Observing November in the Land of Flip Flops

our front door

We continue to make note of the differences between living in Colorado and Florida as the seasons come and go. My family and friends out west have told us about the snow storms they've already had in recent weeks, while we decorate within spitting distance of tall palm trees in our still very green yard. There is no traditional autumn color here but the shades of green are beautiful.

wrapping Christmas gifts

Christmas gifts are getting wrapped and the grocery list for Thanksgiving dinner has been made without any concerns for a debilitating blizzard to put a snafu in the plans.  They tell us hurricane season doesn't officially end until November 30th, but the forecast looks like we'll be okay from here on out.

yes, that is clean laundry neatly stacked on the bed

The afternoon sunshine filters through the blinds on the west side of the house with intriguing patterns. I often have to just stop and marvel at the beautiful sight. 

beside St. Johns River in downtown Jacksonville

This past Sunday after church and lunch, we changed our clothes and drove downtown. We wanted to settle the question of where to park when we take out-of-town guests to the river walk.

The Lone Sailor statue at the Southbank Riverwalk, Jacksonville

After living in the Rocky Mountain west for so long, it has been very interesting to poke around the nautical sights of our new home. Jax is a big Navy town.

Jaguars' Everbank stadium

We don't claim to be Jacksonville Jaguars fans (although our Denver Broncos are a sorry team this season); but we did enjoy the cheers of local fans wafting across the river as we strolled along.

my veteran

Speaking of football and recent controversies, we hung our flag out for the first time in this new house on Veterans Day. Yes, we believe people should stand for the national anthem.

LED Cafe lights on the back porch

Beloved hung lights around the ceiling of the screened-in back porch and then built a ladder to hold the remainder of the string. I added some silk grape vines. I plan to buy some plastic grape clusters from Hobby Lobby to fill in the blank spots, giving our private refuge from the world a bit of an Italian ambience (neither of us are Italian, but we like to eat at The Olive Garden).

Beloved grilled our dinner

We love this quiet hide-a-way nestled near the forest. I still marvel at the Lord's goodness to give me this particular desire of my heart.

our local mall decorated for Christmas

We made a trip to the mall where, as I raised my camera, Santa waved to us from the lower level.

Did you know much of the Thanksgiving decor at Hobby Lobby
is on sale now for 80% off? 

As we prepare for Thanksgiving, Beloved reminded me of a cartoon where the turkey is telling Santa Claus, "Wait your turn, fat boy!"

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD,

and to sing praises unto thy name,

O Most High:

To show forth thy lovingkindness in the morning,

and thy faithfulness every night.

Psalm 92:1-2

Shared Thoughts in the Aftermath of Tragedy

traveling life's roads

This was written by pastor Brad Strait at Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church in Aurora, Colorado. I share it with you because I cannot say it any better and I most certainly believe it.

Grieving, and asking questions: Are churches safe from violence? Most often. But not always. 

Are shopping centers safe? Movie theaters? Schools? Most often, yes. But not perfectly. 

Are our homes safe from violent people? Yes, almost always. 

But, no matter the locks or walls—humans remain vulnerable to evil sometimes.

Beyond our desires, dreams, or hopes, I believe there is but one truly safe place—in the center of God’s hand. Not a painless place, or an easy one at all times, but an eternally secure one. Unshakable.

Everything else is fleeting, or pretending. Lord, watch over us, and protect those we love from evil men. We put our trust in you. Amen.

Where've Ya Been???

Cox Comb in Paducah, Kentucky

Oh wait! It's not, "Where YOU'VE been," but rather, "Where have I been?"

Beloved at Whitehaven Welcome Center in Paducah, Kentucky

An opening came for The Cook on Fifth Street to move into assisted living, so Beloved and I made a car trip into the midwest to help with that effort.

We drove a couple of days, leaving behind the Land of Flip Flops and at our very first potty stop, I had to dig into my luggage to pull out socks and a sweatshirt! It was cold!! I was mildly surprised at how acclimated I had become to much warmer weather.

Jerry (on left) and Danny (on right) welcomed us

Sister, who also has this penchant for whimsey (it runs strong in my family), had positioned her friends on the bed,  waiting for us when we got to our room in her house.

They wanted to know if we had brought one of my staff members
with us. Sadly, I did not.

We arrived just in time for Former Farmer, nephew-in-law, and Beloved to move the big stuff and for we girls to bring over boxes, and The Cook herself.

unpacking her kitchen

There were serious conversations about what to bring and what to leave behind. This was a noteworthy exercise in 'down-sizing.'

hangars for the closet

Decisions had to be made, too, about the best use of closet and drawer space.

the year my grandfather won a free turkey
from his barber shop

Of course, this process stirred up a great deal of memories and much nostalgia.

alterations in progress

In addition to the actual move, I was called upon to hem up clothing for my mother's refreshed wardrobe for her new life at the assisted living center. The final tally came to 8 pair of slacks, 1 pair of jeans, and 2 pair of jammie pants.

removing candle wax from a pair of slacks with an iron and brown paper bags

I also learned how to remove candle wax from polyester via instructions on the Internet -- a very satisfying accomplishment, I should add!

Beloved vacuums the basement

We pretty much took our marching orders from Sister, since our mother has been living next door to her for the past ten years and she best knew what needed to be done on this venture.

Sister grills our lunch while Beloved checks his phone

Although we have been really enjoying our new home in the Land of Flip Flops since this past June, it was good to travel north to see some real autumn color. Sister and Former Farmer have much of that on their property. It's been good to see it for ourselves.

Monday Night Football

We took time out to watch our team on Monday night football.

Sister, The Cook on Fifth Street, and me

On our last full day in town, Beloved and I paid my mother one more visit. There is still much to be done with what has been 'left behind' but we'll take the holiday season off and get back to it again after the first of the year.

Crewel embroidery by my mother

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

Where Everything is Old

St. Augustine is just down the road from us (sort of), an easy drive of about 28 miles. On the Atlantic coast, this place is the oldest continuously-occupied settlement in the United States. 

We did our homework by deciding ahead of time what things we wanted to see on this trip, and then found a parking garage in the middle of it all. The address for the parking garage was put into our cell phone map app and off we went!  

Castillo de San Marcos National Monument is a huge stone structure on the coast of the Matanzas River, which is near the Atlantic Ocean.

Note: we got in for FREE with our National Parks passes. If you are 62 years or older, waste no time getting yours. They are good for the rest of your life! We have used ours many times across the country.

We were here about 21 years ago, back when we lived in Orlando. It was good to visit it again. We have discovered that although history has always been interesting to us, it is more so as we age and have the time to explore and think about its implications.

The beautiful setting on a sunny day hides the realities of war. I stood at this lookout, picturing in my mind the fear I would have felt when ships made their way toward the fort, seeking to do battle. I doubt I would have functioned well under such pressure.

Beloved, of course, having served his share of military time in years gone by, and also because he is an avid reader of historical fiction and science fiction -- he was very interested in the weaponry on display.

Let's see... how many cannons would you like to see? (smile) Beloved was able to give me an interesting description of how the various ones worked, how they would load them, the expected distance they could shoot, and so forth. 

It was interesting to see the notches placed at regular intervals in the top walls for the placement of the cannons. 

The Matanzas River is named after the Spanish word for "slaughter." Need I say more?

By the way, the stone used for construction is called coquina and is made up of sea shells. It is extremely durable. Instead of shattering when a cannon ball hit, the wall sort of absorbed the cannon ball. They would pluck the cannon ball out of the wall and re-use it! Re-cycling at its best!

In the center of the fort was a courtyard. During peacetime the soldiers would congregate here to deal with their muskets. When the town of St. Augustine was under siege, the citizens would gather here for refuge.

Cheerful tunes wafted over the breeze as we looked into doorways and windows.

There were no Memory Foam mattresses for the soldiers, but the necessities of life were made available.

After the war was over (or our tour of it), we sought the Colonial Quarter, just across the street from the fort. Shops and eateries lined the pedestrian area on both sides for several blocks.

We had two requirements as we looked for lunch:

1) air conditioning
2) a menu to satisfy my food allergies

After walking past several open-air places, we found the Bull and Crown Public House, which worked out very well. Beloved had a burger and I had a spinach salad. The air conditioning was a relief!

We wandered in and out of the shops, but didn't buy anything (this time). My faithful readers know how much stuff we disposed of to make the move from Colorado to Florida. I still can't bring myself to get very excited about shopping and buying more stuff!!

We love the architecture, flowers, fountains, trees, and palms. I feel like I'm in a dream, getting to live in such beauty!

As we strolled back to the parking garage, we stopped in at Ben and Jerrys for ice cream. Beloved got Butter Pecan and I got the Berry Sorbet (gluten-dairy-egg free).

This cemetery was on our route to the car -- we didn't stop because we were hot and tired, but headed on home to our recliners so that we, too, could 'rest in peace!' Ha!

It was a wonderful day.

P.S. There are many more things to see and do in historic St. Augustine, but our feet were tired and it was a hot day. We will return when the weather is cooler.

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.