise insanely busy weekend for us.
I was the only Orlando Barnett able to attend. Everyone else was tied up with band events and work.
The good news: that meant it made sense to ride my bike to get there.
I was on the road fairly early -- the party was outside Ft. Lauderdale, several hours away.
As I made my final approach, I began to wonder if I was going to get soaked -- there was a huge rainstorm, complete with thunder and lightning hanging ominously over the city.
I lucked out, though, and arrived ahead of the rain and the rest of the guests (I'd given myself plenty of time to get there and ended up going straight to it). I was able to help get the place all set as the heavens opened up.
It was a surprise party, and once past the initial shock, Joe was clearly ready to have some fun with friends and family.
The DJ rocked into the night as we enjoyed seeing how very much older children were, reacquainting ourselves with family, and doing a bit of dancing.
I told them they didn't want to see me on the dance floor, but they insisted.
Fortunately, as only family can do, they were gracious enough to forgive me for being right.
September 9th dawned a beautiful clear morning, and I had the STS-115 shuttle mission squarely in my sights.
I hopped on my bike and beamed over to Titusville.The crowd to watch the spectacle was thick and diverse, as usual. This time, I had the advantage of needing only a very small parking spot, and since I arrived at the last moment, everyone had pretty much found their vantage points on the roadside. I whipped my bike between parked cars moments before launch, grabbed the camera, and caught a series of fine photos before jumping back on and beating much of the traffic out again.
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It was with sorrow and yet some relief that we heard of the passing of one of the world's very good people, Annabelle Hetzel. We joined Albert with saddness at the loss of his best friend and life companion.We also acknowledged that with her passing, a time of unthinkable anxiety and trial was finally over for Albert; her long journey into night marked those final days with frustration and sorrow for him. With her passing we remember her as she was before her illness: gentle kindness, modest humor and steadfast companionship for Albert. We hold him in our prayers even as he fills our days with his thoughtful ways and never-ending kind words. |
On a beautiful weekend day I had the opportunity to go to Palm Bay to visit. We had pizza and chat and caught up on what was going on.
Of course, Bobby and Sarah are growing so fast it's hard to believe; Sarah is turning into quite the young lady and Bobby just keeps on getting bigger. Sarah's picture was taken when she was on her way to the dance, and certainly shows a mature young lady with style and grace. Who would of thought it?Beth had great stories of tell of all the children's activities, and I swapped her with stories from ours.
All in all, a great time!
Fishing is one of our favorite passtimes, and Eddy Creek is one of our favorite places to go. Here are Laura and Simon on their way to the pier from the parking lot.
The fishin's always good, the catching sometimes is, too. There's almost always something cool to see. Manatees frequent the area, and it's not unusual to see one breach right below you on the dock, as in the picture.We've caught redfish, puffers, catfish, crabs, and seen ribbonfish and all kinds of unknown stuff.
Like they say, "A bad day fishing beats a good day at work -- every time."
The Fall District Band Festival was held in Deland on a chilly evening, in the high school stadium. It was a festive evening of fun for the whole family!
They started with the small bands and worked up to the biggest. It was fun to see how each of the bands chose to take advantage of their respective sizes, from the small bands with lots of heart to the big ones with fun props, flags, and spangly outfits.The Lake Mary crew made a good showing with their performance, and we had a great time seeing the spectacle, and besides watching Simon, seeing all the other families watching their kids!
Andy had big news for us this year -- he decided to come home to us in Florida before the snows set in out west.
So began a series of discussions as to how to best accomplish the move. With a Harley and a Jeep, our first thought was to get a trailer and use the Jeep to haul the Harley.But the more we thought about the long haul from Nevada and the instability of the Jeep (high center of gravity, short wheelbase), the less it sounded like a good idea. So we thought on it awhile, mostly about how to store one or the other vehicle in Nevada and get Andy back out there to pick up whichever one he left the first time, and finally arrived at what seemed like the best solution -- to just get me out there to share the driving.
So that's what we did. When Andy was in the Jeep, I was on the Harley, and vice versa. We split the time about half and half. Luckily it didn't begin to snow in Nevada at the elevations in question before we got out, which would have been a knotty problem to deal with considering the need to ride the bike out.
Nevada. Into Las Vegas after a detour around a fatal wreck. Sunday night.
Arizona. Hoover dam. Long roads. Unpleasant car noise, getting worse, fixed it. Monday night.
New Mexico. Barnett Harley at Las Cruces!
TEXAS! Tuesday and Wednesday night. You know what? Texas is a REALLY big state. It didn't help that we were on I-10, making a big, lazy curve through widest part.
Louisiana. Wind started. Not much fun on a bike.
Mississippi. Short but windy.
Alabama. Also short and windy.
FLORIDA! Thursday night. Drove into the panhandle making for Tallahassee for the night. Cold, windy, and getting colder in the dark. Andy was on the bike and really wanted to go on to Tallahassee. I was comfy and warm in the Jeep, so I was okay with it ... until deer on the side of the road convinced me it wasn't worth it.
Deer + car = expensive damage, bad day.
Deer + bike = GAME OVER.
It took a full five days, though with the car noise that developed in Arizona, we thought it might take longer. Luckily it only took a few hours to diagnose and we were back on the road.
It was great to be out the beautiful Midwest again. The long days of driving with stops about every 200 miles to put gas in the bike and get off our seats would finally come to an end at some motel where Andy and I could relax for a bit and hit the sack.
Next time we'll have to perfect our timing getting into major cities -- or our techniques for avoiding them altogether. It seemed we hit traffic slowdowns every time!
One big plus -- numerous Harley dealerships along the way!
Simon's been having a great time and learning a lot about all kinds of stuff in Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (NJROTC).
His group at the high school practices marching, formation, and color guard, among other things, as well as wearing uniforms (as you can see).
Sometimes they go to other schools for competitions with other units.
The lower picture is from one of the competitions, this one in Jacksonville.
The unit participates in traffic detail at sporting events, and often provides the color guard. Simon attends the Naval Science class, too, where he learns about all kinds of things, like the chain of command up to the President, how to maintain and wear the uniform, and leadership techniques.
If Simon were to stay with ROTC through college, he would be qualified to accept a commission in the armed forces as an officer, such as a second lieutenant (in the Army).
Cayo Costa is a Florida state park on an island west of Fort Meyers, accessible only by boat. The state runs a ferry several times a day to take campers and visitors to and from the island. It's a very quiet, secluded spot -- a great place to spend Thanksgiving!
We spent most of our time fishing, and relaxing around the campfire. It was a little cool and breezy when we first got there, but warmed up each day, and was very nice by the time we left.It was great that Andy was able to go with us and spend a day. He got some fishing in, catching a Redfish in the process, and had Thanksgiving dinner with us.
We enjoyed our Thanksgiving meal -- complete with turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, and rolls -- on our picnic table by lantern light.
Over the time we were there, there was a lot of fishing, but not much catching. There's a picture of Luke with a seaweed-covered seashell he hauled in.
Then Saturday afternoon, when along the breakwater, the Redfish started biting. At first, it was only smaller ones, under limit. Then, a few larger ones started coming on.
They weren't hitting every cast, but it didn't take a lot of time to catch our limit. The picture at left was taken by another camper who came down to the beach and was willing to hear all we said about how to catch 'em. We even gave him one of our baits.
He was suitably impressed.
We came home tired but with a cooler of fish filets, which is always a good way to end a fishing trip!
There are times when you say to yourself, "Wait a minute, I thought we lived in a populated suburb, away from the wild woods." When some interesting wildlife showed up around our house, that's exactly what I thought.
There's a walking, biking, in-line skating, dog-walking trail that runs a little more than a block from our house. This is the trail where a young man in Laura's 7th grade science class picked up a snake he thought she'd be interested in, because, well, she already had a couple of snakes on display in her classroom.The difference with this one was that it was a Cottonmouth Water Moccasin, a nasty venomous variety no one should mess with.
He just took off his t-shirt, threw it on the snake, and picked it up.
Needless to say, Laura let him know in no uncertain terms he shouldn't be picking up snakes any more. We very quickly and carefully euthanized the thing, mainly because we didn't want to risk anyone getting bitten. A block of dry ice dropped in the terrarium did the trick in a jiffy, effectively suffocating it without anyone having to deal with handling the snake itself.
In the same week, a hawk flew into our screen porch when the door was open. It seemed confused and wasn't going to be coaxed out through the same door it came in. Instead, it liked perching on the cacti, flying around until exhausted, and hanging upside down from the screen.
Andy and Luke were sure he was going to hurt himself in the process, so after taking advantage of the situation to get a few pictures, they devised a plan to free it.
They basically suited up with protective gloves, grabbed it by the legs and ushered it out the door it came in.
Not the typical kinds of experiences you'd think would come with living in the 'burbs!
The launch of STS-116 was extraordinary. It was on time, though it was the second possible launch date and two days after originally scheduled.
We had been determined to see the first night launch in four years. So that Thursday night -- the first cheduled launch date -- we piled in the car and went over to US 1, a few miles from the launch site. It was cold and the wind was blowing enough to have a bit of a nip, but we got out of the car and found a good vantage point where we could see low on the horizon to the spot where the light beams reached up into the sky. Andy, meeting up with Julie, found a different location at launch time.We huddled in the dark and waited until ... and then past ... launch time.
Then we found out by calling Laura's mother (in Oklahoma) that the mission was scrubbed.
The next scheduled opportunity was Saturday night. It was much nicer, and with almost no wind, looked like no chance to scrub based on weather. This time, Andy and Julie were able to meet us at US 1.
The sky lit up like mid afternoon as the massive thrusters did their thing. Then, several seconds later as we oo'ed and ah'ed over the sight, the ground began to shake and the rumbling started.
It's a heck of a bottle rocket.
Do you believe in love at first sight? When you walk on a Christmas tree lot and cast your eyes about, and settle on a tree that seems to have a halo around it, you should buy it.
There's no point fighting it.That was the story this year, so it didn't take us long at the lot.
But this year's lights represented a departure from our usual sets -- they were icycle style. The installation's the same, and they seemed nice and all, but I don't know ... it just didn't seem right.
Finally, it was Christmas, and with Santa being way too generous this year, we suffered through a morning filled with presents and good cheer.
No breakfast casserole, though -- Laura was too occupied on Christmas Eve, so the prep didn't get done. =(
Happy New Year!
2006 brought many things,
Most kind and good and true,
If there was one thing for us to hope,
We'd pray the same for you.
