Letter Writing

Do you write letters?  I have to admit I don't.  Has the art of letter writing gone away?  Some schools don't even teach cursive writing to students.  We live in an age of keyboards and actual writing has fallen to the wayside.

I do send postcards and note cards to my sisters, my friend Anne and our daughter (when we're not living in their backyard), but in spurts, not on a regular basis.  With social media my sisters are aware of where I am and I know where they are and life goes on.  


But we don't know about the daily happenings of our lives.  I don't even know where two of my sisters work!  Or how they go about their daily life.  On occasion I do wonder.  I've lived away from them all of my adult life.  Had I been a better letter writer I might know more about them as adults. They are younger than me and often I think of them as children.  It always surprises me when we visit how grown up they are.

Has texting and social media put an end to letter writing?

We have rain today, even a clap of thunder!  At least the temperature is warmer.  This past week we've dipped into the 40's at night and during the day it hasn't got much warmer than 65.  And the wind!  Sheesh it cut right through us and we had to wear jackets to walk Boo.

Last Saturday was beautiful and we enjoyed the day at the boat show in Stuart.  Then the weather got cold, cloudy and generally yucky.  Yesterday was nice, Jim got some chores done outside wearing shorts and sandals.

All is right in our world

Several inches of Rain

This day is a gift.  And I am grateful.  I'm trying to be more positive about every day happenings.  

When I got up this morning it was gloomy and dark,  the low clouds were full of rain.  Immediately it started to rain.  I had opened the front door and put out the awning.  Then I took my houseplants outside to get some rain water.

We had hot barley cereal for breakfast with an apple tossed in.  The dampness made me chilly so hot food was needed.  About 0830 the rain got heavier and it poured!  Rain in the tropical zones is just something you need to see and become part of.  After living in New Orleans we know about heavy rain.

For our midday meal I fixed some vegetable stew and hot biscuits.  Comfort food for our souls.  We've spent the day just hanging around and watching it rain.  Oh Jim took a nap.  

I took these pictures with my phone through the windows so please excuse the raindrops

It's 1600 and this water has already drained away from the house

This puddle is half it's size now.  That's part of the correctional institution you see in the distance 

This field is supposed to contain excess water and it did a fine job.  As you can see it didn't fill up because you can still see the culvert

When Jim got up it wasn't raining so we took Boo for a walk and checked the mail.  This baseball diamond is a pond....no one will be hitting balls here, no pitchers mound!

We've been in a tornado watch most of the day but it looks like we're north of the system now and the skies are clearing.  Usually when it rains we head to Barnes and Nobles...but neither one of us wanted to walk in the rain to the truck!

This morning we had the furnace on, this afternoon the AC is on.  Ever have days like that?

All is right in our world

Florida

Have you ever been to Florida?  Dream of coming here?  Florida has many climate zones and there's more to it than sand and beaches.  The critters here are a force to be reckoned.  If you don't like bugs, don't come to Florida.

From the smallest hummingbirds to the stately Sandhill Cranes the birds come in all colors and sizes.  I'm told there are wild Flamingos somewhere in the Everglades.  I find their likenesses everywhere

The plant life is diverse, the exotic plants that grow here are simple gorgeous.  The temperate zones are lush and overgrown

Life is Good

As our friend Ed says.  Life is Good....just sometimes boring!

How long do flies live?  We've had one buzzing around the past three or four days and he's driving us nuts!  Unless he invited a friend to take his place...hmmm  He's (she?) even been bothering Boo

We watched most of the football games yesterday.  I can't believe the Texans didn't do better against the Chiefs...pitiful just pitiful.  What about the Steelers?  That game, played in the rain, was better than the earlier game but we went to bed at halftime.  

We've been having some rain.  Not much pattern to it.  Storms pop up and then it rains.  Last night it started raining after the sun went down.  Still raining when we went to bed.  I love to hear gentle rain falling, it lulls me to sleep.  We have some clouds this morning but at least the sun is making a show.

I want to tell you about this mouse trap we've been using.  The Victor Electronic Rat Trap works.  We borrowed one and managed to capture 3 mice.  So we bought one and so far nothing.  I guess we caught the family and now we'll wait and see if anyone else comes calling.  Over the years we've bought traps that you just toss away (wasteful, I think).  With this electronic trap we can use it over and over just replacing the batteries when needed.

All is right in our world

Depression or not

Maybe, maybe not.  At least I don't think I'm depressed.  

Lately I just don't want to get out of bed.  Our days are the same....and it's boring.  I'm tired of sitting here day after day doing the same things.  Sure I like to read and play games.  Facebook occupies some time (perhaps to much on occasion).

I miss being around people our age.  We've met and spoken to some of the residents here but we've nothing in common with them

I love that Sonsearae and Chris have welcomed us into their lives and I've enjoyed being around family.  But I'm tired of being here and want to move on or find a place where we can interact with others our age.  Soon....

I have followup medical appointments in February.  Blood work and discussion of conditions.  Hopefully all will work out.

It's foggy this morning...Almost 0900 and the sun still hasn't broken through the cloud cover.  It's 66 degrees outside and no cold, but chilly because of the humidity.

I got my hair cut the other day and I like it short.  Now it's time for Boo to be groomed.  He's looking a bit shaggy.

I took a container out of the freezer and it could be our dinner....don't know what's in it!  

All is right in our world

Winter has descended upon us

I did not want to get up this morning.  It was cold and I could feel little aches and pains from the exercises I've added to my mornings.  So I laid there trying to go back to sleep but alas it was not to be.  

First thing I checked was the outside temperature....54 degrees!  Now I realize that's not cold for Northerners but this is the coldest we've seen for a year.  I want to thank the Yankees for sending this cold air down to us!  It didn't help that the sun didn't come out until after 1000.

The inside temperature was hovering around 65 so we decided to test the furnace to make sure it still works.  It does!

There are a lot of coconut palms around here.  This one is located at the Marina.

On Sundays we usually head into Stuart to check out the Green Market and to walk the river boardwalk.  Not this week.  We headed that way and as we got closer the wet stuff falling out of the clouds got heavier so we skipped it and headed to the mall. Good way to get some steps in.  Do you have a Fitbit or other pedometer to keep track of your steps?  It's the latest thing you know!  Jim and I sort of compete.  Each day we share how many steps we've taken before we go to bed at night.  It's not often I beat him.

After we'd worked up an appetite we headed to Flanigan's Seafood Bar and Grill for some lunch.  Jim had ribs, baked potato and salad while I had a baked potato and black beans with rice.  We both had a beer.

We then headed home where Jim took a nap after loading the mattress pad into Sonsearae's dryer.  You see, before we left I had stripped the bed and was washing linen's.

While he slept I watched some football while futzing around on the computer.  I also walked Boo but neither of us wanted to stay our very long.  The cold air chased us indoors.

I love being able to do my laundry at home. I've done two loads this morning and not having to gather everything to schlep to a laundromat is heaven to me.  Do you have to?  I've done it and at this stage of my life and glad I don't have to.

Today we're cleaning out the fridge. To many containers of leftovers...they need to be eaten.  I try to eat leftovers for breakfast but sometimes I can't eat them fast enough.  This morning I had potatoes and gravy.

Ending the Year spending time at the Beach

Can you think of a better way to end the year?  We decided to go to the beach and enjoy a picnic.  When we left we were undecided about which beach and opted to head to Ft Pierce.  

Ft Pierce is located at the northern end of Hutchinson Island and we could pick and choose where we wanted to eat lunch.  We stopped at Popeye's to pick up our lunch and headed to the inlet.  There's a park, South Jetty Park Beach that we've never been able to see because it's always jam packed with cars and people.  Today was no different.....so we moved on down the road.  Finally stopping at a beach we've been to before because we found a parking spot.  There is a pavilion with tables and Jim enjoyed his chicken and mashed potatoes while I enjoyed my red beans and rice along with some slaw.

After our delicious lunch we went for a stroll on the beach.  There were quite a few people out enjoying this lovely day.  I'd say the temperature was in the upper 70's, there was a lot of sunshine and a nice breeze.  We took our shoes off and walked in the surf.

As we walked we came across a flock of Black Skimmers that was sheltering a couple confused gulls.  Such pretty birds.  And quite used to people as they didn't budge until we were almost upon them.  Then they took to the sky and flew around and landed in 'their' spot once we walked past.  I found a few shells to add to my collection.

We both enjoy coming the the shore, the sound of the waves, the salt air and sunshine are a balm to our souls.

I'm pretty certain,if we could afford it, we'd live on the water somewhere.  

One of those 'cold' fronts has managed to find it's way down here.  Low 60's when I got up this morning.  We had grey skies all day yesterday with the sun peeking out at the beginning of the day and at sunset.  Looks like it could do the same today.  There was a pretty sunrise but it's all overcast now.

We watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind recently and do you know I don't think I've ever seen the whole movie before. Parts of it were unfamiliar to me.  Or perhaps I wasn't impressed and completely forgot it.  In any case the movie came out in 1977 and we were in Mobile when it was being filmed there.  Jim even had a small part as an extra.  Of course that scene didn't make it into the movie!

Yesterday we watched The Da Vinci Code.  Fascinating movie that makes me want to delve more into the church.  Wouldn't it be fun to explore the history of Jesus more closely?  Christianity?  And the Catholic church?  My mother was Catholic and changed to Lutheran when she married my dad. So I know a bit about the rituals of both religions.

All is right in our world