In Case You Thought I Forgot .....

the Pilgrim People

..... the Pilgrim People made the trip with us from Colorado to Florida this past summer. MANY things were purged from my collection of stuff, but these friends were carefully packed away in a box for the relocation. 

making their entrance

Whereas they used to be in a box stored in the depths of our gigantic basement and every November they had to climb up the stairs to the main floor; this year their box is kept in an upstairs closet, hence, this year's grand entrance was a trip down the stairs.

 facial expressions say so much

Last November, an out-of-state move was one of the farthest things from our minds, so when the Pilgrim People were packed away in December, they had no inkling of what would happen as they slumbered among crumpled sheets of packing paper.

"a merry heart does good ..." Proverbs 17:22

I'll just say that the reactions to this surprising move were varied, reflecting human nature where some are cheerful most of the time and others are cranky more pensive.

a peek into my personal dressing closet

One bright little personality caught a glimpse of a sign I keep in my closet and took the cue to be positive about this change. She and her hubby took up their assigned stations with an attitude that set a good example for the rest.

Speaking of assignments, some locations have more prominence than others, but I appreciate their willingness to serve.

I'm still looking for just the right wall decor to go below the cabinet 

Others are now residing near the family room television and in the kitchen (where their assistance with mealtimes is appreciated).

what will it take to make them happy?!!!

So yes, I have remembered the Pilgrim People and they are adding to the Thanksgiving theme we've got going in our new Florida home. I am glad to have them on display. We love living here, but for the most part, the flora and fauna outdoors still look like summertime. It's good to have the oranges and browns of my ceramic, resin, and felt friends to add autumnal color.

decor pillow purchased at Hobby Lobby

A Couple of Tropical Notes

September 2nd Rose

The month of September is winding down fast. Before it gets entirely by me, here are a couple of thoughts and pictures. 

trimmed and put into a vase on the breakfast table

Beloved and I always celebrate the anniversary of our first date on September 2. This year it was 49 years! (you can do that math as to what year that was, but understand, we were just teens at the time) I was in the kitchen preparing dinner when he walked in from an errand with an armful of gorgeous yellow roses. Always and still, he's a man after my heart! 

Dragon Fruit

It was very late August or early September when I was shopping the fresh produce section of Whole Foods Market, which is where I found this odd-looking item. Dragon Fruit, or Pitaya is a rich deep rosy pink color with a tough-looking outer skin. I had no idea what to do with it, so I asked the clerk who was stocking in the area. She said it has many tiny seeds, much like kiwi and that she had never tried it because she was afraid she would not like the texture.

Just one of these beauties was something like $4 but my grocery budget could handle the expense that day, and I was up for a small adventure, so I bought one. After getting it home I Googled "Dragon Fruit." (I love the Internet!) According to Wikipedia, Dragon Fruit is from several cactus species indigenous to the Americas. 

A sharp knife cuts through that tough outer skin to reveal  a milky-white texture inside heavily dotted with teeny tiny black seeds. I used a cereal spoon to scoop out some of the flesh in one half to taste. It was mildly sweet and the seeds were so tiny that they slid right down without a problem.

With my Internet research, I saw this clever serving idea, so I cubed up what remained of the white flesh in both halves and then served it to Beloved and myself in a 'bowl' of the pink skin. 

More research told me that Dragon Fruit is very nutritious, which is fine, but I decided at that price, we'll get our nutrition in less costly foods and not make a habit of buying this often. 

Hurricane Irma in my neighborhood

Of course the biggest story of the month has been the hurricanes -- THREE of them hitting American soil in less than four weeks' time.  I tried to get a picture of all of the branches of our front yard palm tree blowing in one direction at the same (ala Weather Channel), but alas, this was the most dramatic shot I could capture.

My daughter-in-law has told me hurricane season doesn't end until November 30th.  Even though we were blessedly spared serious consequences for the most part, we can hardly wait for the season to end.

Denise in the Rockies

One of the most odd, and yes, nostalgic, aspects of September for us this year has been the continuing of summer for us while so many of our friends in Colorado are reporting the changing of the Aspen trees from green to gold and the dropping nighttime temperatures. 

If we had not already felt a parting of the ways when our moving truck rolled away from The Brown Bungalow last June, then this realization that we will not experience autumn in the Rockies pretty much settles it. 

Jacksonville Beach

We hold those mountain-high experiences dear and take pleasure inhaling ocean air as often as is practical. 

positioned prominently in my closet so I see it every single day

We Survived Hurricane Irma!

our "safe place"

We thank the Lord tonight for bringing us through Hurricane Irma, a little worn for the experience but better for it. 

After watching a combination of local TV and The Weather Channel for hours on end, we went to bed this morning at 1:45. I did not put on my jammies. Not knowing what might happen, I went to bed in my street clothes. The wind and rain were torrential, so I slept lightly, to say the least.

Our weather radio woke us at 2:30am with a tornado warning and at 2:45 the TV told us to go to our "safe place." We had done a lot of advance planning for this, so we gathered our eye glasses and shoes, made sure we had our cell phones and hunkered down in the laundry room. 

We spent four hours in there with the radio on, hearing about tornadoes marching ashore in the St. Augustine area, south of us some 25 miles. 

At daylight we'd had about all of our cramped quarters we could stand, and the tornado threats had decreased.

As the day wore on, the rain tapered off, the wind blew crazy wild until afternoon arrived. By then the lack of electricity was wearing on us, but Beloved managed to heat canned chili for us on his gas grill and we had a peaceful dinner on the back porch.

The news is showing pictures and telling stories about the flooding. We are so very thankful we were spared that. We pray for those who have a very different story to tell.

Thank you for praying for us. It was exciting, and I'm glad I have this experience behind me. I've also decided I'd rather prepare for a snow blizzard over an incoming hurricane. But that's just me.... (smile)

What Are You Doing?

mangroves on shore of the St Johns River

"What are you doing?" We don't even have to say, "What are you going to do?" just, "What are you doing?" People around here know we are asking what they plan to do about the approach of Hurricane Irma. I've learned it makes a great ice breaker with people I don't even know. I have asked my family, neighbors, people at church, and people standing in line with me at the grocery store. Everybody has something to say about it.

Evacuation zone map 

Our local government has issued a map of the evacuation zones. The areas in red were told this evening to start leaving for Hurricane Irma that is expected to hit Jacksonville very late on Sunday night or on Monday. Beloved and I live in a white area, which means we don't even have an evacuation zone. That means flooding for us is unlikely (although we know anything can happen. This is based on previous storm activity).

Magnolia Castle

Our greater concern is the wind in the tall pines behind our house. We have been advised to take that under consideration as we decide to remain or leave. Admittedly, this does give us pause but with the information we have right now, we have decided to not evacuate.

Our church

Our church announced this evening there will be no services or activities this next Sunday due to the storm. Many of the membership are choosing to leave town. The rest have been encouraged to seek safe shelter and to be of help to others as we see the needs.

I have to say I'm relieved to know this. I will be ready to "hunker down" when it gets that close to the storm's arrival.

If we were to evacuate, our first obstacle (besides the heavy traffic itself) would be crossing this bridge: yes, I know the odd size of this photo spills over into the right column, but I want my readers to see just how big the bridge is.

Beckman Bridge

Over three miles long, this is not something I want to traverse as a hurricane is approaching!

I want to share with you a sampling of the responses I've received when asking people "What are you doing?"

Person #1 "Pay attention; take seriously what they are telling you."

Person #2 "No hurricane ever did what it was predicted to do 5 FULL DAYS BEFORE IT HIT. And for all my friends that couldn't find water in a store, you could start filling jugs for the next 4 days from your sink and you'll have more than that last greedy guy at Publix. Be smart, be safe, don't be afraid."

Person #3 "I'm so excited I get a 4-day weekend and don't have to go to school! I'm going to dig a hole under my house and watch the storm from there!"

Person #4 "If the Hurricane is a level 3 or more, we are evacuating."

Person #5 "We will decide tonight."

Person #6 "We aren't sure yet, but if they tell us to evacuate, we're leaving."

Person #7 "I would stay, but I have children and need to evacuate because of them."

Person #8 "You're not in an area with big flood concerns but the wind can topple trees onto your house. Gotta think about that. I have a friend who ran back into his house for something and while inside, a tree fell onto the house. He got out okay but they couldn't occupy their house for 9 months after that."

Person #9 "My house doesn't have an 'evacuation zone' because I live in a totally planned community where all the trees were removed before the houses were built. The houses were constructed to withstand hurricanes for 100 years and the drainage system was designed with flooding in mind."

Person #10 "We've got reservations in Georgia."

Person #11 "We're evacuating to South Carolina."

Person #12 "We're evacuating to Alabama."

Person #13 "We are going to do what we always do which is to wait patiently to see what the storm will do. We've seen lots of storms over the years come charging this way and then peter out or change course, so we are just waiting to see how the matter will play out."

Person #14 "We're getting on I-10 and going west, maybe to Alabama or something."

Person #15 "My family lives at the beach. We have a concrete block wall in our garage, so we feel safe there. My family will come to my house."

Person #16 "Know which shelter you can go to. It is safer at a shelter than in your home."

Person #17 "Know your evacuation zone."

Person #18 "If the storm is still out in the water, Jacksonville is in greater danger. If it's on land, we are better off."

When it comes right down to it, aside from mandatory evacuations, this is a very personal decision with probably no hard-and-fast right  answers. We should judge no one for the choices they make about evacuations. 

The mayor of our city has asked us all to pray that "the storm will just fall apart."  After that, please pray for wisdom in the coming days.

stained glass window with lantern at my church

Hurricane Prep

St Johns River from river walk on the south side

So, we take the bad with the good. Isn't that what they say we have to do? This certainly applies when moving to a new place.

Yesterday Beloved and I spent part of the Labor Day holiday checking out the south side river walk in downtown Jacksonville. We visited the north side a couple of weeks ago and now it was time to complete that investigation. 

We parked the car in the museum parking lot and made a very short stroll over to the water's edge, just in time to see three (3)!!! dolphins jump out of the water, over there in the distance. That was a thrill, to be sure.  So that's some of the good part of living here.

Of course, some of the not-so-good is that later in the day, our governor declared Florida to be in a state of emergency due to the approach of Hurricane Irma. I assume this woman (I refuse to call her a 'lady' since she has destructive tendencies) seeks to not be outdone by her family member, Harvey.

The local media has been talking about hurricane prep for several weeks already because "'tis the season'" and that's what responsible Floridians do, just like visiting the dentist regularly and changing  furnace filters. 

Wait. I don't think we have a furnace here. We have air conditioning and heat pumps. But still, we have filters to change. 

Anyway, the gal on TV said we should always have storm prep in mind and that way it's not such a panic when a hurricane threatens. 

That's my long-winded way of saying we already had a good supply of water per the recommendations. But since we are kinda new at this, yes, "panic" definitely crossed my mind when the newscaster said now is the time to gather supplies. 

Beloved and I were each sitting in our recliners, just turning that over in our minds. I wanted to rush out immediately to get more water but I felt a little silly. I do tend to be impulsive and over-the-top, so my judgment might be flakey.  Then Beloved asked my opinion. At first we decided we would wait until the next day. The storm's not supposed to get to our area until the weekend, after all. But after a short discussion, we decided we would make a run up to Publix, in spite of the fact that Beloved had already put on his jammies for the evening.

Publix

I have to admit that although the water shelves were almost completely empty, there was a certain smugness in my private thoughts that we had made the right decision to go to the store sooner rather than later.

It was a shocking sight. I mean, we've seen this sort of thing on TV for years from the comfort and safety of our home in Colorado. But now it was us standing in front of an empty shelf!  

Beloved picked up one of the remaining packages of bottled water and we left. In the car heading home, he asked me if I wanted anything else, since it looked like the rush had begun and would only get worse.

Well, yes, there was something else. I wanted a pair of boots. I donated my snow boots before we left Colorado, and they wouldn't have been appropriate for flood waters anyway. I kind of hoped to get something bright and cutesy to wear if we get inundated with water and have to get out in it for some reason.

my hurricane boots

But we were headed for Walmart, so I knew my chances of finding something cute (and in my size) were limited. I was right. They had very few truly useful boots for ladies and even less of that in my size. "This is a time of emergency," I told myself. Don't be picky. Buy them and get yourself home. By the way, the picture shows how I found them. They are what you might call, "self-storing."

Walmart

Just because this is kinda new to us, we walked back to the water aisle of Walmart and saw that they, too, were quickly getting depleted. 

Since that time, Surfer Girl has told me she can't find more water in her area, and my local Face Book friend Pat says her Walmart is completely out. 

I struck up conversations with people in line at the registers at both stores and was again confirmed, that yes, when the TV tells you to get ready, you better drop what you're doing and get to it! The storm may still be days away, but the crowds will hit the stores long before that. We were also told to avoid the home improvement stores unless we really need something they have.

With all the horrific scenes from Hurricane Harvey in Houston, I have imagined the worst here at my house....hence the boots.

trees behind our house

Beloved has a different apprehension. It's the pines behind our house. We have a small back yard, so if any of these tall boys decide to fall over, we could end up with a deluge on the second floor instead of (or in addition to) the main floor.

taking pictures for insurance purposes

With all of that said, we are doing pretty well. We have conversed at length about all the possibilities that come to mind, made a plan of action, and notified our family. Interestingly enough, we have 15 family members beside just the two of us, who are also preparing for this hurricane. Unless the flooding is of biblical proportions (and yes, it was in Houston), we plan to stay here. We do not live in an area prone to flooding (according to our county authorities).

One more thing we are observing is that non-stop TV coverage of this storm will demoralize a person very quickly. We watch the weather reports and related stories long enough to get the essential message. Then when they begin to repeat it, we turn it off or switch to a completely unrelated channel. 

One must work to maintain a level head in this atmosphere. Praise music has been a panacea for me, both lifting and calming my spirit.

one of our grand puppies

Sandy Thoughts With Watery Conclusions

The thrill continues, living along the Atlantic Coast after years of mile-high living against the Rocky Mountains. At times I hardly know myself. I feel almost like a different person since we moved here earlier this summer.

from the Internet

I wear Bermuda shorts and flip flops nearly every day, and my hair has grown past my shoulders. I wear long dangling earrings to where I hardly know myself when I catch a glimpse in the mirror. I even used a brown rinse to cover the gray hair. Beloved said the other day, "You look like a million bucks!"

from the Internet

Yesterday we drove to the beach, not to swim, just to look at the water. I love to do that. (sometimes we don't want to fool with the sand on our feet)

from the Internet

In addition to the horrible Hurricane Harvey out on the Gulf Coast and in Texas, there has been a storm #10 (as the weather casters call it before it becomes something more serious, which this one did not) out in the Atlantic.  Blessedly, it only came within about 300 miles of Savannah and then turned to chug its way back out to sea in a northeasterly direction. 

the view from Joe's Crab Shack

But even that disturbance caused our beaches to have dangerous rip currents. Local television told us to not go in the water, but of course the surfer population considered that an invitation to go anyway. The waves were too much to resist.

stuffed shrimp wrapped with bacon on dirty rice
(I shared my Hush Puppies with Beloved since they were not gluten-free)

We had lunch again at what has become my fav seafood haunt on the beach. This time we ate outside under a tin roof at the bar on stools so we could see the waves crashing on the shore.

from the Internet

As much as I love visiting the beach, and how dearly I would love to have a blue-and-white wood cottage nestled among the sea oats on a sand dune (or should it be buttercup yellow?), practicality runs too strong in me. Lessons observed from this week's news reports about the devastation along the Texas coastline tell me I could never sleep easy if a storm were to form while I slept in my beachfront house.

Here in my new hometown, there is much on the news about hurricane preparations, and especially since Matthew did some serious damage to the city pier when he visited last October. 

We have been directed to a map of our county that shows which areas of the city would need to evacuate first. That is a sobering picture, but we are thankful to see our house is in a fairly safe area (all things considered, of course). 

We have stocked up on gallon jugs of water (1 gallon per person for 3 days for both drinking and bathing), the pantry is full of canned beans and fruit, we know where the flashlights are along with additional batteries, and a weather-alert radio sits atop the entertainment center beside the TV. (note: there is no need for me to stock up on tp. Beloved tells me I'm always overstocked with that.)

We've even talked about how if things got bad enough, we could move certain items to the second floor, and if it got worse than that, we could climb out the upstairs windows to stand on the porch roof to attract the attention of a helicopter to rescue us....

See where the mind goes?! "Earth to Barbara! Come in, please!"

from the Internet

Truth be told, there is no place on earth that is completely safe from disaster. We do our best to prepare wisely, trust the Lord, and go on with our lives.

I am still oh so glad to be here.

Sand in my Toes

my handwriting in the sand at Jacksonville Beach

We continue to marvel that the Lord has brought us to this different part of the country where we wear flip flops and shorts every day and it's easy to escape to the beach within thirty minutes from our home.

Us

While too many sunburn episodes and skin cancer scares have pushed us into that season of life where lounging in swim suits all day is no longer considered fun, we do enjoy seeing the waves crash on the sand and scavenging for sea shells.

I noticed that more people are covering up at the beach than they used to in years past. The warnings about skin cancer are making an impression.

looking north toward Jacksonville pier in the distance

It was only last October when Hurricane Matthew slammed into this very beach, destroying the farthest end of the pier. We saw it on  our television news in Colorado, never dreaming that months before the anniversary of that destruction, we would be living here!!

Atlantic Ocean waves

As the waves rolled in, I imagined how violent this water must have become to cause such upheaval.

a warning

The hurricane seriously eroded the sand dunes. Efforts are in progress now to rebuild them and plant a new 'crop' of Sea Oats to establish and strengthen the sandy hills.

Sea Oats are on the horizon of this dune

I don't remember Sea Oats when I grew up along the Pacific Ocean in southern California. There was a lot of Ice Plant. Both coasts have their own personalities.

the sky was mostly overcast -- rain was expected a little later

No trip to the beach is complete without the small planes flying above with banner advertisements. This one was for Geico insurance.

a collage of our lunch

We walked, I don't know, maybe a quarter of a mile in the southerly direction on the beach, picking up sea shells all along the way and then retraced our steps to get back to the car.

Lunch was just a little farther north at Joe's Crab Shack. Beloved, who is for the most part not a sea food lover, turned down a cheeseburger to order clam strips and clam chowder. He does like a good clam chowder and makes a point to order it when we are in places that should know how to cook it up.

I shared some of my stuffed shrimp with him and he allowed that it was pretty good. Of course, bacon was involved, and who doesn't like bacon, anyway?!

taking a picture of the shark suspended from the ceiling

They keep saying on TV that this is "shark week." I'm not sure what that's all about and don't especially care. We had our own encounter with a shark (no one was hurt) on the Florida coast about twenty years ago, so I don't relish entertaining myself with the creatures; but I did feel it was safe to take a photo of this one inside Joe's Crab Shack.

a T-shirt and sea shell shop

Back outside again, we took the 'boardwalk' (actually a brick-paved side walk) but didn't go into any of the shops. We mostly wanted to stretch a little before getting into the car.

Jacksonville Pier

Before leaving we took a couple more shots of the Jacksonville Pier. No one is allowed on it at all these days. The powers that be are haggling over who gets to pay for the repairs, which will probably take about two years. 

It was good we left when we did. The forecasted rain storms rolled in from the Gulf coast as we drove home. 

today's harvest of sea shells

Safely inside our house, we stood in the bathtub to rinse the sand off our sandals, our toes, and our legs. Beloved had brought a large jug of water to the beach so we could rinse off before getting into the car, but if you've been around ocean sand, then you know one rinsing usually isn't enough.

I used a kitchen colander to rinse out the collection of sea shells we had brought home. The pink ones strike me as the most unusual, and I like the conical ones, too. I could launch myself into a little homily regarding these shells' colors, shapes, origins and purposes, but that should be a post for another day.